History Main / ClearMyName

* A plot point in ''Series/TwentyFour'' has [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Jack Bauer]] on the run from the FBI, after [[spoiler: [[TheCorpseStopsHere a Starkwood assassin frames him for the murders of 2 government officials]]]].
** And further complicating matters? [[spoiler: Jack ends up killing the assassin (in self-defense) before he can get himself cleared. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill With a bulldozer.]] [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks And an armor-piercing screwdriver.]] [[BoomHeadshot And a 2 by 4.]]]]
*** [[spoiler: And since that '''still''' wasn't enough Jack-Bauer-level-badassness, he takes the screwdriver from the body, inserts said screwdriver into a pickup truck's ignition, starts it up, and drives away. Damn, Jack.]]
*** The sad thing? The next episode after Jack is set up almost immediately drops this whole plot when the FBI discovers the Starkwood conspiracy and realizes that Jack is being framed, which makes you wonder, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot "why the hell did they even bother?"]]
** Another time this is used is in Day 5 when Jack is set up for the murders of [[spoiler: David Palmer and Michelle Dessler]] and attempted murder of Tony Almeida by [[spoiler: Charles Logan, among several others]] to make him a scapegoat for the real reason [[spoiler: Palmer]] was killed (he discovered the plot of the true BigBad for that season and had been planning on blowing the whistle on them).

* ''Series/FatherBrown'': In "The Owl of Minerva", Inspector Sullivan is framed for murder. After breaking out of gaol, he is forced to team-up with Father Brown and his associates in order to clear his name.

Maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time--in line at the bank when it got robbed, or riding in the same subway car as a murder is committed and [[CriminalDoppelganger happens to look exactly like the one who did it]]. Maybe they were the ones who [[TheCorpseStopsHere found the body]] and [[BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon accidentally left their fingerprints on the murder weapon]]. Maybe the series' BigBad has deliberately [[{{Frameup}} framed them]] to get them out of the way. Or perhaps it was a FalseFriend [[InsidiousRumorMill spreading the accusation via rumors]] to disrupt TheTeam. Maybe it's a GovernmentConspiracy to silence them because [[HeKnowsTooMuch They Know Too Much]]. It might also involve an EvilTwin or some other type of imposter.

* This forms the basis for the plot of the Literature/AgentPendergast novels ''Literature/DanceOfDeath'' and ''Literature/BookOfTheDead'', as Aloysius Pendergast is set up by his brother for several killings as part of said brother's RoaringRampageOfRevenge.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': In "Probable Cause", Castle is framed for a murder and Beckett ends up breaking him out of lock-up to help find the real killer, [[spoiler: Jerry Tyson, aka the Triple Killer or 3XK.]]

* ''Film/RoboCop3'' has [=RoboCop=] blamed [[spoiler: for the death of his partner, Lewis, after the Rehabs kill her]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperheroes'' had Timber Wolf being accused of killing [[AbusiveParents his father]], out of the Legionnaires ''(except for the ones who recruited him)'' only Phantom Girl and Chameleon Boy were convinced of his innocence. However [[spoiler: Timber Wolf ''did'' kill his father, but it was a clone of him. The real one used nanites to trigger his son's fury and transformations in an elaborate plot to get him to work with him again.]]

* Creator/AlfredHitchcock's ''Film/{{The 39 Steps|1935}}''. And ''Film/TheWrongMan''. And ''Film/NorthByNorthwest'', ''Film/StrangersOnATrain'', ''Film/IConfess'', ''Film/DialMForMurder'' and ''Film/ToCatchAThief'', ''{{Film/Frenzy}}'' and ''Film/TheLodger''. Subverted in ''Film/StageFright1950'', where [[spoiler:it turns out the man whose name the heroine has been trying to clear really WAS guilty]].

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* For decades, this is how Franchise/SpiderMan stayed a regular guy without a support network, all thanks to J. Jonah Jameson.

