History Main / ApatheticCitizens

* In July 2008, a woman named [[https://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/03/hospital.woman.death/ Esmin Green]] collapsed in the waiting room of Kings County Hospital (a well known hospital in Brooklyn) and lay there for an ''hour'' before she was tended to, by which point it was too late and she died. Security camera footage showed several hospital staff members walking by for over ''30 minutes'' before doing anything. This is especially bad as these were ''medical professionals'' trained to help rather than ordinary people, yet they did nothing except tell BlatantLies about the incident--her chart claimed that she was walking and talking at a time the footage showed she was lying on the floor.

* ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'': Most citizens, like in many {{Light Gun Game}}s, are just annoying in how they jump out of cover to yell at you to not shoot, but a few, notably in Chinatown Assault, seem to be completely unconcerned with the active shooting situation going on around them. Notably one old man in the subway station who is sleeping on a bench throughout the entire scene, only moving to scratch himself or look up annoyed at you. A chef trying to catch a chicken also walks through the scene.

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* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': A meeting with a contact turns bloody in the Ultra-Luxe Hotel spa, eliciting ''absolutely zero'' reaction from the nearby people who are dipping in the pool. It actually makes the place creepier than it already is.

* In ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'', the citizens notice that the stars and moon are gone out of the sky, but never notice that rolling balls of... stuff are collecting people, buildings, and land. Son, did you say there's a strange ball collecting stuff? Oh, we have to catch a plane.
* While they don't actually appear, they clearly exist in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2''. The BigBad gives a MotiveRant referencing the world's apathy as a reason for his DespairEventHorizon, and his goal is to get citizens to care about the risks and sacrifices the military makes.
-->[[spoiler:''' General Sheperd:''']] Five years ago, I lost 30,000 men [[NukeEm in the blink of an eye]]... and the world just fucking watched. Tomorrow, there will be no shortage of volunteers, no shortage of patriots. I know you understand.
* ''VideoGame/HercsAdventures'': Nobody gives a wet napkin about you being a legendary greek hero trying to stop Hades to bring TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, but they react if you hit them... By saying things like "Quit hitting me !" or "Pick someone your own size !".
* The ''VideoGame/MentalSeries'', at least in the last game, ''Murder Most Foul''. The citizens don't really seem to care about your presence, with them only telling you "Watch it FREAK!" if you run into them. This wouldn't be so bad, if the instructions didn't establish the three as the most wanted criminals in the country. They still don't react when Walter starts running them over with a van.
* Franchise/TheSmurfs themselves on the very first level of the 16-bit version of Infogrames' ''VideoGame/TheSmurfs1994''. Not only do they not seem to care that your fellow Smurfs have been captured by Gargamel and you're the only Smurf that needs to rescue them, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou they're also inadvertently trying to kill you]] with their daily activities!
* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/CobraMission''. As we learn towards the end of the game, most young men and women were kidnapped and either killed or drugged and transformed into Mooks, and older folks are too afraid to leave their homes. Yet, most businesses (shops, delivery firm, construction company, railroad, hiring company) seem to be working as though nothing is out of ordinary.
* Played very straight by the [=NPCs=] of ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction''. Your hero Kyrie is a PersonOfMassDestruction who was jailed for [[PowerIncontinence accidentally killing a beastlord]] and [[WhereIWasBornAndRazed turning his whole village to sand]], and his LoveInterest Morte is [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Crimson Plague, feared Beastslayer,]] and supposedly one of the most notorious members of the World Annihilation Front (and definitely carrier of a {{BFS}} that no one ever asks her to please leave outside). Most people don't even ''blink'' when you walk into town - not just the humans, who ''might'' believe you're there to liberate them from [[FantasticRacism feral rule]], but even most of the ferals don't seem to care (including if you walk into a feral-only portion of a city; the most reaction you'll get is a casual, "Oh dear, how did you get in here? This is no place for humans," not even a threat to call the guards if you don't leave). When people start noticing that the world may actually be ending, their reactions are pretty low-key, too - a couple ''say'' they're scared but still roam around the city as usual, though some question if such a thing is even possible. In the city of Viteaux, however, when Porcus Rex threatens to [[EatsBabies eat a child]] [[DisproportionateRetribution for accidentally running into him]], the crowd of onlookers definitely feels sorry for the kid, but doesn't dare intervene or even raise an objection. Even your companions point out to Kyrie that this is simply the way things are (luckily for that kid, though, Kyrie is an AllLovingHero and refuses to accept the status quo).
* Ryomura Village's citizens in ''VideoGame/{{Sinjid}}'' don't seem to notice or care that [[EliteMooks Mistwalkers]] hired by the TheEmpire stormed their village and kidnapped your allies while you were away. It's even lampshaded; [[TheHero Sinjid]] questions why the villagers are so calm given the situation they're in, and [[MsExposition Midori]], who informs you of this matter, states that it's because they're slow.
* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines''' resident pawn shop manager Trip will sell the player character highly illegal weapons with offhand comments about the dreary state of Santa Monica, a warning not to do anything that could be traced back to him, and absolutely no further interest. That he has connections in local law enforcement and both opposing Vampire factions makes it highly likely that he has some inkling of the supernatural nastiness going on in town, but prefers the safety of the sidelines.
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'', where Crash Bandicoot and Dr. Neo Cortex end up in a Wumpa Fruit farm, and the farmer happens to have one of the crystals they need to travel to the Tenth Dimension. However, the farmer refuses to give it to them unless they exterminate the worms infesting his orchard before the farmer's market opens the next day. Cue Cortex blasting the farmer and saying something to the effect of "ThisIsReality."
* ''VideoGame/ClarencesBigChance'': Clarence's coworkers, PlayedForLaughs. One even stands around impassively while ''the room is on fire''.
* ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry2LookingForLoveInSeveralWrongPlaces'': ''Everyone''. They don't care if you are drugged, choking to death, drowning, or dying of bad food. In fact, they ALL WANT YOU TO DIE! Except for the hairstylists, that is. For instance, during the airport segment of the game, you find a suitcase with a ticking bomb in it and you decide to get it out of there before it kills everybody. You shout that you have a bomb and that everybody should get to safety, and they all ignore you. Even the guard seen in the way out (a local who knows just basic English) is informed of the bomb and replies "Have a nice day."
* ''VideoGame/SpiritsOfAnglerwoodForest'': The citizens of Hatchet's Point really don't care that Edgar, a young boy from out of town who's parents are missing, has nowhere to stay for the night. The innkeeper refuses to let him stay the night without money and one man tells him to just sleep on the streets.
* The citizens found in ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' don't seem to particular care about what goes on around them. In the prologue, Ethan and his son Shaun get hit by a car. While Ethan's wife Grace is hysterical over what she just witnessed, everyone else gathers around to see what's going on but they just stare in silence instead of offering to help or calling for an ambulance. In another case, Ethan's agoraphobia in a crowded train station nearly causes him to have a mental breakdown. While a few people do notice Ethan's behavior, they display annoyance rather than concern and everyone else just moves on without a care. Another situation occurs when Madison escorts an injured Ethan through a subway station to get away from the police that are chasing them. Madison decides to have herself and Ethan jump down to the tracks and cross it to reach the platform on the other side. The station is packed with commuters and yet not a single person bats an eye over a woman and an injured man trying to cross the train tracks.
* ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'': Most citizens, like in many {{Light Gun Game}}s, are just annoying in how they jump out of cover to yell at you to not shoot, but a few, notably in Chinatown Assault, seem to be completely unconcerned with the active shooting situation going on around them. Notably one old man in the subway station who is sleeping on a bench throughout the entire scene, only moving to scratch himself or look up annoyed at you. A chef trying to catch a chicken also walks through the scene.

