History Main / GenreBlindness

* In the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa manga adaption]], we have some soldiers being told [[TheHero Link]], who has built up a reputation as an expert fighter, is visiting, and when they see that he's an AdorablyPrecociousChild, they assume he's harmless. One panel later, we find he [[CurbStompBattle humiliated them, and broke some of their swords.]]

* In ''Literature/ExHeroes'', heroine Stealth is aiding other heroes battling the rise of a zombie virus in the world. As she sees a police officer bitten after refusing to shoot civilians in the head "because they're still human" and medical personn

** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E5WalkingDistance Walking Distance]]", Martin Sloan meets himself as an 11-year-boy but he does not realize that he has traveled back in time until a teenager tells him that his 1934 roadster is brand new.
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E52APennyForYourThoughts A Penny for Your Thoughts]]", Hector B. Poole spends half an episode reading people's minds before realizing that no, they're not talking out loud while somehow keeping their mouths closed.

* ''Series/KitchenNightmares'': Anyone underestimating Gordon (i.e. backtalking him, disregarding his advice, et cetera) counts, but the standout example has to be Amy of ''Amy's Baking Company''. It's pretty clear she brought in Gordon to tell off the 'haters' -- i.e. everyone who'd set foot in her restaurant that wasn't her or her husband Samy. ''Creator/GordonRamsay''. The guy who's made a television career out of being [[BrutalHonesty brutally honest]] and [[SirSwearsALot cursing out]] people who aren't up to standards or try to get one over him. She thought ''that'' guy would be her YesMan. Suffice to say, she was wrong.

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010'', at first the characters don't realize the walkers behave in zombie-like fashion. This is explained by WordOfGod that George Romero's ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' series was never made, and zombies remained an obscure West Indian phenomenon.

* In ''Anime/GurrenLagann'', [[spoiler:when the Anti-Spiral sends the Moon on a collision course with the Earth, Rossiu decides that it is impossible to stop it and attempts to escape with only a portion of the population, even if this meant leaving the rest to die. Reasonable in real life or a grittier series like ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'', [[WrongGenreSavvy not so much]] in a superlatively HotBlooded series where [[BeyondTheImpossible kicking logic to the curb]] is not only possible with enough HeroicWillpower, but ''a regular occurrence''. Sure enough, Simon (who he had betrayed and imprisoned in order to bring this plan into fruition) arrives and stops the collision by fighting the Anti-Spiral forces.]]

* Everyone in the whole world who isn't a member of Tribulation Force, in the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' series. Not one person on Earth seems to have ever seen ''The Omen'' or any other movie featuring the AntiChrist; not one seems to recall any popular culture or '70s-style paranormal documentary that would tip one off to the true nature of a strangely charismatic world leader. One would assume that even the most hardcore agnostic or atheist would take one look at Nicolae Carpathia and say, "hey, this reminds me of that special I saw on History Channel", but... In the LB-verse, most people are staggeringly ignorant about the Bible, too.

* None of the characters in the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' universe appear to have ''ever'' heard of vampires beyond referencing a few pop culture vampire tropes or mythology.

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' at first the characters don't realize the walkers behave in zombie-like fashion. This is explained by ''WordOfGod'' that George Romero's ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' series was never made, and zombies remained an obscure West Indian phenomenom.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': If Robin wasn't so good at [[IndyPloy improvising]] (and so [[BadassNormal well-trained]]), he would've been dead a ''long'' time ago. The boy simply has no concept that things may not be what they appear to be. ''He gave a frickin' communicator to a villainess who was masquerading as one of his own team'', which was how the season's BigBad and his EvilMinions almost defeated the Titans. There may be nothing wrong with giving a communicator to someone you think is a friend of yours and who you think might be in trouble soon... but there ''is'' after you just spent the whole episode fighting a ''shapeshifting'' villainess.

** Combined with a dose of WrongGenreSavvy, Clark often gets confused by normal superhero tropes. For example, when he catches a cold and gains {{super|Breath}} {{sneeze|OfDoom}}s, it does not occur to him to weaponize them until the more GenreSavvy Chloe points it out.

* In the ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' [[Manga/TheLegendOfZelda manga adaption]], we have some soldiers being told [[TheHero Link]], who has built up a reputation as an expert fighter, is visiting, and when they see that he's an AdorablyPrecociousChild, they assume he's harmless. One panel later, we find he [[CurbStompBattle humiliated them, and broke some of their swords.]]

* One episode of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'', "The New Breed", began with a [[ScienceIsBad scientist]] holding a press conference to announce that his new nanotechnological discoveries would allow him to "[[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow improve upon]] [[ScaleOfScientificSins God's design.]]" ''What series did he think that he was on!?!''