Line #5 Main/NoMereWindmill


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9	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/{{xkcd}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/No_Mere_Windmill_4342.png]]]]
10	[-[[caption-width-right:350:"[[AltText The moment their arms spun freely in our air]], [[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds1898 they were doomed — for Man has earned his right to hold this planet against all comers]], by virtue of occasionally producing [[Literature/DonQuixote someone]] totally [[SuccessThroughInsanity batshit insane.]]"]]-]
11
12	->''"Ah yes, 'Reapers'. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. Oh, we have dismissed that claim."''
13	-->-- '''[[ObstructiveBureaucrat Councilor Sparatus]]''', ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''
14
15	A WindmillPolitical is a threat that doesn't exist, but some people [[WindmillCrusader believe it does]] or [[StrawHypocrite pretend]] [[ManipulativeBastard that it does]]. There are lots of windmills, lots of people who (honestly or dishonestly) [[CryingWolf Cry Wolf]]. With so much nuttery and dishonesty going on, how is one to accept a ''real'' but really strange threat to be real?
16
17	Some threats are easy to mistake for windmills, but they turn out to be real threats.
18
19	There are four ways that this can come into play:
20	* '''Straight''': The threat turns out to be exactly as foretold.
21	* '''Metaphorical''': The claims about the threat were not literally true, but they described a real threat, although in a metaphorical way.
22	* '''FromBadToWorse''': The outrageous claims turn out to be modest: The guy accused of fighting a windmill had actually not yet understood the full magnitude of the real threat — it is ''worse'' than the dismissed warnings indicated.
23	* '''Deliberately Invoked''': The people whom the supposed Windmill Crusader is trying to warn either are the threat themselves or are an even ''worse'' threat, and are (understandably) deliberately playing down the threat and/or dismissing the crusader as crazy in order to deflect attention away from themselves.
24
25	For something to be No Mere Windmill, it must first be dismissed as a windmill. Thus, the trope is often closely related to OnlySaneMan, IgnoredExpert, {{Doomsayer}}, CassandraTruth, SubvertedSuspicionAesop, and/or YouHaveToBelieveMe. Depending on context, it may become a case of either TheCuckoolanderWasRight or StrawmanHasAPoint. It may also become a case of AccidentalTruth if someone invents a Windmill Crusade that just happens to resemble a genuine threat.
26
27	In many cases, it is also related to TheConspiracy and DevilInPlainSight.
28
29	Contrast ElephantInTheLivingRoom, where people actually do know that the problem is not a windmill, and WeirdnessCensor, where "nothing to see here" becomes a Windmill Political in itself. See also ProperlyParanoid. ThenLetMeBeEvil is where a windmill turns into a giant.
30
31	Just as with the supertrope Windmill Political: No contemporary RealLife examples please, and no history examples except ones surrounded by a really thick consensus.
32
33	Not to be confused with ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', which includes a HumongousMecha that disguises itself as a windmill, but is completely non-threatening. Also not to be confused with the similar-sounding ThatsNoMoon.
34
35	The presence of a work in this list means a hidden threat has become real. Odds are good that '''here there be spoilers'''.
36	----
37	!!Examples:
38	[[foldercontrol]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'': In this setting, Hell is a literal truth and the Devil is actively hovering over the Earth trying to siphon away as many souls as he can. Only the kewl superpowers that come with being a Christian can save you now. (That and [[CreepyChild Lil'Suzy]].) In spite of fundamentalist Christianity being CaptainObvious truth in this setting, many still mistake the Devil for a mere windmill. These people invariably find out that he is indeed not.
42	* In ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', the Superhomies make the mistake of ignoring Thugboy's warnings about Willy Pete, and go after him expecting an easy win and a quick PR boost. Turns out that if anything, Willy Pete was ''worse'' than Thugboy knew. He incinerated the squad sent to bring him in ''instantly'' before they even knew he was there, with only a single survivor escaping, [[HeroKiller and it just gets worse from there]].