** In "Necessary Sacrifice," much to Sun's frustration, no one in Menagerie is willing to help protect Haven Academy from the White Fang. Blake explains that Menagerie has been populated by Faunus who are tired of fighting or struggling and just want to be left alone. Asking them to go and fight other people's wars is asking them to put strangers before themselves. Her concern is that the people of Menagerie haven't yet realized that the damage the White Fang will do in the eyes of the humans will affect even Menagerie.

* In ''Webcomic/AHateStory'', every living citizen of [[TheNecrocracy the Lich'Moor Empire]] is completely desensitized to any form of danger or disaster and [[NotAfraidToDie has no fear of death]], leading to things like a crowd of people roasting marshmallows on the flames of the burning building they're trapped in.
* In ''WebComic/SecondEmpire'', Xenol has found that the rulers of Dalek society have begun implementing a series of "efficiency" measures such as effectively slaving the Dalek Empire to their computers and stopping assigning names in favor of strings of alphanumeric code, among other measures he sees as polluting the Dalek legacy. He arranges for a break-in into Skaro in a daring mission to kill the Emperor, and when that fails, he has inflicted massive damage to the Dalek capital and considerably thinned the city guard. He leaves Skaro, fully confident the citizenry will see his acts and begin asking questions and weakening the Emperor's rule. Cue the [[KentBrockmanNews Skaro's Largest Kwalorblmn Fruit report]] next day.

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* ''WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyInTheSims'': Ghosts haunt ponies, buildings spring into existence out of nowhere, furniture mysteriously changes location, the Grim Reaper shows up to collect a soul... and unless it effects them directly, nopony cares. One [=YouTube=] reactor discussed this, wondering how common it must be for buildings to mysteriously appear while time has stopped.
* ''Fanfic/{{Quicken}}'': Invoked. When [[AntiHero Emma]] shooed away an enforcer that was harassing Lisa, Lisa was grateful because a lot of people saw her and just walked by. And Emma didn't.
* ''Fanfic/PersonaTheSougawaFiles'': Justified. Shadows intentionally steer attention away from their unusual occurrences with a perception filter; only Persona users can see through this.
* The ''WebVideo/DragonballZAbridged'' adaptation of the ''Future of Trunks'' has a radio station giving what sounds like a weather report on the Androids currently destroying a city and slaughtering its inhabitants. Trunks guesses most people didn't react more due to them being a slow-burn threat.

* In ''Fanfic/SonicOriginsRi2'', this is the problem with the denizens of Solana. They were so caught up in their own problems even the threat of Helheim couldn't bring them together.
* ''Fanfic/PurpleDays'': Joffrey is the only one to call for a Maester when he poisons Tyrion at his wedding, meaning that his family (besides Jaime, who ran to his side), multiple noble houses, and the citizenry present did nothing but watch as a member of the royal family died right in front of them.

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-->'''Miles:''' ''[getting stepped on by a passerby]'' Great. [[BigRottenApple Thanks, New York]].

