History Main / GenreBlindness

* Every Fairy Tale hero. Ever. The most common mistakes they make is eating the ForbiddenFruit and [[DoNotTauntCthulhu pissing off]] [[TheFairFolk the fairies]]. Maybe there should just be a list of [[AvertedTrope aversions]] here. When there are aversions, they are usually accompanied by straight examples, with the story turning into a "Right Way/Wrong Way" approach to dealing with fairies. The ones who play it straight usually get out of it alive owing to their companions and the magical thing that someone gave them, so perhaps that was just learning they were the heroes.

* Every Fairy Tale hero. Ever. The most common mistakes they make is eating the ForbiddenFruit and [[DoNotTauntCthulhu pissing off]] [[TheFairFolk the fairies]]. Maybe we should just list [[AvertedTrope aversions]] here. If there are any.
** When there are aversions, they are usually accompanied by straight examples, with the story turning into a "Right Way/Wrong Way" approach to dealing with fairies.
** OTOH, they usually get out of it alive owing to their companions and the magical thing that someone gave them, so perhaps that was just learning they were the heroes.

* For beings who have lived for millions of years, [[GreenLantern the Guardians of Oa]] are painfully genre blind. Some of their greatest hits include [[OldShame creating an army of conscienceless machines]] and acting surprised when they start committing genocide; inducting ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast someone named Sinestro]]'' into the Green Lantern Corps and acting surprised when he goes evil; banishing Sinestro to a universe full of the Guardians' worst enemies and acting surprised when he comes back and starts killing Green Lanterns; trying to stop a SelfFulfillingProphecy and acting surprised when [[BlackestNight it is fulfilled]]; and most recently, firing Hal Jordan after he saved their lives for the umpteenth million time. But probably the most egregious example of blindness is the fact that the Guardians demand absolute obedience from the Green Lantern Corps, an organization made up exclusively of the most willful [[{{Determinator}} Determinators]] in the universe. It's gotten so bad at this point that the Guardians are set to become the BigBad of the current Green Lantern arc. To be fair, if the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Guardians]] were GenreSavvy they could turn every issue of GreenLantern into a CurbStompBattle. As it is, [[OnlySaneMan Ganthet]] usually manages to be savvy enough that the Guardians get by... [[TheCassandra when they listen to him]].

* Let's say that you're confronting a CorruptCorporateExecutive who's ruined your life by putting kiddie porn on your computer. You put a gun, given to you by a mysterious benefactor, to her head [[JustBetweenYouAndMe and explain why you're about to kill her]], and she offers to give you and your kids enough money to start over on the condition that you give her the gun so she can use it to find out who your benefactor is. Do you accept this offer? If you say no, you are a smarter man than [[ComicBook/OneHundredBullets Lee Dolan]].

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* In an episode of ''{{Dollhouse}}'', a recurring character in a hostage situation (and bomb vest) because of a psychotic kidnapper with multiple personalities refers to a previous good time as "a blast." He's blown up when the psycho points out "Who doesn’t love a pun?"

* Mark Gordon on ''HighwayToHeaven'' is the sidekick of an angel for the entire series, but never seems to learn to trust Johnathan, an angel. This is a man who has seen the miracles of God -- and he's taken part in them, but when an angel tells Mark it's going to rain, what does Mark do? He laughs in his face and tells him he's crazy.

* Anybody who tried to clothesline George "The Animal" Steele would find his arm turned temporarily into a snack.

* Sansa Stark of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is quite certain that she lives in a world of [[WrongGenreSavvy heroic Arthurian chivalry and romantic fantasy]]. She wises up after a while. [[spoiler: Having your PrinceCharming turn out to be evil by way of ''murdering your father'' will do that.]]

* In ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', despite being devoted to the fantasy genre, Sarah calls on the faerie--the evil faerie, no less--in the middle of a thunderstorm, AT NIGHT! They're going to answer.
** Though she had no reason to expect anything would happen, and to her credit, figures things out very quickly indeed.

** [[ScottKeith "YOU CAN'T POWERBOMB KIDMAN!"]]

** None of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who are searching for their special talents, have realized that they live in a world which runs off StevenUlyssesPerhero. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle have talents related to their names that they are mostly unaware of -- riding a scooter and singing, respectively.[[hottip:*:Apple Bloom, on the other hand, is a talented carpenter, and her ThemeNaming reflects her family's business instead.]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' plays with this. Riley becomes a chocolate bar mogul while managing to be both Genre Blind and GenreSavvy. He achieves his success by emulating all of the methods used in a number of crime movies, primarily ''{{Scarface}}''. After Huey lampshades that none of the crimelords in the movies ever survived, Riley tells Huey that he doesn't want to hear any more downsides. Riley proceeds to fall straight into all the same tropes from the films, ending up in a shootout in the penthouse from ''Scarface''.