43	* Type D example: ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons Treehouse of Horror'' story "Immigration of the Body Snatchers" (obviously a send-up of the sci-fi classic ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956'') has Homer trying to warn the authorities in an insane asylum in which he's been confined that "pod people" from outer space are taking over the bodies of everyone in Springfield, including Bart, Lisa, Maggie, and Marge. Everyone refuses to believe him except for psychiatrist Dr. Marvin Monroe, who finally admits that the threat is true...but that it's nothing to worry about because he is actually a three-eyed spy from the planet Venus (his doctor's headgear has been concealing his third eye) who has come to lead an invasion against both the pod people and Earthlings. Then one of the police officers who had arrested Homer suddenly strips off his skin to reveal that "he" is actually two Martians who have anticipated the Venusians' plot and are here to foil them. Then ''another'' policeman strips off ''his'' skin and exposes himself as [[Film/TheTerminator "a robot ghost clone from the future"]] who is there to assassinate everybody. And so on, and so forth...
44	* From ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': "Gentlemen, Krypton is doomed!". In whatever iteration it arises, Superman's father Jor-El predicts the doom of Krypton and is summarily ignored, inevitably the planet is destroyed about ten pages later.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Fan Works]]
48	* ''Fanfic/ArrowRebirth'': Tempest is a mixture of Type A and Type D. A great majority of the city are skeptical of the idea of such an organization which such wide-spanning influence exists, despite the Green Arrow's claims. [[spoiler:Tommy even goes as far as to use it as proof that Oliver is mentally ill.]] However, a select few such as Oliver, Laurel, and Sara, along with the readers, know that Tempest is very much a real threat and worse than the Green Arrow has been implying so far. [[spoiler:When Tempest is finally exposed, the world does ''not'' take it well.]]
49	* ''Fanfic/TheRoboutianHeresy'': Gregor Eisenhorn spent his life trying to prevent the rise of mysterious nightmarish nascent Chaos God known as Yellow King, thinking that Inquisition and his friend Pontius Glaw wouldn't believe him. As it turns out, Pontius ''does'' believe him, and seeks to stop him because Gregor is [[spoiler: the vessel for Yellow King, and all his life was been manipulated into becoming one.]]
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
53	* In ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'', an understandable instance occurs. WindmillCrusader James Cole has to try and prevent the near-extinction of mankind by lethal virus; however, the reason nobody listens to his warnings is that he claims to be from the future, and even [[UnreliableNarrator Cole himself begins to question if people are right about him being insane.]]
54	* In ''Film/AlienS'', there is apparently no evidence of an alien found in the ''Nostromo's'' lifeboat, so Ripley's destruction of the ship is officially designated as "Reasons Unknown" and her commercial certifications are revoked. Hell, there's even been a human terraforming colony on LV-426 for the last 20 years. Then, they lose contact with the colony and send in [[SpaceMarines the military]] to investigate, and [[FromBadToWorse they find that the colony has been wiped out and the colonists used to create more xenomorphs]]. [[TheConspiracy Of course, the Company already knew that the xenomorphs were real and wanted to capture one or more of them for various research purposes...]]
55	* In ''Film/TheBurbs'', the audience is led through the power of tropes to believe that the ObviouslyEvil Klopeks are innocent and their neighbors have whipped themselves up into a paranoid frenzy over nothing. Then the tropes are subverted when it turns out that, [[RightForTheWrongReasons despite having been wrong about the initial victim]], the Klopeks really are a pair of serial killers.
56	* In ''Film/TheDayAfterTomorrow'', the bad weather is only bad weather. It's only bad weather, it'll get better soon... or not. This is a Type C, where the main character gets ridiculed for a prognosis that is far less lethal than the situation they are really about to face.
57	* In ''Film/{{Defendor}}'', the hero appears to be a lunatic going up against an imaginary {{supervillain}} called "Captain Industry". Defendor may or may not actually believe this, but in either case, the "Captains of Industry" is actually a metaphor for the very real threat of drug lords -- the very villains whom Defendor has been fighting all along. This makes it a Type B example.
58	* In ''Film/IndependenceDay'', Russell Casse is a ShellShockedVeteran ranting about how he was abducted and abused by aliens that are going to come back and kill everyone. Most of the other characters treat him as a crackpot, and he even gets arrested for dropping leaflets full of his rantings from his airplane. But as it turns out, there really ''is'' an AlienInvasion coming— although the movie itself never confirms if the aliens that abducted Casse are the same ones that are attacking.
59	* In ''Film/IronSky'', the flying saucer space Nazis are very real, but when a certain hobo tries to warn people about the threat they all just think he's crazy.