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* The inhabitants of the Castle in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' rarely care about even plot-critical and Castle-spanning events like the Supreme Custodian taking over the Castle.
* Played as hilariously straight as it is horrifying, in the ''Literature/{{GONE}}'' series, residents of the FAYZ are used to several people dropping dead on the street every week, and have genuinely stopped reacting fully to it, unless they were personally involved with the poor smuck.
* ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'' has these to begin with, and it's made worse by Man in Suit and his corruption.
* In Sinclair Lewis' ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'', the citizens who did not take seriously Windrip's rise to power qualify as this. Emma Jessop is a recurring example, as she's more concerned about mundane matters than the rise of fascism in America, much to Doremus' chargrin.
* Some politicians attempt ''enforce'' this trope in the Literature/{{Newsflesh}} Trilogy, and without laws, its probably a good way to stay alive. You see, in this world, ''anyone'' dying can, within minutes, zombify. Thus quite a few people (and laws) are concerned that attempts to help people killed in car-crashes or heart-attacks will just lead to further outbreaks.
* In ''Literature/RachelGriffin'', Rachel is stunned to realize that [[BystanderSyndrome no one is actually concerned, or willing to do very much about,]] the impending [[ApocalypseHow end of the world.]]
* ''Literature/MartinFierro'': Martin Fierro was this even before [[{{FinalSolution}} all his disgraces happened]]: At the second song, he says that he didn't want to vote in the last election (In Argentina, to vote for the Civil Judge was required) because [[{{DumbIsGood}} ''He is a gaucho redondo (dumb) and those things do not interest him'']]. Notice that he never rebels against the authorities, he just runs away from them. This is the case with all the [[{{Gaucho}} gauchos:]] in RealLife, they were exterminated by their goverment in only a few years.
* Creator/StephenKing invoked this early on in ''{{Literature/Carrie}}''.
* In ''Literature/{{Eric}}'', Rincewind travels back to the Discworld's FantasyConflictCounterpart of the Trojan War, and is bewildered to find that most citizens of Tsort are utterly uninterested in the Ephebians invading the city as long as the fighting isn't physically getting in the way of their business (and even then, may attempt to sell the combatants some food). It's the army's job to worry about that, especially since it doesn't make much difference to the average Tsortean how it turns out:
-->Basically, everyone knew that one side or the other would win, a few unlucky generals would get their heads chopped off, large sums of money would be paid in tribute to the winners, everyone would go home for the harvest and that bloody woman would have to make up her mind whose side she was on, the hussy.

* Played straight in ''Series/ScreamTheTVSeries'' where most of the teen population of Lakewood react to [[spoiler:Nina]]'s murder with dry sarcasm or mild indifference, which can be justified as many people thought they [[AssholeVictim had it coming]]... then averted later on when [[spoiler:Riley]] is killed, causing many grief-induced breakdowns.
* ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'': In the episode "Stranger at Broken Fork", the people don't do squat as the local hooligans force the mental patients out of their convalescent home to be disposed of -- [[spoiler:in the middle of the desert, egged on by a low-down and evil ''grocer'', off all people]] -- even '''after''' Steve and the local police save the day.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Hatred at the population of the Glades turns out to motivate the plans of the first season's BigBad to KillThePoor: when his wife was stabbed in a mugging gone wrong, despite being both out in the open and a wealthy philanthropist who worked in the area (in fact, [[DeathByIrony she was coming home from a free clinic she founded/ran when she was stabbed]]), nobody lifted a finger to help her. With the revelation she only died because nobody even called the police during the ''hours'' she spent bleeding out, with people walking past her indifferently all that time, the villain's views about the need to destroy such a WretchedHive are understandable.
* ''Series/SexAndTheCity'': Carrie is mugged. She walks into a salon and shrieks "I've been robbed!" In true New York City style, everyone present shrugs and goes right back to what they were doing.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': While working as a telemarketer, Phoebe ends up talking to a man who hates his SoulCrushingDeskJob so much that he's planning to kill himself. When she tries to convince him that people care about him, Earl points out that he's been loudly talking about suicide for five minutes and ''none'' of his co-workers have even looked up from their desks.
-->'''Earl:''' Hang on. (''turns to the room'') Hey everybody! Uh, I'm going to kill myself! (''nobody reacts'') I'll get back to ya. (''to Phoebe'') I got nothing here.

* The citizens in Music/TheProtomen's albums are this across both acts; Protoman even calls them out for just waiting for a hero to save them.

* One bystander to the Kitty Genovese murder (see Real life, below) was a guy called Allen Lanier, who had only moved to New York City from upstate New England a fortnight or so previously. A few years later, he wrote a song called ''Screams In The Night'' about the incident, which appeared on [[Music/BlueOysterCult his band]]'s first LP.

* {{UsefulNotes/Epicureanism}} and Stoicism have sometimes been accused of embodying this trope in their teaching. However, while Epicureanism teaches that one should strive for tranquility, and the Stoics too, both philosophies using the word "apathaia" for this from which we get "apathy", neither meant what we now mean by the word. They had different doctrines regarding "tranquility", but in both cases they didn't mean one should not care ''at all'' for others. Rather, for Epicureans one should not ''seek out'' conflict and adversity, trying to live peacefully with people (or if that wasn't possible, getting away from them or fighting back if attacked). The Stoics are notorious as preaching indifference, but that also isn't the whole story. It's true they did teach we should not let passions rule, but that didn't mean moral concern toward others wasn't good-on the contrary, they said one should act on this. However, they recognized that no matter what, people will face hardship, and said we can control its effects on us (thus maintaining "tranquility" rather than giving in to emotion), not indifference for others' hardships.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'': When Amor's river runs red as blood, most of the townspeople panic. Except the shopkeepers, who keep their calm by selling you stuff (to the admiration of your teammates).
-->'''Shopkeeper:''' Wazzat? The water's running bloody red? Eh, stuff happens. You here to buy weapons or gab?
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' has plenty of this from the {{Muggles}}, but it's {{justified| Trope}} to the point of {{Deconstruction}}, especially in the second game, by the fact that the Force Users are dragging everyone else into their conflict (not for the first time, and certainly not for the last), and many don't see much of a difference between Jedi and Sith.