** Jameson just makes sure everyone knows about it when there's the slightest possibility that Spidey may have committed a crime. Other cast members are the ones doing the framing, which they do with disturbing regularity. In the newspaper comics, Spider-man has averaged one frame job a year for ''decades''. You'd think that by now the NYPD would get smart about the whole thing and just ignore the reports of him allegedly committing ''another'' burglary.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: By taking on her appearance when he steals the thing Dr. Psycho frames Wonder Woman for the theft of the War-Prevento Machine. She and Steve then have to figure out who was disguised as her and track them down to clear her name and prevent them from using the weapon to cause any harm, but Steve avoids telling her until they've recovered it so that they can just focus on dealing with the criminal instead of dealing with his superiors.
* In ''Franchise/XMen'' storyline ''ComicBook/XCutionersSong'', Stryfe shoots Prof. Xavier disguised as Cable, forcing the latter to find evidence to clear his name.

* WesternAnimation/{{The Powerpuff Girls|1998}} are put in jail after three thugs dressed like them commit crimes and Townsville's citizens [[TooDumbToLive think they're the girls]]. Ms. Bellum believes the girls are innocent, so they break out of jail and battle their imposters. Of course they have to go back to jail for breaking out.

** Adding to that is the ''WesternAnimation/InchHighPrivateEye'' episode "The Return of Spumoni," where crooked toymaker Spumoni creates lifesize robot replicas of Inch High and Mr. Finkerton in an effort to invade the Finkerton vault while the real Finkerton is on a cruise ship and Inch is tricked into joining him. When they return, they are locked up for robbery. What tips Lori off that they weren't real is that they were built with red ears (Spumoni: "I may be a genius but I'm not perfect"). Inch breaks jail in an bid to solve the crime.

** It seems Hanna-Barbera ''loved'' this trope. This variation happened again with the original WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel when a mad scientist created a whole army of robot Secret Squirrel lookalikes to commit crimes and frame the real Squirrel. Another example is the ''WesternAnimation/AtomAnt'' episode "Mistaken Identity" when the titular ant is framed for crimes committed by Ferocious Flea.
** Adding to that is the ''WesternAnimation/InchHighPrivateEye'' episode "The Return of Spumoni," where crooked toymaker Spumoni creates lifesize robot replicas of Inch High and Mr. Finkerton in an effort to to invade the Finkerton vault while the real Finkerton is on a cruise ship and Inch is tricked into joining him. When they return, they are locked up for robbery. What tips Lori off that they weren't real is that they were built with red ears (Spumoni: "I may be a genius but I'm not perfect"). Inch breaks jail in an bid to solve the crime.

* Part of season 2 of ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' involved Jim Gordon having to clear his name after the Riddler sets him up when he suspects Gordon figured out he was a murderer.

** It seems Hanna-Barbera ''loved'' this trope. This variation happened again with the original WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel when a mad scientist created a whole army of robot Secret Squirrel lookalikes to commit crimes and frame the real Squirrel. Another example is the ''WesternAnimationAtomAnt'' episode "Mistaken Identity" when the titular ant is framed for crimes committed by Ferocious Flea.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'': In the October 23 hololive EN ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' collab, after Gura witnesses Ina leaving the electrical after killing Kiara and reports the body, Ina skillfully casts suspicion upon her to discredit her as a witness by claiming to have seen her walking out of the electrical after killing Kiara. This results in Gura being the prime suspect for quite some time, to the point where everyone would panic when she's around. However, Gura sees the security camera footage showing Ina and [=IRyS=] walking into the same room and only Ina leaving it. She goes into said room with Kronii and finds [=IRyS=]' corpse. In the ensuing meeting, she explains what she saw to the other crewmates, and with Kronii vouching for her and Ina being unable to come up with a good defense, everyone realizes that Gura is actually innocent and votes to execute Ina.

Whatever the root cause, the phony evidence is so convincing, or the convergence of bad luck that [[TheCorpseStopsHere makes them look guilty]] is so unlikely, our hero struggles to convince anyone of their innocence. [[EasilyCondemned Even their own friends and loved ones seem ready to write them off guilty as charged]]. (With this belief sometimes persisting.)