60	* In ''Film/Red2010'', this is Boggs' signature trope. Not long into the film, he's convinced they're being followed by a helicopter, and he pulls over a random middle-aged woman at the terminal and threatens her with a gun (the woman is terrified and completely unarmed). He's just a paranoid kook, right? However, that same helicopter shows up later and snipes at them, killing their informant, and the woman shows up with a ''rocket launcher.''
61	** Also mentioned in Boggs's background. He was convinced that the government was experimenting on him.
62	--->'''Frank Moses''': As it turns out, he really was being given a daily dose of LSD for eleven years.
63	* In ''[[Film/TheForceAwakens Star Wars: The Force Awakens]]'', the Republic provides little aid to General Organa's Resistance because they believe [[TheRemnant the First Order]] doesn't pose a significant threat. [[spoiler:Then [[WaveMotionGun the Starkiller fires]] and [[EarthShatteringKaboom destroys the Republic's capital]].]]
64	* In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', we are introduced to a crazy woman who is obviously a paranoid schizophrenic. She even believes that evil robots from the future are out to get her, imagine that. To the great surprise of everyone except the audience, it eventually turns out that the robots are real and Sarah is completely sane (although traumatized). She knows exactly what a terminator really is, a straight Type A of this trope.
65	* The 1971 Creator/GeorgeCScott film ''Film/TheyMightBeGiants'' (after which [[Music/TheyMightBeGiants the band you're probably more familiar with]] is named) bases its conflict on this trope. The protagonist believes himself to be Literature/SherlockHolmes and is trying to convince his psychiatrist that not only is his claim true, but [[DiabolicalMastermind Moriarty]] is also at large in the city. [[spoiler:Since the ending [[SmashToBlack cuts out at the last second]], it's open to interpretation whether they finally meet and confront Moriarty, or are run over by a train.]]
66	* In ''Film/WarGames'', there’s nothing wrong with the computer. Nope. It’s just a hacker. It’s all his fault. And since this disaster couldn’t have been caused by some random kid, he must have been working with the Russians. [[spoiler: No, it was the computer all along: A dangerous case of Garbage In, Garbage Out, ascending towards TheComputerIsYourFriend. This is a Type B: The main character knows what Joshua is up to, but nobody believes him]].
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* A couple of books into the ''Literature/CodexAlera'', the main characters are aware that the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Vord]] are building footholds in the country in preparation for a massive invasion, but most of Alera's leadership is convinced they are a minor concern beside the many, many other races trying to kill them on their particular iteration of a DeathWorld. In the next book, they learn that the Vord have utterly consumed the next continent and Alera is the last civilisation standing.
71	* The Dragonriders in the early ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' novels are widely considered to be [[TheArtifact a useless political relic]] that no longer serves any functional purpose. Thus, when Weyrleader F'lar starts warning them that the flesh-eating alien spores called Thread are about to start falling again, everyone laughs at him. And then, well, the flesh-eating alien spores called Thread start falling again.
72	* Straight type in the ''Film/Godzilla2014'' official {{novelization}}: there's a humorous extension of the casino scene where a casino-goer sees [[Characters/MonsterVerseMUTO Femuto]] on the TV before the power goes out and immediately assumes the monster is a hoax like, in his own words, "global warming". Cue Femuto's leg smashing into the building where the Acceptable Target is currently located.
73	* In the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth novel]] of ''Literature/HarryPotter'' (as well as the end of [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire the fourth]]), people cling to the belief that [[spoiler:Voldemort]] cannot have returned. Thus they let him grow in power undisturbed, while they accuse Harry of being a WindmillCrusader and Dumbledore of being a ManipulativeBastard using this Windmill Political for some shadowy political game.
74	* The Guardians of Selfhood in ''Literature/PandorasStar'' and ''Literature/JudasUnchained'' have been claiming that an alien known as the Starflyer has infiltrated the human Commonwealth and is manipulating it to its own ends for a few hundred years. Most people dismissed the story as a convenient excuse for their acts of terrorism, until a deadly alien invasion. Suddenly the Guardians' claims start lining up with reality and a few people take them seriously. [[spoiler: Turns out they are right]].