* In ''VideoGame/Mother3'', after Tazmily gets modernized by Fassad and the Pigmask army following a 3-year TimeSkip, most of the villagers, once friendly and willing to help others in need, become colder and greedier, with Lucas and his family receiving the AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment for refusing to get a Happy Box ([[BreadAndCircuses which opiates the villagers]]) and modernize their house. The villagers don't seem to be bothered with the Pigmask army destroying the Nowhere Island's ecosystem, the houses of people that don't own a happy box being mysteriously destroyed by lightning, or the elderly being thrown into a run-down retirement home.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** A crime syndicate [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue takes over our city]]? Cults attempt to [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire flood and/or dry out the world]]? Some god-wannabe tries to [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl restart all of creation]]? Some kid will take care of it for us.
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Emerald]]'': [[spoiler:the weather's gone to hell, two ancient titans are intent on destroying one another, Hoenn and ''possibly the world'' are in jeopardy...]] and that kid in Mossdeep is still rambling on about the rock Steven gave him. Now evacuate before [[spoiler:your island floods.]] It gets worse when you're trying to solve the issue present in the Hoenn games, and trainers ''in the general area'' of the disaster will challenge you to a battle, despite the blistering heat or deluge of rain.
** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Pokémon Platinum]]'': People seem worried... if they're in the area. This trait is carried on from ''Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald''.
** Mention goes to ''VideoGame/PokemonHeartGoldAndSoulSilver'', where you can have the god of the ''Pokémon'' universe following you around and no one seems to notice. Well, except the guys at the Ruins of Alph.
** Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''; at one point, N suggests that if everybody else in Unova cared about their Pokémon half as much as you do, he wouldn't have a cause, but they don't, so [[WellIntentionedExtremist he does]]. This is averted with the Gym Leaders. Unlike the previous generations where the Gym Leaders are just as apathetic as everyone else, the Leaders from seven of the eight Unova gyms are actively involved in opposing N and Team Plasma.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', two people in the town's Pokémon Center do notice that [[spoiler: an enormous crystalline weapon has risen from the ground in the middle of Geosenge Town, destroying several houses in the process, and that Team Flare has seized control of their town.]] On the other hand, another guy in the Pokémon Center is still too busy talking about the TM he gave you earlier to notice anything unusual. But what really takes the cake is Phil the Photo Guy, as you can still call him to take your picture in the middle of all this, and he doesn't acknowledge any of what's going on. When you call him up, he just goes about his business like usual. Even after [[spoiler: the crisis is averted, nobody really does anything to fix the damage done around Geosenge's north end]], and everyone in town seems relatively unphased by the ordeal.
** ''Omega Ruby'' and ''Alpha Sapphire'' play this game about as straight as the originals, but mercifully make the people of Mossdeep panic as well. It's a little more egregious given the nature of the [=BuzzNav=] which reports everything to every Trainer faster than Speed Forme Deoxys; ''everyone should know about this and be panicking'', but only half the country cares.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'': Early on in the game, you find yourself impeded by a large door which won't be opened without authorization from the captain of the police force, but the officer who tells you this won't just tell you where to find the captain; apparently, the best use of their time was to devise silly little KnightsAndKnaves games meant to impede people trying to save the princess. The worst part[[note]] Aside from the fact that the captain is the guy who gives you the "find the captain" mission, or, in other words, ''the guy standing right next to the door you want open''.[[/note]] is that, when you finally locate the captain, he tells you they gave you the runaround because they just really didn't feel like helping you save their beloved monarch.
** ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'': The world has been torn apart, an EldritchAbomination is wreaking havoc at night, and Eggman is being uncharacteristically menacing, yet the only townspeople to show appropriate concern or despair are revealed to be possessed by the aforementioned EldritchAbomination. It's a little bit creepy finding people completely aware of the grim state of the world, yet much more concerned with mundane problems. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Amy when she asks why everyone is so laid-back during the crisis.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', at one point, a planet appears overhead. The two planets are mere miles away from each other, and it turns the sky a bright shade of purple. However, no one seems to be upset that another world is placed so close to theirs, except for one college student, who worries that it might mess up his senior thesis.
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', a similar premise takes place when the Adephagos is introduced into the world. Despite it being blatantly obvious in its eventual destruction of the world, the populace, for the most part, doesn't look like they care much. [[spoiler:However, this is changed when the guilds, Knights, and everyone else joins together to destroy blastia in the hopes of bringing change to the world.]]
* Averted in the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' ExpansionPack for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', where you gather weapons and otherwise help a group of farmers rise up to battle an undead invasion. It's even the farmers' idea.
* While the citizen of Empire City will easily notice Cole and act accordingly to his Karma rating in ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS}}'', they have the annoying habit of just standing around while you're duking it out with street gangs and giant robots. While not much of an inconvenience if you're playing as a villain, in which case you can just blast everything in sight, be it villain or civilian, it gets particularly annoying when playing as a hero, and you can't use any of your stronger powers because twenty damn old ladies are between you and baddies.
* Angband, Moria, and some other Roguelikes partially follow this trope. There's a deep dungeon with the world Ultimate Evil at the bottom, but there's a happy town with merchants all too willing to make a buck off the hero. Though to be fair, it's possible the town has sprung up because of the opportunities in selling equipment to would-be adventurers who promptly get themselves killed, thus ensuring a nice buyback policy once it's "found".

* ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'':
** The series usually averts this, with civilians screaming and running at any sign of danger, but the last mission of ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts'' hands you a blatant example -- you can mug a paramedic for his clothes with a half-dozen civilians ''standing five feet away, looking directly at you''. It doesn't raise the alarm at all.
** In the Mardi Gras level of ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', the teeming mass of partygoers choking the streets don't notice or care if 47 is running around having gun battles with cops and thugs dressed as giant birds. They don't even count as living witnesses afterwards.
* ''VideoGame/TheGodfather'' game is weird about this; sure, there's CrowdPanic should you be seen with a gun, or get involved in a gunfight, or crash into something... but if you use your car's horn to try and get them out of the way when you're speeding to somewhere, they don't care. Perhaps a case of TruthInTelevision?
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' have the people in the slums practically not care what happens around them or above them on the upper plate. When Sector 7 gets destroyed because of a piece of the upper plate falls on it, several of the [=NPCs=] are either mildly surprised or are disgruntled that the destruction caused them an inconvenience.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** Ironically, the citizens in ''VideoGame/Persona3'' act this way toward Apathy Syndrome victims. People with Apathy Syndrome can't talk or move, so if they're stuck outside, they can easily become dehydrated or get heat stroke. However, it seems that most people you speak to are too creeped out to get near a victim or can't even be bothered to help. One student even admits to ''taking pictures of every victim he saw and sending them to his friends''.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'': The longer the fog remains in the town, the more apathetic the citizens get. The protagonists worry about this when they notice that the townspeople are more concerned with the latest trending topic than they are about the problems the town is facing. As they later learn, the fog represents self-deceit, and is fueled by the people's desire for a convenient lie over harsh reality. Both of the major villains have the nihilistic belief that this is all there is to mankind, and are willing to grant that wish by forcibly merging the real world with the Shadow world when the fog inevitably grows strong enough.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Regularly discussed. Many of the villains bring up the fact they can do the horrible things they've done because the general public is more interested in being told what to do rather than doing what's right on their own. In fact, the Phantom Thieves decide to continue their activities after the first dungeon in order to encourage people to not be afraid and apathetic anymore. The optional dungeon Mementos is actually the [[MentalWorld Palace]] of Tokyo's general population, created by mundane stressors such as a loss of livelihood, status, and family. These fears prevent them from challenging the status quo that allows the villains to get away with their crimes. Of the SevenDeadlySins the Palaces and their creators represent, Mementos and humanity represent "Sloth". The apathy of the general public becomes somewhat ridiculous when [[spoiler:the supernatural BigBad creates a Palace of the population of Tokyo itself, rains acid blood on everyone inside, and 99.5% of the population ''continues walking and pretends they're not noticing their neighbors melting right in front of them'']].
* Averted in ''VideoGame/MetalWalker''. While the majority of the citizens don't have {{Mon}}s to help, they know a lot of what's going on and freely share information with you, telling you where places are on the world map. In the very beginning of the game, a citizen even saves your character's life!
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Dgeneration}} D/Generation]]'', while some of the people you rescue may give you advice, most just wait for you to lead them to the exit.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', [=NPCs=] won't lift a finger to help you if you're under attack by another NPC. Even your fellow Guild members won't assist if you're attacked by a [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood]] assassin in the guild hall. The only exception is that CityGuards will kill creatures if you lure them into town.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'':
*** There are many cases, especially the rulers of the cities and the empire. At the climax of the main story, there is a demonic invasion about to occur outside one of the most important imperial cities. If the battle and the city are lost, the empire will fall as the demons would have a clean march to the heart of the empire. So your character goes around trying to muster support for the coming invasion. If you do everything perfectly (taking over an hour per city), you'll be assisted by...14 standard city guards. Not 14 guards per city. 14 guards total. To top things off, the capital of the empire can't send any troops at all because: "They are too busy protecting the borders". Priorities seem skewed...
*** During the main part of the game there are [[{{Hellgate}} Oblivion Gates]] open all over the land, constantly pouring demons out of them, and no one outside of the main quest line seems overly concerned about that.
*** [[ArtificialStupidity Wonky AI]] also contributes to this and zigzags it. Plenty of videos have sprung up of people committing flagrant crimes in front of guards and citizens, who yell at them but can't be bothered to get up out of their chair to actually do something about it. On the other hand, it's equally common to see the populace of Cyrodiil [[DisproportionateRetribution drastically overreact to minor crimes]], leading the theft of an onion to balloon out into a full-on riot, leaving a dozen dead.
*** Inverted for the CityGuards in comparison the the previous game, ''Morrowind''. Bethesda seems to have overcompensated, because in ''Oblivion'', a perfectly viable way to defeat tough enemies is to simply lure them toward some guards who will take care of them in short order.