History Main / BystanderSyndrome

* Retellings of the original ComicBook/{{Galactus}} trilogy often struggle to explain what ComicBook/TheAvengers and other super-heroes were all doing while the ComicBook/FantasticFour stood alone saving the world.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan's SuperHeroOrigin; Peter Parker let a burglar run right by him when he could have easily stopped him because he didn't think it was his problem. [[DeathByOriginStory He would regret this for the rest of his life.]]

* In ''Fanfic/MaxLandisSuperMarioWorld'', Queen Bean refuses to get involved in the war, seeing it as a Mushroom Kingdom problem.

Since the turn of the 21st Century, increased scrutiny has been given to the Bystander Effect by psychologists and it's increasingly viewed with scepticism. While the small-scale lab experiments conducted in the 20th Century did show a hesitency for people to intervene when they were in groups, this was something that only happened when the subjects ''knew'' they were in a test and therefore that the "emergency" wasn't real. In actual emergency situations, people showed far less hesitency to act when in groups. And when they did hesitate it tended to be for reasons like fear of getting hurt (as if someone's already in danger then it would also logically also be dangerous for a random person who lacks proper training or equipment to get involved. However, that research has yet to percolate into fiction so it's likely to be a long time before Bystander Syndrome becomes a DeadHorseTrope.

Compare ApatheticCitizens and CallousnessTowardsEmergency. May overlap with UnusuallyUninterestingSight. When authorities are cursed with this, see AdultsAreUseless, ThereAreNoTherapists, and PoliceAreUseless. See also AllPowerfulBystander and SocialMediaBeforeReason. Contrast SamaritanSyndrome, wherein people in authority ''aren't'' cursed with this and it drives them nuts, and WhoWillBellTheCat, where they are deeply concerned until the onus is put on them. If someone with this view is pushing it onto others, it becomes NotYourProblem as well. If they get called out for this or are punished for this, then it's AccompliceByInaction. If someone doesn't help out of spite, that's RefuseToRescueTheDisliked.

* ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': N'Jobu and Killmonger accuse Wakanda of being this due to the country's isolationism. According to Killmonger, by refusing to aid its neighbors for the sake of preserving its secrecy, Wakanda has allowed its fellow Africans to suffer from colonialism, slavery, poverty, and racial segregation. This sentiment was similarly evoked by his father N'Jobu [[spoiler:who tried to arm African Americans with vibranium weapons]].

* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'':
** Loki, despite knowing that Hela has been unleashed on Asgard, adopts this attitude as he begins to forge a new life for himself on Sakaar. When Thor arrives later, Loki attempts to convince his brother to take a similar stance. However, Thor, as the hero, completely rejects this option.
** Valkyrie (aka Scrapper-142) only survived Hela's massacre of her fellow women warriors because a loved one sacrificed herself to save her. This tragedy left Valkyrie embracing this attitude and retiring to Sakaar to drink herself to death. Similar to Loki, she tells Thor to forget about the Asgardians, but he refuses to do so.

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games, the world's gonna be destroyed if the princess isn't rescued, whether she's been kidnapped, turned to stone, or vanished off the face of Hyrule. Since you, Link, are already dealing with it, nobody's worried. It's YOUR problem now. They even charge you for equipment vital to your quest. Averted on a few occasions, like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]''.

Since the turn of the 21st Century, increased scrutiny has been given to the Bystander Effect by psychologists and it's increasingly viewed with scepticism. While the small-scale lab experiments conducted in the 20th Century did show a hesitency for people to intervene when they were in groups, this was something that only happened when the subjects ''knew'' they were in a test and therefore that the "emergency" wasn't real. In actual emergency situations, people showed far less hesitency to act when in groups. However, that research has yet to percolate into fiction so it's likely to be a long time before Bystander Syndrome becomes a DeadHorseTrope.

* In ''Literature/AcrossTheUniverse'', [[spoiler:Amy is nearly raped in public during the Season. When she screams for a couple of people nearby to help, one of them just smiles and tells her to calm down and stop struggling, or she'll get hurt. Given that everyone present but Amy is under the effect of ''very'' potent mood-altering drugs, it at least is justified.]]

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': In "Greatest Hits", we see a flashback to Charlie playing his guitar on the streets for money. When the show's over, he hears a woman (Nadia) screaming for help as a man tried to rob her purse. He chases him away by repeatedly hitting him with his guitar case. When she thanks him, Charlie says he did what anyone else would've done, to which Nadia replies that at least three people passes by before him and none of them even tried to help her.

* In "Literature/{{Morozko}}", the old man does nothing to defend his daughter from his wife's cruel mistreatment, and when old woman demands he abandons his daughter in the woods to die, he ''goes along with it'', even if reluctantly.

* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': The material used to make Rorschach's mask was intended for a dress for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese Kitty Genovese]], the namesake of Genovese Syndrome, also known as the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect bystander effect]]". Rorschach himself recounts the incident -- in the "everyone just watched" version -- and it seems to inform his view of the world and people.

* The Music/BlueOysterCult song ''Screams In The Night'' was written by keyboards player Allen Lanier. On perhaps his third night in New York, a woman was stabbed to death in the street beneath his apartment window. Lanier was struck by how many people just watched and did nothing - or seemed to. This may well have been the notorious [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese Genovese murder]] which helped to define "bystander syndrome".