75	* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the Night's Watch is mostly seen as a joke, since, while they do defend the realm from wildling raiders, that's not really a job that requires a 900-foot wall of ice, multiple fortresses, and lifelong dedication forswearing all lands and family to do so. Their real purpose is supposed to be defending the realm from the Others, ice-based OmnicidalManiac {{Humanoid Abomination}}s who can raise the dead as wights, but knowledge of their existence has faded into legends and fairy tales. Unfortunately for Westeros, they're real, and they're [[TheMagicComesBack coming back]].
76	** The Children of the Forest and many of the abilities associated with them also suffer this, all demoted to fanciful fairytale and myth status, despite them all cropping liberally up in legends and folklore, if rather distorted and disguised. [[spoiler:Yup, not imaginary, however reduced in numbers they are. Also, both them and human wargs, skinchangers, greendreamers, and greenseers with the use of their weirwood heart trees as booster signals? Still kicking and still impacting events... however much most of the Seven Kingdoms would like to deny it.]]
77	** [[TheFundamentalist Aeron Greyjoy]], the unwashed, disheveled prophet of the Drowned God, is dead set in his belief that his brother Euron is an agent of his religion's equivalent of Satan, and that his coronation would spell doom for the Ironborn. However, due to his status as a half-mad fanatic with a lifelong grudge against Euron, and the fact that the Ironborn are considered such a tertiary part of the plot, even the readers are unlikely to believe that Euron is anywhere near as dangerous as Aeron claims. [[spoiler: And they'd be right. [[OmnicidalManiac He's much]], [[AGodAmI much]], '''[[DealWithTheDevil much]]''' [[SorcerousOverlord worse.]]]]
78	* In ''Literature/UnfinishedTalesOfNumenorAndMiddleEarth'' and other peripheral sources, Saruman attempted to make Gandalf's insistence that the [[Literature/TheHobbit Necromancer of Mirkwood]] was, in fact, [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]] reestablishing his power a foolish idea. Saruman very well ''knew'' that Gandalf was correct, but wanted the One Ring for himself and was stalling for time to try and find it first. It was only when he believed Sauron was too close to recovering the Ring that he dropped the charade and acknowledged the Necromancer was NoMereWindmill. This is shown ''quite'' nicely during the council scene at Rivendell in ''[[Film/TheHobbit The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey]]''.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
82	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer:''
83	** Buffy's mother doesn't believe in vampires. Buffy stopped trying to explain the very real threat of vampires after her mother had her put in a mental hospital for believing such silly "[[WindmillPolitical delusions]]". But in this setting, the vampires are very real.
84	** Buffy's roommate from "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E2LivingConditions Living Conditions]]" is, in fact, a demon despite everyone but Buffy saying that Buffy is just being neurotic.
85	* The pilot episode of ''Don Quick'' (which isn't listed in the Wikipedia entry) had a crashingly literal version of this. Visiting peaceable hippies who live inside clouds of toxic bubbles that protect them from their warlike neighbours, Don Quick dismisses their fears of the "giants" that appear on their doorstep: it's OK, they're only windmills! Actually, they're giant fans that blow the bubbles away and leave the hippies defenseless.
86	* The ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' ZombieApocalypse Halloween Special has a Type C with the genetically modified food in the cafeteria from season 2. Emma just thought they were trying to poison the kids, but it turns out it's a FateWorseThanDeath.
87	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': In "[[Recap/GameOfThronesS3E10Mhysa Mhysa]]", Stannis decides to abandon his campaign in the South to march on The Wall, using his army to shore up the defences of the Night's Watch. The reason is that he believes their missives that the White Walkers have returned and knows that if someone doesn't stop them, it doesn't matter ''who'' is sitting on the Iron Throne, they will die just like the rest of Westeros.
88	* ''Series/TheGoodies'', with Tim wearing a "the end is nigh" placard and it's just an advertising gimmick for his chestnut stall. Of course, the world gets blown up "in an unprecedented show of international military cooperation" shortly thereafter.
89	* The BBC TV series of ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981'', a man with a placard reading "The End of the World is Nigh" is among those seen panicking in the street when the Vogons arrive.