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', most people seem concerned about the impending draconic apocalypse, but they just go about their normal business since they know there's nothing they can do about it. But if someone dies in front of them, chances are they'll just say "Oh. What happened?", knowing full well that the culprit is right behind them with a weapon covered in blood. Ans sometimes, after the town your visiting is attacked by a ''freaking dragon'', the citizens react to the aftermath like it was a normal day in the neighborhood.
* In the old FPS/RPG ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}'', neither the peasants or Order troops pay attention to the heavily armed man wandering around town. Not even when the facilities he enters suffer from gunfights and destruction shortly after. You can also shoot villagers with poison arrows and stab them to death in plain sight of their friends or allies and most of the time they won't even move. However, acolytes will attack you if kill other acolytes.
* The citizens of Hexi village from ''VideoGame/EasternExorcist'' demonstrates some ridiculous moments of apathy, which figures into the backstory of some of the bosses (who turns out to be {{tragic monster}}s because of their past). For instance, the Shura used to be an orphaned boy the villagers simply ignored and left to starve to death on his own, while there is a water demon monster was a rape ''victim'', that the villagers simply sentences to death in order to preserve their village's reputation.
* Averted in the ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'' series, where if your subjects have reasons to revolt (nationalism, religious differences, etc.) THEY WILL. To many players' annoyance.
* Played straight in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', where the citizens of Crimea, at least in Port Toha, explicitly state that they don't care that their country is being overrun, though they're aware of it. Oddly, citizens of the antagonist country Daein seem quite passionate when the protagonists overrun their country.
* Played straight and subverted in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''. Many of the toads in the game show some level of concern over the outbreak of Blorbs and at least notice the disappearance of everyone in Peach's castle, but none of them are actually willing to do anything about it. That said, when things land right in their lap, most of them are plenty willing to scream and panic ([[spoiler:i.e. when Bowser grows several stories and has a Godzilla-style throwdown with a HumongousMecha formed using Peach's castle]]).
* The citizens of [=OsTown=] and Mean Street in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey''. [[CrapsackWorld The world is nothing but a dangerous, toxic, dark, forsaken wasteland]], death machines and murderous predators made of ink waiting around just for a chance to slit their throats or take their souls, the world is ruled by Cthulhu's long lost cousin and a MadScientist with an amputation fetish, [[WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit their former king]] is [[SanitySlippage losing his grip of reality due to bitterness, jealousy, grief and loneliness]], and [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse the most famous star in animation history]] is running around either trying to save the world or playing ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' Disney-style on them and they all walk around with big smiles and happy faces and says they've no problems in the world and just ask you to deliver their mail or bring them flowers or something.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'': The citizens ''have the shine sprites needed to get the island sunny again''. They have Mario do everything for them instead of pooling them in or just giving them to Mario. Especially JustForFun/{{egregious}} are the tanookis running the boathouse, who are actually hoarding ''two dozen'' Shine Sprites and will only fork them over for blue coins.
* The villagers in the ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' games barely do anything to make the town better. Weeds have grown all over the place? You have to remove them! Money is needed to build a bridge? The villagers will only contribute with a ''very'' small amount of money! Gulliver has washed up on the beach? No one will bother to see if he is alright.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] will often ignore huge battles taking place right beside them, and outside of one guy in Lothering, none of the Templars seem to notice that Morrigan is an apostate. The latter is rather justified, as Ser Bryant, the leader of the Lothering Templars, does point out that his ''main'' concern is the approaching Darkspawn horde, and as long as they don't cause trouble, he simply has bigger fish to fry than a Mage Warden or their Apostate allies. Another reason is that Templars likely don't want to create a diplomatic incident with the Grey Wardens over arresting their allies, especially in lieu of the Blight -- a side-quest in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'' shows [[CurbStompBattle what happens]] when the Templars ''do'' try to take issue with the Grey Wardens hiring apostates. For the most part, the only objection the Templars have to the [[WellIntentionedExtremist Grey Wardens]] is their refusal to ban BloodMagic, seeing it as simply [[TheGlovesComeOff another tool]] to [[LetsGetDangerous use against the horde]].
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': The citizens of Kirkwall don't seem to notice or care that the city's most famous resident, a rogue wizard, the captain of the guard, and a pirate are getting into massive, bloody battles in residential neighborhoods.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The Bikini Bottomites often behave this way in regards to the main characters. For example, in "Stuck in the Wringer", they don't bat an eye at [=SpongeBob=] getting constantly pummeled at the carnival due to Patrick's incompetence, yet they get on ''his'' case when he justifiably tells Patrick off and [[MadeOutToBeAJerkass outright tell him to his face]] he ''deserves'' to be in his wringer for it, callously sending him into a deep depression.

