History Main / CallousnessTowardsEmergency

* One recurring bystander in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' demonstrates this repeatedly, [[HateSink compouniding it with]] a "not my problem" attitude.

* In the Frightmares book titled ''Bone Breath and the Vandals'', a group of teenage vandals tie and gag a middle school girl and leave her in a dumpster. The dumpster is loaded onto a dump truck, and she is about to be crushed to death, but is saved through luck. Naturally, the vandals had no idea they were leaving her to her death.

* In a book titled ''Bone Breath and the Vandals'', a group of teenage vandals tie and gag a middle school girl and leave her in a dumpster. The dumpster is loaded onto a dump truck, and she is about to be crushed to death, but is saved through luck. Naturally, the vandals had no idea they were leaving her to her death.

* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'', Laura, a little girl, locks protagonist James in a room with a boss monster. She has no idea that such a threat is even there, and is simply being a brat.
* The prologue of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' has Max telling someone who just called his number to call 911 because someone has just broken into his house and his family is in danger. The lady caller's response? "Good. I'm afraid I cannot help you," followed by her hanging up. Though Max does try to save his family, it's of no use, as both his wife and his baby girl get killed by the junkies. It turns out later that the lady caller was [[spoiler:Nicole Horne, the BigBad of the game, who sent the junkies to Max's home for the express purpose of killing his wife to keep a major secret from getting out and was calling to ensure that the job was being carried out]].
* At the end of the [[Comicbook/ThePunisherCircleOfBlood first miniseries]] of Comicbook/ThePunisher, Frank had forced the BigBad to confess his deeds to Ben Urich. On his way out of the villain's estate, he's confronted by the son of a mafioso he shot, and Castle did not want to kill him (said son was not involved in the family business at all). He tells the man that sometimes, the best course of action is to do nothing; the son allows him to leave without incident. Shortly afterwards, the big bad's girlfriend (who did a FaceHeelTurn and tried to kill the Punisher), sees him leaving the estate, and tries to run him down. She ends up with her car halfway off the side of a bridge, and Frank thinks about how sometimes, the best course of action is to do nothing, leaving her to her fate. Unfortunately for Castle, both she and the BigBad return to plague him again.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Bob ([[SecretIdentity Mr. Incredible]]) notices during a meeting with his boss Mr. Huph that a man is being mugged and beaten up in the alley outside his window. Mr. Huph replies glibly, "Well, let's hope we don't cover him!" He then threatens to fire Bob if he leaves the meeting to stop the mugger. [[BerserkButton Bob doesn't take it]] [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom very well.]]

* In RealLife this is a common phenomenon in cities, wherein no individual in a crowd wants to step forward and get involved with someone else's problem. People have been mugged, raped, and even ''given birth'' in broad daylight on crowded city streets while being completely ignored. Some experts advise that instead of yelling "RAPE" or "HELP," which receive disappointingly low responses, the distressed should yell "FIRE!" Apparently crowds are less callous towards a conflagration than a confrontation; it's almost certain to draw immediate attention.
** Another way to counter this is instead of yelling "CALL THE POLICE!" at a crowd, you should point to a ''specific person'' and say "YOU! Call the police!" since in the former circumstance's people are more likely to be afflicted by the BystanderSyndrome.
** This is called "The Bystander Effect" - the OtherWiki has an article on it [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect here.]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Wonderbolt Academy", Rainbow Dash's partner Lightning Dust decides to whip up a tornado to help them score more points on a cloud-clearing exercise, even though they out-score the other teams several times over. The tornado not only throws around and endangers the other teams, but also demolishes the Twinkling Balloon, sending Dash's friends (who were making a surprise visit) plummeting to their doom. After they are rescued, Rainbow Dash calls Lightning Dust out on what she did - and she responds, "Yeah, and?" For some reason, Lightning Dust is ''not'' well liked by much of the fandom.

* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' and its many adaptations, this is zig-zagged with Willy Wonka, who is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Because the four bratty kids get into possibly-lethal danger when they disobey his explicit [[TheBeCarefulSpeech instructions]] and [[DontTouchItYouIdiot warnings]], he has NoSympathy -- as everyone else panics, he watches calmly as their fates play out, even snarking and/or laughing. And he [[SkewedPriorities worries more about how the smooth operations of his factory will be affected]]. Then again, this ''is'' his factory, so he knows how they can be rescued and/or restored to normal and takes steps to ensure that they are. Then again, he's perfectly willing to brush off the possibility that Veruca and her parents will be burned alive in an incinerator, and it's luck that saves them. ''Then again'', the brats ''are'' all {{Hate Sink}}s, rather than the innocent victims usually associated with this trope -- the reader is ultimately supposed to feel great satisfaction in their comeuppances. This is a major reason Mr. Wonka is an InterpretativeCharacter subject to {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s, such as the [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2013 stage musical]] portraying him as an AmbiguouslyEvil AntiHero who isn't perturbed by the prospect of the kids ''[[DeathByAdaptation actually getting killed]]''.

-->-- ''Film/{{The Incredibles}}'', referring to a random man on the street outside the insurance office the pair were in.

* In ''TheIncredibles'', Bob ([[SecretIdentity Mr. Incredible]]) notices during a meeting with his boss Mr. Huph that a man is being mugged and beaten up in the alley outside his window. Mr. Huph replies glibly, "Well, let's hope we don't cover him!" He then threatens to fire Bob if he leaves the meeting to stop the mugger. [[BerserkButton Bob doesn't take it]] [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom very well.]]

-->-- ''Film/{{The Incredibles}}'', referring to a random man on the street outside the office the pair were in.

* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' and its many adaptations, this is zig-zagged with Willy Wonka, who is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Because the four bratty kids get into possibly-lethal danger when they disobey his explicit [[TheBeCarefulSpeech instructions]] and [[DontTouchItYouIdiot warnings]], he has NoSympathy -- as everyone else panics, he watches calmly as their fates play out, even snarking and/or laughing. And he [[SkewedPriorities worries more about how the smooth operations of his factory will be affected]]. Then again, this ''is'' his factory, so he knows how they can be rescued and/or restored to normal and takes steps to ensure that they are. Then again, he's perfectly willing to brush off the possibility that Veruca and her parents will be burned alive in an incinerator, and it's luck that saves them. ''Then again'', the brats ''are'' all {{Hate Sink}}s, rather than the innocent victims usually associated with this trope -- the reader is ultimately supposed to feel great satisfaction in their comeuppances. This is a major reason Mr. Wonka is an InterpretativeCharacter subject to {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s, such as the [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2013 stage musical]] portraying him as an AntiHero who isn't perturbed by the prospect of the kids ''[[DeathByAdaptation actually getting killed]]''.

* In ''SilentHill2'', Laura, a little girl, locks protagonist James in a room with a boss monster. She has no idea that such a threat is even there, and is simply being a brat.

** This is called "The Bystander Effect" - the OtherWiki has an article on it at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect]].

* In ''TheIncredibles'', Bob ([[SecretIdentity Mr. Incredible]]) notices during a meeting with his boss Mr. Huph that a man is being mugged and beaten up in the alley outside his window. Mr. Huph replies glibly, "Well, let's hope we don't cover him!" He then threatens to fire Bob if he leaves the meeting to stop the mugger. [[BerserkButton Bob doesn't take it]] [[BlownAcrossTheRoom very well.]]

* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' and its many adaptations, this is zig-zagged with Willy Wonka, who is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Because the four bratty kids get into possibly-lethal danger when they disobey his explicit [[TheBeCarefulSpeech instructions]] and [[DontTouchItYouIdiot warnings]], he has NoSympathy -- as everyone else panics, he watches calmly as their fates play out, even snarking and/or laughing. And he [[SkewedPriorities worries more about how the smooth operations of his factory will be affected]]. Then again, this ''is'' his factory, so he knows how they can be rescued and/or restored to normal and takes steps to ensure that they are. Then again, he's perfectly willing to brush off the possibility that Veruca and her parents will be burned alive in an incinerator, and it's luck that saves them. ''Then again'', the brats ''are'' all {{Hate Sink}}s, rather than the innocent victims usually associated with this trope -- the reader is ultimately supposed to feel great satisfaction in their comeuppances. This is a major reason Mr. Wonka is an InterpretativeCharacter subject to {{Alternative Character Interpretation}}s -- such as the [[Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory 2013 stage musical]] portraying him as an AntiHero who isn't perturbed by the prospect of the kids ''[[DeathByAdaptation actually getting killed]]''.