90	* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': In the OpeningMonologue, Galadriel narrates how over the centuries the Elves came to believe that Sauron was defeated or even died and his existence is merely just a LegendFadesToMyth in present. Galadriel is the only one searching for him, until Gil-galad decides to sent her back to Valinor. Turns out he did tried to restore his power until he got killed temporary by Adar. After that, he became a RetiredMonster, than he he decided again he wants power and control over Middle-earth by the end of Season 1.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
94	* Another Type D example from a ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip: A seemingly crazed man is [[SoapboxSadie standing on a soapbox]] on a bustling street corner, screaming to the pedestrians all around him that "[T]he vampires are everywhere! Listen to me! Everyone must beware! Vampires!" Everyone just ignores him -- and with good reason, because two workingmen walking by carrying a large mirror betray that nobody on the streets except for the mad prophet is casting a reflection...
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
98	* In the "Ice Age" block of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', Sorine Relicbane was branded a heretic in Soldev -- a city that caters to artificers -- for his outspoken opinion that unearthing the artifacts of ancient times and making new ones was a bad idea. Then the [[http://magiccards.info/ai/en/170.html Phyrexian]] [[http://magiccards.info/ai/en/169.html war machines]] reactivated by an evil cult and the out of control [[http://magiccards.info/ai/en/177.html steam]] [[http://magiccards.info/ai/en/178.html beasts]] created by [[http://magiccards.info/cs/en/27.html Arcum Dagsson]] demolished Soldev. The flavor text of both versions of [[http://magiccards.info/ai/en/50.html Soldevi]] [[http://magiccards.info/ai/en/49.html Heretic]] show Arcum realizing that Sorine was right all along and that Sorine himself wasn't happy about it.
99	* The Skaven in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' are this as well, since hardly anyone in the Empire even believes that they exist. This includes cities that were attacked by Skaven in the past. This is helped by a large-scale spell that makes people less likely to believe in them as well as Clan Eshin (Ninja Rats) doing all they can to steal and/or destroy evidence that would suggest the existence of Skaven. Consequently, any time someone mentions the Skaven, they are either labeled as being crazy or more likely, burned at the stake for speaking heresy, if they don't mysteriously disappear due to Eshin assassins.
100	* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': The existence of Ork kommandoz (Orks that use ''stealth'' instead of frontal AttackAttackAttack, huge guns, and shouting) ([[SoMuchForStealth not that they don't use them]]) has long been denied by higher echelons of Imperial Guard, choosing instead to execute the guardsmen who claim to have seen them for incompetence and treason... occasionally leading to those same leaders getting assassinated or blown up by the "nonexistent" kommandoz.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Video Games]]
104	* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/AnotherCenturysEpisode 2'', scientist Fidel Barkhorst tried to warn [[TheFederation the UCE]] about the possibility of an alien invasion and asked for the funding to produce a defense initiative consisting of automated battle robots and a network of {{Kill Sat}}s. The UCE leadership called him a paranoid kook and discredited Barkhorst, which resulted in his [[DrivenToSuicide committing suicide]]. A few decades later he was proven correct when [[Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross the Zentraedi]] arrived, though thankfully the [[BadassArmy combined forces of the heroes]] were enough to save the day.
105	* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' has a straight example in both the E3 demo and the finished game. Near the beginning of the demo, you hear a town crier warning that the Vox Populi are dangerous terrorists who want to plunder everything you have and murder you. Just as you're assuming that you've seen this old cliché before --it's obviously a trumped-up threat by the demonstrably evil establishment and [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified the Vox Populi are really noble freedom fighters]]-- you run into one of the Vox Populi spokesmen, who loudly proclaims that [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized his group wants to plunder everything you have and murder you]]. In the game proper, there's far more build-up to the expected reveal that the Vox are good guys, and the game even lets you believe they really are for a while. Then they turn on you, and you realize that they're actually bloodthirsty radicals looking to wipe out ''everyone'' in Columbia, all the way down to the innocent women and children.
106	* ''VideoGame/ChainedEchoes'': Early on in the story, the PlayerParty can meet a woman who is concerned for her husbands safety. The man acted strange the last few days and so she asks the party to check on him. He is found near a couple of windmills. Terrified and convinced that one of the buildings is not what it seems, he pleads for someone to slay this thing. His fears turn out justified, as one of the Windmills is in fact a huge [[ChestMonster Mimic]], which thankfully goes down after a [[CurbStompBattle single attack]].