*** Subverted in [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess2016 the manga]], where, even with an ApocalypticGagOrder in place, Hyrule Castle Town is shown to be ObviouslyNotFine, and everyone is so on edge that a single witness report of a SavageWolf (i.e., Link) sends the city into lockdown and all the guards hunting it down. Later on, when Ashei realizes Link knows a lot more about what's happening than he's let on, [[WhatTheHellHero she tears into him]] for acting like he's TheOnlyOne who can do anything and leaving everyone else paralyzed against whatever is threatening them. [[spoiler:So he does. [[SupportingLeader And Ashei uses that knowledge toprepare Hyrule's knights]] against the massive KeystoneArmy that pours out of the castle while Link is battling Ganondorf.]]

*** The random townspeople are a mixed bag. Some of them are clearly worried with phrases like "You must save Hyrule!" and "Please save our town!". Others express "I am much too busy to talk to a stranger" or "I know nothing".

* ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}}'' from DC comics, starring Tommy Monaghan (not the bald dude). He is utterly truthful with his initial romantic interest, who simply thinks he's being charming. She does not take it well when she discovers that he really does kill people (only bad ones though) for cash.

* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Tim gets jumped outside a fairly busy theater while on a date with Ariana. Not only does everyone other than Ariana ignore what's going on, his school councilor tries to pin the blame for the injuries on Bruce, even though Tim was living with his father by that point and there was at least one witness who was easy to contact.

* British history author Anthony Beevor suggests in his book ''Russian Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921'' that Russia basically ''is'' this trope. According to him, the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober the Russian October Revolution]] in October 1917 succeeded basically because ''nobody bothered to resist the Bolsheviks in the first place'' and they were able to seize the power undisturbed. This is another version of the Chinese proverb "only a madman celebrates the change of dynasty" - for the Russians, the Bolsheviks would be [[MeetTheNewBoss another case of hard-handed rulers in a long continuum]].

* In ''Film/TheHowling'', several people watch a woman transform into a werewolf on live TV and pass it off as special effects, not really caring enough to look into the matter further.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Many, Many Monkeys", almost 100,000 people across the United States suddenly go blind as a result of a growth forming over their eyes. Jean Reed's theory is that it is a [[MysticalPlague punishment]] for humanity's indifference towards each other's pain and suffering. She tells Nurse Claire Hendricks that her husband lost his sight after he received news of his mother's death and talked about it as if he was discussing the weather. Jean admits that she left him alone in spite of his condition in order to save herself and thinks that she was struck blind as a result. Claire eventually becomes convinced that Jean was right when she said that [[MonkeyMoralityPose people have become monkeys]].

** When an air raid siren goes off, the aunt says, in a very disinterested tone, "Oh, not again".

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' was particularly guilty of this trope, especially during the Buu Saga. When Goku and Vegeta attempted to get the Earth to donate energy to the Spirit Bomb, the people (besides their friends and family) outright refused, even mocking them. Mr. Satan was legitimately angered at this, as the planet was giving the middle finger at their one and only chance to destroy Majin Buu once and for all, and ended up calling them out for it. Ironically, it's him calling them out that got them to do it. Many people said (though possibly only the dub) that it might have just been some trick by Buu, or something to that effect. It was the fact that Mr. Satan is THE MOST FAMOUS HEROIC CHAMPION FIGHTER ON EARTH (since the Z warriors all shun fame and let him take credit for the Cell Games) that they got on board... Though oddly nobody questioned if HIS voice was a trick, probably because the one thing Mr. Satan shares with his namesake other than the name is epic bullshitting.
* ''Anime/PanzerWorldGalient'': The Lanplatians. Even when a tower falls on their friends right in front of them, they just stand there drooling in confusion. [[spoiler: Marder's grand plan is actually to make them forget this and care about *something* again.]]
* Shows up a lot in ''Literature/{{Shiki}}'', where most of the villagers are utterly apathetic about the vampires taking over the town (they think it's an epidemic of disease, but ''still''). An epidemic is one thing, but the town having dozens of deaths, and slowly being repopulated by pale people who only work at night, you'd think they'd be at least a little suspicious. This ends up frustrating Doctor Ozaki to no end resulting in him hatching a plan to try and get the villagers to act.
* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', citizens don't care that [[spoiler: Togusa]] had just been shot and now lay bleeding out on the sidewalk. They just want to get out of the rain... although one citizen does cautiously approach him at the very last second before the episode fades out to the credits.
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] and PlayedStraight in ''Anime/PsychoPass'' - Thanks to [[TheOmnipotent The Sybil System]] and [[BigBrotherIsWatching regulated Psycho Pass Scans]], violent crime has been diminished to the point where it's practically become a non-existent concept. So when a man using a [[spoiler:Psycho Pass Blocking helmet]] is beating a woman to death ''in the middle of the street, in broad day light, in front of millions of witnesses no less'', the citizens ''barely'' register what's happening and one guy even starts making a video recording of it.
* In ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', people get killed off all the time in public, or escorted out of the public to be killed in gruesome manners, and no one ever seems to pay much attention to the corpses on the streets or rampant disappearances, not even reporting them to the police. The Hunters are the only ones shown to take note of frequent deaths and disappearances in some particular area, and most of them display no empathy whatsoever, using said knowledge as clues to further their own ends. Ordinary civilians recount horrific events casually to their co-workers and comrades in a casual manner with little reaction from the people they speak to. The main character, Gon, is one such exception to this rule; any death he sees weighs heavily on him, as long as they haven't proven themselves an irredeemable murderous scumbag to him.
* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'', Narancia Ghirga cuts out his tongue during the Talking Heads fight, and only two men of a whole street seems to have noticed it. And the only reason they are shocked is that they are the enemy stand users. Later, Narancia shoots one of them to death with Aerosmith and still nobody cares. For their defense, they cannot see stands, but a person suddenly being full of gunshots and spilling blood over people is certainly not an everyday experience.
* In ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' the people of Earth are quite apathetic to the Invid rule and the attempts of the Robotech Expeditionary Force and [[LaResistance the few partisan fighters]] to take them down. {{Justified}} by the fact that not only they leave Humans alone as long as they don't try to get more [[MacGuffin Protoculture]] than they're alloted or pose a danger to them (overlapping categories, as most mechas and weapons capable of fighting the Invid require Protoculture as fuel), but they've also repaired Earth's ecosystem after the Zentraedi bombardment at the end of the First Robotech War nearly collapsed it, so the citizens of Earth have little reason to oppose the conquerors [[spoiler:and will sometimes even ''help them'', luring the unsuspecting soldiers into ambushes and leaving before the Invid attack]].