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the nation of Sharlayan as an extremely LawfulStupid version this. They refuse to get involved with the Seventh Umbral Calamity, outright ''abandon one of their own cities'' when the Garleans invade instead of resisting them despite having [[HumongousMecha Alexander]] at the ready, and in ''Endwalker'' are shown refusing to do anything when the literal end of the world is happening. Sharlayan is ''so'' dedicated to not getting involved in anything that when one of their most revered scholars decided that it ''was'' their problem, they branded him a pariah and exiled him. Note that not getting involved also includes things like not teaching outsiders anything, as the Astrologian quests show. Do that and you're likely to have an [[DisproportionateRetribution assassin sent your way]].

* [[EnforcedTrope Enforced legally]] in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. In a world where EveryoneIsASuper, only heroes with licenses are authorized to use their abilities to help people. Anybody else who does is either a villain or an unlawful vigilante, so most people seek to stay out of trouble. Quite a few villains are ''incredibly'' bitter about this attitude, especially Tomura Shigaraki, who despite being a child destitute on the streets and clearly in need of help no one was willing...and the one that did was [[BigBad All for One]]. Because he attempted and failed to avert this trope, leading to a victim being injured, Danjuro Tobita (a struggling student who would later become the villain Gentle Criminal) suffered massive legal ramifications, was kicked out by his parents, and expelled from his hero school, losing any chance at becoming a licensed hero.

* ''Fanfic/{{Dominoes}}'' is a particularly ironic example. Being a superhero AU DeconstructionFic starring the ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' cast, half the characters are teenage superheroes who, despite the fact that they are being trained to be active problem-solvers in any crisis, are standing aside, permitting, and even reinforcing the psychological and emotional abuse of someone whom they once (and supposedly still do) considered their equal, friend, and family - because higher authorities responsible for this abuse have assured them it's for the best to treat them this way. For the record, the "higher authorities" in question is the teen superheroes' mentor, Kudo Yusaku, who is also the father of the victim, Shinichi, and the abuse leads to the superheroes actually impeding justice to prevent Shinichi from helping others and thus make him feel more powerless, up to and including Yusaku ''mindwiping Shinichi and controlling him like a puppet,'' having the police confiscate and then bury Shinichi's evidence of a string of 40+ child kidnappings, and then calling Shinichi's belief that these crimes occurred a "conspiracy theory." [[spoiler:[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Unsurprisingly]], Shinichi comes to believe that the superheroes are corrupt and impeding real justice and aid to those who need it, [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal causing him to side with one of their enemies on account of this enemy somehow being more willing to help save these forty children]].]] The entire time, the teen superheroes claim to be Shinichi's friends (and one even his girlfriend, who still proclaims that she loves him), but stand aside and allow this abuse and injustice to happen. [[spoiler:Because of this, when the chance to save one of the children goes awry, there isn't enough time for another; Part 1 [[DeathOfAChild ends with a child's death]] in large part because of the delay in focus and aid caused by Yuusaku and the Irregulars setting up metaphorical roadblocks. And they only realize this at the last minute because they were so busy stranding around depriving Shinichi of aid and support that no one bothered to look deeper at what he was actually trying to accomplish until it was too late.]]

Sometimes this is used to demonstrate {{anvilicious}}ly that HumansAreBastards. It can be TruthInTelevision, as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect shown in social psychology]]. Ironically, the famous case of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese the murder of Kitty Genovese]] that's still cited as the definitive example and that [[RightForTheWrongReasons inspired research into the phenomenon]] didn't actually involve the trope; the story about dozens of people just watching her being murdered is based on a newspaper article that was mostly false. [[note]]You can find the full story elsewhere, but here's the short version. Attack at 3 am in the winter so very few open windows and nearly everyone sound asleep, and Kitty had a punctured lung therefore unable to scream for help. Attacker was initially scared off, Kitty limped to a hallway. Attacker came back and stabbed and raped her in the out-of-the-way hallway. Two people ''did'' call the police, and a neighbor found a dying Genovese and held her until the ambulance came. [[/note]]

* At the end of the music video for Music/BubbleButt, the GiantWoman who started the dance party uses one of the tubes she can produce from her mouth to grab one of the dancers (portrayed by Krystal Ellsworth), yank her off the dance floor, and [[Eaten Alive swallow her alive.]] This happens in plain view of the other women, but despite the her clear struggling and obvious distress, all the other women just continue dancing as if nothing is wrong.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mGFs3dq-tU All's Quiet on West 23rd]]" by Julie Budd, a rather obscure '60s tune inspired by the Kitty Genovese case.

** Later, Kenny and Doug witness a car crash in which a man is badly injured and possibly killed. Instead of calling for help or waiting for the police, they flee in terror.

* Kenny and Doug leave a dummy lying in the road to prank drivers. A car screeches to a halt in front of the dummy, and a male voice says, "Holy Christ, Martha, it's a dummy!" A female voice says, "George, don't run over his head!" The car then maneuvers around the dummy and goes on its way, with neither person making any effort to get help.
* Later, Kenny and Doug witness a car crash in which a man is badly injured and possibly killed. Instead of calling for help or waiting for the police, they flee in terror.