107	* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', the Grey Wardens' reputation in Ferelden was already rather poor because of an ill-fated revolt led by a Warden in the past. While everyone acknowledges that the Darkspawn are real and are an invading force, quite a few also refuse to believe that it's a full-scale Blight. Which it is. [[spoiler:Loghain betrays his king and the Wardens to their doom because he believes they're collaborating with Orlais and he believes Ferelden can handle the Darkspawn on their own.]] As the game progresses, he falls apart as he realizes that he might have underestimated the threat.
108	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': The [[MemeticMutation oft-repeated]] page quote comes from the Citadel Council, as they dismiss [[PlayerCharacter Shepard's]] claims that the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] are real, that they were responsible for the events of the first game, and that they are on the warpath. Only in the third game is Shepard finally vindicated, as the Reaper fleet attacks Earth.
109	** Based on the official evidence shown to the council, the alternative explanation of a well known ruthless racist having found an ancient abandoned spaceship and [[CargoCult convinced a group of aliens]] that he is an [[MightyWhitey agent of their gods]] to attack human colonies appears far more plausible. And far less terrifying. Despite the official story being "Geth Attack", it's clear that some elements of council space and beyond did believe the Reaper threat to exist and unofficial steps were taken to prepare against it.
110	** This trope is amusingly averted in the case of Legion if he survives the SuicideMission to report the Reaper threat to his people. Much to Shepard's envy.
111	--->'''Shepard:''' So the geth believed your proof that the Reapers were coming back?\
112	'''Legion:''' Of course.\
113	'''Shepard:''' That must have been nice.
114	** In the second game, it's revealed by the Citadel Archives that [[spoiler:the Council ''does'' recognize that Sovereign was likely a Reaper. However, they took the official stance that Sovereign was a Geth construct, in an effort to avoid widespread panic by following Shepard's approach of "warning everyone"]].
115	* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has a quest where a man who works in a zoo suspects that the penguins are up to something and has you create a penguin disguise so you can infiltrate them. It seems at first like he is just paranoid, but when you actually go into the penguin enclosure in your disguise, you find out that the penguins can talk and are planning an invasion. He ends up getting fired from his job because he can't convince anyone else the penguins are evil.
116	* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'': Sōsuke Sagara, protagonist of ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', is usually treated as a WrongGenreSavvy WindmillCrusader who sees danger at every corner. Sometimes, however, [[ProperlyParanoid he turns out to be right]]. Like in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' when he informs [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Yurika]] that a suspicious person has appeared - that suspicious person turns out to be the ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'' character, [[TheMole Balzac]].
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Web Animation]]
120	* ''WebAnimation/FreedomToons'': "Leftism: Then vs Now". In 2008, Seamus' criticisms of what he thinks the effects of left-wing policies could be are derided by Julie as irrational fear-mongering but have all come true by 2016.
121	** In 2008, he doesn't care about gay marriage being legalized but thinks that Christian bakers should not be forced to provide services that conflict with their religion. In 2016, they're being sued for bigotry.
122	** In 2008, Julie says that terrorists should never be imprisoned without due process because presumption of innocence is paramount for a lawful civil society. In 2016, she wants to suspend civil liberties for people accused of rape and considers anyone who questions this a "rape apologist".
123	--->'''Julie:''' Honestly, why don't you ever trust me?
124	[[/folder]]
125
126	[[folder:Webcomics]]
127	* [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2134#comic One strip]] of ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' [[PlayingWithATrope kind of runs in circles around the idea]], first coming in from one direction and [[NoHeroToHisValet then another]].
128	* [[http://xkcd.com/556/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' strip similarly approaches the "windmill" idea (both literally and in the sense of the related tropes) from an odd angle, but probably goes best under this trope.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Western Animation]]
132	* In the ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' episode "Operation: S.U.P.P.O.R.T.", Numbuh One thinks that Cree's training bra is [[FunWithAcronyms "Battle Ready Armor"]] and that she's in league with the adults. While at first, it looks like he's being ridiculous (as even Numbuh Five, Cree's younger sister, tells him), it turns out at the end of the episode that [[ProperlyParanoid he's exactly right]] (and apparently, Numbuh Five knew it, too, as Cree had procured information not from her, but from a dummy she had made), and Cree goes on to become one of the most dangerous villains in the series. Of course, later episodes show that they had ''many'' reasons to be wary of Cree from the start, [[FallenHero given who]] [[BrokenPedestal she used]] [[TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry to be]].