* This is a major plot point in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. ApatheticCitizens ignoring [[spoiler:Tenko Shimura]] when he was alone on the streets is what [[FreudianExcuse drives him down the path of villany]].
* In ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'', the Uchiha clan is killed in a single night and nobody but Sasuke (the sole survivor) seem to care at all. It's true that the Uchiha clan weren't on great relations with the rest of the village [[spoiler:and were in fact planning a coup]], but wouldn't somebody at least ThinkOfTheChildren You'd think the Uchiha clan would have at least ''some friends'' outside the family that would be devastated by this. Even if we assume people simply didn't care about them, this is still a ludicrous scenario. There is a mass murderer who can kill a clan on the loose and as far as they know, he could come back and come after ''them too''. The Uchiha clan was at least one of the founding members of Konoha and were killed in a single night. What made the other clans think they could do any better? [[spoiler:There's the fact Itachi was ''ordered'' to do this by the village leaders in secret, was always still loyal to the village, and he was actually just one of two perpetrators of the act, so there are hints there was quite a government cover up at work about this.]]
* In ''Anime/ReCreators'', Mamika's blasts typically subvert this since people react appropriately to the equivalent of a little girl firing bombs in a densely populated area. Then it gets double subverted when she [[spoiler:uses her TakingYouWithMe attack on Altair]], which has such a large blast radius (and is even visible from a far distance) a good potrion of town should be effected-- yet neither the townsfolk or the news ever comment on it.

* Unfortunately, a very common reaction to the COVID pandemic, resulting in the epidemic becoming worse than it would otherwise be.

* ''Series/DerryGirls'': the people of Derry are accustomed to the presence of the Britishmilitary, and paramilitary bomb threats, whih the FishOutOfWater James sometimes finds jarring.

** In "Sons of the Harpy", Loras is seized by the Faith Militant just after a sparring match, but neither his squire, nor his sparring partner, nor any of the nearby nobles make any attempt to intervene as the Queen's cousin is manhandled by commoners.

* Played straight in ''Series/ScreamTVSeries'' where most of the teen population of Lakewood react to [[spoiler:Nina]]'s murder with dry sarcasm or mild indifference, which can be justified as many people thought they [[AssholeVictim had it coming]]... then averted later on when [[spoiler:Riley]] is killed, causing many grief-induced breakdowns.

* Hatred at the population of the Glades turns out to motivate the plans of the BigBad of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'''s first season to KillThePoor: when his wife was stabbed in a mugging gone wrong, despite being both out in the open and a wealthy philanthropist who worked in the area (in fact, [[DeathByIrony she was coming home from a free clinic she founded/ran when she was stabbed]]), nobody lifted a finger to help her. With the revelation she only died because nobody even called the police during the ''hours'' she spent bleeding out, with people walking past her indifferently all that time, one can almost [[VillainHasAPoint sympathize with the big bad's views about the need to destroy such a]] WretchedHive.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The citizens of South Park has been guilty of this on numerous occasions, particularly in "Good Times with Weapons" where they witness [[ButtMonkey Butters]] with a [[EyeScream shuriken in his eye]]... and ignore it in favor of [[SkewedPriorities Cartman walking around nude]].

** Unfortunately, lack of enforcement of Good Samaritan laws in China is very widespread, and has given rise to the rather disturbing saying that if you accidentally injure someone (such as Wang Yue above), it's much, ''much'' cheaper to just pay for a funeral than escalating medical bills.

* Done to both funny and scary effect in ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', when Louis is cornered by the Terror Dog outside a restaurant. Everyone ignores his pleas to be let in, then just watches as the dog drags him off before going back to their meals. Ivan Reitman really gets a laugh out of the scene on the DVD commentary, calling it "a New York moment."

* In ''Film/LastActionHero'', the main antagonist is a criminal from a stereotypical movie universe where the good guys always win and the bad guys never kill innocent bystanders while on the rampage. When he finds himself in the real world late one night he asks a random bystander for some help "testing a theory." When the bystander approaches he pulls out a gun and shoots him dead, then loudly announces "I've just killed a man!" To which someone angrily hollers back from the windows overhead for him to shut up so they can sleep. The villain is overjoyed.
* ''Film/TheLongGoodbye2020'' is set in a dystopian Britain where white nationalist militias drag Britons of Pakistani ancestry out of their houses, and murder them in the street. In the film, the white people in the neighborhood simply watch from behind their windows as Riz's family is massacred. Riz's brother spots some white people watching and screams "Fucking help us!"

** ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'': The world has been torn apart, an EldritchAbomination is wreaking havoc at night, and Eggman is being uncharacteristically menacing, yet the only townspeople to show appropriate concern or despair are revealed to be possessed by the aforementioned EldritchAbomination. It's a little bit creepy finding people completely aware of the grim state of the world, yet much more concerned with mundane problems. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Amy, where she asks why everyone is so laid-back during the crisis.

* In ''VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject'', the citizens are presumably so used to world ending threats that they don't really care that there's a rampaging Final oss threatening to destroy the world, reasoning that the world's most popular hero The Unlosing Ranger will stop him. The event is even televised as a media sensation. When the Ranger dies and the torch is passed to a weak bystander who gets killed in one shot, ''they still don't care''. Reaches legendary proportions when [[spoiler:a nuke threatens to destroy Japan in 20 minutes, and nobody can stop it besides the weak bystander. Do they gain faith in him? No, surely someone else besides that loser will save them]].