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Entertainingly Wrong for when they're totally wrong in the "Batman's Roomate" way
Clark Kenting for the failure to see through a seemingly thin disguise- and some analysis on how this actually can work in some cases. (Several people famously had "Okay, now I get it..." reactions to Christopher Reeve's imposing heroic Superman vs. his adorkable klutzy Clark Kent.)
see also Bat Deduction (A nonsensical thread of "logic" and "evidence" leads to the conclusion that Batman and Bruce Wayne are the same person), and Right for the Wrong Reasons (A supervillain catches on to the fact that Peter is always around to take pictures of Spiderman, and that Spiderman must be helping them take some of them. Peter Parker clearly must coordinate with Spiderman and follow him around on patrol, so if Peter is on the north end of Manhattan, it's the prefect time for a bank robbery on the south end.)
Edited by Scorpion451
But wouldn't the Bat Deduction have to be wrong in that case and therefore not a case of being right for the wrong reason? Bruce Wayne being Batman may not be a stretch for a few reasons(or at least it's more plausible than being roommates). A big one being Bruce has the money to finance Batman's exploits and the death of his parents is common knowledge. In fact, some people, like Ra's al Ghul are able to figure it out based on these reasons, yet many others don't realise this or dismiss this.
Spiderman actually names this phenomena in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #591, calling it a 'psychic blindspot'. A side effect of the deal he made with Mephisto is that only did people forget Spiderman's identity, but they cannot deduce it unless he tells them, no matter what evidence they find. The blindspot prevents them from 'connecting the dots' or if they do, they will come to the wrong conclusion, e.g. thinking that Peter and Spiderman could only be working together, but never that they are the same person.
So would that still be Bat Deduction because they take leaps in logic to come a to conclusion, yet the conclusion always happens to be wrong?
In both Bat Deduction and Right for the Wrong Reasons, the conclusion doesn't need to be completely correct, but it does need to be functionally correct.
If they take the right evidence and take series of steps to reach the wrong conclusion, the situation is simple Entertainingly Wrong. A sillier work like Lego Batman has it Played for Laughs, exaggerating the stretches of logic required to avoid the correct conclusion while Batman makes only the most transparent efforts to hide it. A more serious work might limit itself to simple lampshading of people's incorrect guesses while making it clear that he takes steps to encourage these note
When you get things like the Mephisto deal, that's a form of Perception Filter. The standard play is a sort of bootleg invisibility, but it also applies when there's a block against some abstract concept like realizing Peter Parker and Spiderman are the same person.
Edited by Scorpion451
Is there a trope name for when characters in a story are unable to piece together a heroes secret identity in spite of any logical evidence pointing to that person? Even if you can accept the fact Superman can hide behind a pair of glasses, there may still be circumstantial evidence pointing to Clark Kent being Superman.
One example would be, Peter Parker is the only photographer who can get any photos of Spiderman and most of the time they are taken from impossible angles. Yet even when characters or villains bring up this connection Peter has to Spiderman, no one reasons that maybe they are one in the same. They either ignore this conclusion or come to a totally inaccurate one(e.g like the Joker does in the Lego Batman movie, though is played for comedic effect).
Is it just an extension of Paper Thin Disguise? Or is there another trope name for this type of occurrence in comics?