133	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight Sparkle appears to be jealous and/or paranoid of Shining Armor's marriage to Princess Cadence, repeatedly claiming something is wrong with her and eventually straight-up accusing her of being evil. As it turns out, [[spoiler:[[ProperlyParanoid that Cadence was an imposter who imprisoned the real Cadence]]]].
134	* This is a frequent theme in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark;'' from Kyle's brother Ike being abducted by space aliens in the first episode to Kyle claiming in [[WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut the movie]] that shooting Terrance and Philip would cause {{Satan}} and UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein to TakeOverTheWorld.
135	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' episode "Haunted", Robin is plagued by thoughts of evil villain Slade, and if he is still out there somewhere. Robin pushes his friends away, as his determination to find Slade is getting obsessive and the other titans have a hard time convincing him Slade is no longer an issue. At one point, Robin actually starts to see Slade moving around. It's just that, even while Robin catches up with him, no one else can see the villain. It gets so bad they actually have to restrain Robin later on. It turns out though... that imaginary enemies don't tend to do physical damage to their victim, and that Robin might actually be fighting something more than anyone else is assuming. [[spoiler: It ultimately turns out to be a subversion: Robin is under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, and the physical damage is partially self-inflicted, partially psychosomatic.]]
136	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' episode "The Invisible Hand of Fate" flashes back to a time when the Guild of Calamitous Intent was not believed by the Office of Secret Intelligence to still exist. Col. Gathers and his protégé Brock Samson are investigating the Guild nonetheless, earning them the ridicule of their comrades. When Sgt. Hatred finally pulls the plug on them, he even says to Samson, "Your windmill chasing days are over, [[Literature/DonQuixote Sancho Panza]]." In the end, the trope is played straight for the O.S.I. in general but deliberately Invoked in the case of Sgt. Hatred: not only does the Guild exist, but Hatred is revealed at the episode's end to be a Guild mole.
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140	* Most people believed that the claims that the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] were bent on the total conquest of Europe constituted a WindmillPolitical. (It didn't help that World War I era propaganda [[CryingWolf exaggerated Imperial Germany's ambitions and crimes.]]) People read UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's ''Literature/MeinKampf'' and [[MyGodYouAreSerious didn't believe he was serious]], or thought that even if he was, there was no way he'd go and try to make it a reality, or that even if he did, there was no way he could pull it off. We all know how it turned out in the end. This is also true for Winston Churchill's conviction that war with the Nazis was inevitable. UsefulNotes/NevilleChamberlain famously took the populist position on the issue, since public opinion was almost unanimously opposed to ''another'' large-scale European war, and together with French PM Deladier negotiated with Hitler to preserve peace in Europe... [[SubvertedTrope at first]]. By the middle of the 1930s, it was obvious that the Nazis weren't going to be satisfied until they controlled the whole continent, and behind the scenes, the focus had shifted to delaying the inevitable confrontation as long as possible while they made preparations; within weeks of Chamberlain making his infamous "there will be peace in our time" speech, Parliament passed legislation enabling significant expansion of the armed forces and laying the groundwork for the extensive civil defence preparations that saved many lives during the Blitz. Sadly, his mostly-undeserved reputation for HeadInTheSandManagement persisted for decades after his death.
141	* For a time, UsefulNotes/TheMafia was so damn good at keeping its secrets that it was practically CommonKnowledge that there was no such thing. Senate and FBI investigations into the matter were largely seen as a paranoid windmill crusade by politicians with nothing better to do. It wasn't until [[CriminalConvention the Apalachin Meeting in 1957]] (in which a curious New York state trooper stumbled upon a major meeting of the Mafia's bosses, and in turn, more than 60 were arrested) and the subsequent Valachi hearings (in which a low-level mafioso named [[TheStoolPigeon Joe Valachi]] [[TheInformant squeals on]] national television, in front of a Senate subcommittee, of a who's who in the Mafia and its inner workings), which revealed that not only did La Cosa Nostra exist, but it was actually ''much'' more powerful than assumed.
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Context Main / NoMereWindmill