----

* In the live action ''[[Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas Grinch]]'' movie, Cindy Lou Who falls onto a conveyor belt leading to a crusher and can't get up. The Grinch is about to leave her there, but changes his mind and saves her.

* At the end of an early miniseries of ThePunisher, Frank had forced the BigBad to confess his deeds to Ben Urich. On his way out of the villain's estate, he's confronted by the son of a mafioso he shot, and Castle did not want to kill him (said son was not involved in the family business at all). He tells the man that sometimes, the best course of action is to do nothing; the son allows him to leave without incident. Shortly afterwards, the big bad's girlfriend (who did a FaceHeelTurn and tried to kill the Punisher), sees him leaving the estate, and tries to run him down. She ends up with her car halfway off the side of a bridge, and Frank thinks about how sometimes, the best course of action is to do nothing, leaving her to her fate. Unfortunately for Castle, both she and the BigBad return to plague him again.

* In the HumphreyBogart WorldWarII movie ''Sahara'', the tank crew abandons an Italian soldier taken prisoner in the war in the middle of the desert, citing a lack of resources. They go back for him, but not before heartlessly driving off and condemning him to what would be a painful, slow death.

->'''Mr. Huph''': "Well let's hope we don't cover!"

* In ''TheIncredibles'', Bob ([[SecretIdentity Mr. Incredible]]) notices during a meeting with his boss Mr. Huph that a man is being mugged and beaten up in the alley outside his window. Mr. Huph replies glibly, "Well, let's hope we don't cover him!" He then threatens to fire Bob if he leaves the meeting to stop the mugger. [[BerserkButton Bob doesn't take it very well.]]

* In the first ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' movie, one of the children Laurie Strode is babysitting ''does'' come to help her when she's banging on the door, begging him to let her in before Michael Meyers catches up with her. However, he only ''walks'' to the door, and is visibly bored and annoyed with her demands, completely oblivious to the terror in her voice, albeit unaware that Michael is on the prowl.

->'''Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible''': "That man out there! He's getting mugged!"
->'''Mr. Huph''': "Well let's hope we don't cover him!"
-->-- ''Film/{{The Incredibles}}''

* ''{{Angel}}'' in 'Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?' was this way. Most of the ep took place during the '50s, before he'd started fighting as a good guy, and he was very reluctant to get involved with much back then. The people in the hotel plead with him to stop the Thessulac demon, but he just says he doesn't care and walks off. He finally did kill it, but over 50 years later.

-->-- ''Film{{The Increbibles}}''

->'''Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible'': "That man out there! He's getting mugged!"

* ''{{Angel}}'' in 'Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?' was this way. Most of the ep took place during the '50s, before he'd started fighting as a good guy, and he was very reluctant to get involved with much back then. The people in the hotel plead with him to stop the Thessulac demom, but he just says he doesn't care and walks off. He finally did kill it, but over 50 years later.

* In ''[[CasperTheFriendlyGhost Casper Meets Wendy]]'', a live-action movie, a bully locks a boy in the closet of a house which is about to be demolished. The bully is unaware that the house is going to be demolished, but his victim is in mortal danger.
** And even when he's told, his only response is "Cool!"

* In the ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Wonderbolt Academy", Rainbow Dash's partner Lightning Dust decides to whip up a tornado to help them score more points on a cloud-clearing exercise, even though they out-score the other teams several times over. The tornado not only throws around and endangers the other teams, but also demolishes the Twinkling Balloon, sending Dash's friends (who were making a surprise visit) plummeting to their doom. After they are rescued, Rainbow Dash calls Lightning Dust out on what she did - and she responds, "Yeah, and?" For some reason, Lightning Dust is ''not'' well liked by much of the fandom.