** This one has actually been subverted a few times. Dean Malenko did it at WCW Slamboree 99 in the three-way match for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-t.html WCW World Tag Team Titles]] where Wrestling/{{Raven}} and Perry Saturn d. the Champs Kidman & [[Wrestling/ReyMysterioJr Rey Misterio Jr.]] and Wrestling/ChrisBenoit & Dean Malenko. Wrestling/DiamondDallasPage, Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Shelton Benjamin have done it too.

* Aelita in one episode of Code Lyoko Evolution. XANA makes a specter that resembles her mother and she buys it hook line and sinker. This is NOT the first time XANA has tried to manipulate her by imitating her parents.

* Most of the time the characters in the ''HarryPotter'' series manage to avoid this, except for the sixth book. While it is true that Harry is always mistaken about something important, most of the other characters refuse to believe that BigBad Voldemort [[spoiler:would recruit Draco Malfoy to the Death Eaters because they think that Voldemort has no use for a teenage boy, not fully trained as a wizard.]] The only one who ''does'' know can't say anything, because it would risk the life of the recruit.

* Most of the time the characters in the ''HarryPotter'' series manage to avoid this, except for the sixth book. While it is true that Harry is always mistaken about something important, most of the other characters refuse to believe that BigBad Voldemort [[spoiler:would recruit Draco Malfoy to the Death Eaters because they think that [[spoiler: Voldemort has no use for a teenage boy, not fully trained as a wizard.]] The only one who ''does'' know can't say anything, because it would risk the life of the recruit.

* Most of the time the characters in the ''HarryPotter'' series manage to avoid this, except for the sixth book. While it is true that Harry is always mistaken about something important, most of the other characters refuse to believe that BigBad Voldemort [[spoiler:would recruit Draco Malfoy to the Death Eaters because Malfoy is sixteen. Voldemort has killed entire families, manipulated and tortured others, ripped his own soul apart in an attempt to become immortal and overall has proven that there is no low that he wouldn't sink to to get what he wants.]] They never take that into consideration and write off Harry's suspicions.
** It isn't anything to do with them attributing humanitarian concerns to Voldemort - they don't think that Voldemort hasn't [[spoiler: recruited Malfoy]] because he is [[spoiler: too young]], they think that [[spoiler: Voldemort has no use for a teenage boy, not fully trained as a wizard.]]
*** Except book five had him [[spoiler: manipulating a teenage boy in order to try and get a prophecy so he didn't have to do so himself. By all accounts the Order of the Phoenix should have realized that Voldemort isn't above using teenagers to get what he wants.]]
*** Except for [[spoiler:Dumbledore]] who was even more Genre Savvy than Harry; he knew that if he had [[spoiler:approached Malfoy, Malfoy would have been killed,]] so he bided his time until [[spoiler:they were alone and he could convince him to make a HeelFaceTurn.]] He leaves ''such'' a good impression that [[spoiler:the entire Malfoy family turns away from Voldemort by the end of the next book. Admittedly, they don't necessarily join the anti-Voldemort army, but still...]]
* Arguably, The Limper in Glen Cook's ''BlackCompany'' could fit this trope. Even after the Company [[spoiler:killed him twice, live through what seem at the end to be hundreds of attempts to kill them off, and sent the real BigBad back into his hole in the ground, Limper still thinks he has a chance to kill them by following after them after they leave.]] Needless to say, [[spoiler:he failed miserably, and he wasn't even up against the company at the time, just the people who decided not to go with them.]]

* Sansa Stark of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is quite certain that she lives in a world of [[WrongGenreSavvy heroic Arthurian chivalry and romantic fantasy]].
** At first. She wises up after a while. [[spoiler: Having your PrinceCharming turn out to be evil by way of ''murdering your father'' will do that.]]

* None of the characters in the ''{{Twilight}}'' universe appear to have ''ever'' heard of vampires beyond referencing a few pop culture vampire tropes or (often-[[CriticalResearchFailure incorrectly researched]]) mythology.

** Just to devil's advocate here, I want to point out that Sinestro means LEFT in old school language. When this character came out can you guess who was the first GL to wear a left handed ring?

* Aelita in one episode of Code Lyoko Evolution. XANA makes a specter that resembles her mother and she buys it hook line and sinker. This is NOT the first time XANA has tried to manipulate her by imitating her parents.

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