History Main / GenreBlindness

* 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. He fails to understand that this is the show where the impossible becomes possible just by believing in yourself hard enough, and 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.]]

Although genre blindness can be a legitimate flaw, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it should be noted]] that it can be difficult for writers to create characters who are not genre blind without [[LampshadeHanging hanging a lampshade on it]] by saying something like [[{{Anvilicious}} "This is just like in the movies!"]], especially in genres which require suspense that can easily be undone by such comedic relief (such as horrors, thrillers, etc). Furthermore, some stories in some genres [[NecessaryWeasel really couldn't function at all]] if the characters displayed an innate and complete understanding of what genre they were in and exactly how they should act at all times within a story in said genre if they want to avoid trouble. A certain amount of Genre Blindness can be required to provide the story with tension and drama, since if the character knows exactly what to do to avoid trouble and conflict in their particular story, they'll do it, and consequently have an easy, trouble-free life, and... why are we watching again? Finally, not all of a genre's classic tropes are in fact TruthInTelevision, but as far as the characters are concerned, ThisIsReality, so their "blindness" may be the same as common sense. After all, people in real life don't usually live their lives as if everything they do or which happens to them conforms to a series of strict narrative conventions, so why would fictional characters? For example, in real life, a single cough usually does not [[IncurableCoughOfDeath herald a fatal disease]], so ItsProbablyNothing is probably rational despite being Genre Blind.

* Play as the Protectorate in ''VideoGame/TerraInvicta'', and it soon becomes clear they are this. Their basic premise is sympathetic: arrange a conditional surrender to the AlienInvasion to preserve Earth and avoid throwing away human lives in a war against a HigherTechSpecies able to cross interstellar space. However, the Protectorate continue to assume the aliens must be enlightened and well-intentioned even as they engage in {{alien abduction}}s (which the Protectorate blame on xenophobic human factions far longer than is reasonable) and start manufacturing a war economy in the outer solar system. Contrast the Academy, whose similar initial optimist turns to [[ReluctantWarrior reluctant war preparations]] as soon as they learn what the aliens have been doing on Earth and in the solar system.

* Play as the Protectorate in ''VideoGame/TerraInvicta'', and it soon becomes clear they are this. Their basic premise is sympathetic: arrange a conditional surrender to the AlienInvasion to preserve Earth and avoid throwing away human lives in a war against a HigherTechSpecies able to cross interstellar space. However, the Protectorate continue to assume the aliens must be enlightened and well-intentioned even as they engage in {{alien abduction}}s (which the Protectorate blame on xenophobic human factions far longer than is reasonable) and start manufacturing a war economy in the out solar system. Contrast the Academy, whose similar initial optimist turns to [[ReluctantWarrior reluctant war preparations]] as soon as they learn what the aliens have been doing on Earth and in the solar system.

* Play as the Protectorate in ''VideoGame/TerraInvicta'', and it soon becomes clear they are this. Their basic premise is sympathetic: arrange a conditional surrender to the AlienInvasion to preserve Earth and avoid throwing away human lives in a war against a civilization able to cross interstellar space. However, the Protectorate continue to assume the aliens must be enlightened and well-intentioned even as they engage in {{alien abduction}}s (which the Protectorate blame on xenophobic human factions far longer than is reasonable) and start manufacturing a war economy in the out solar system. Contrast the Academy, whose initial and reasonable optimist turns to [[ReluctantWarrior reluctant war preparations]] when they learn the details about alien activity on Earth and in the solar system.

* During LetsPlay/DuncanJones and LetsPlay/{{Sjin}}'s ''[[Machinima/YogscastMinecraftSeries Pixelmon]]'' playthrough, the two eventually decide to set up their own gym after having beaten the others. Sjin is horrified to realise that Duncan has built their gym out of wool... since every other gym in the series was made of wool and set alight (by them).

* 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. Hey, if the writers are genre-blind and [[CriticalResearchFailure ignorant of the material they're referencing]], you can hardly expect the characters themselves to do much better.

* In the fourth episode of the Wiki/TVTropes original webseries ''WebVideo/EchoChamber'', Tom is unaware of the nuances of "having a point" required for a [[DumbassHasAPoint dumbass to have a point]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}'', Philip decides to travel a remote location in Greenland that he heard about in some notes his father told him to [[SchmuckBait destroy without reading]], because apparently he has never read a horror novel before.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[ContractualGenreBlindness At least he knows just enough to realize how screwed he is]].]]

* In one episode of the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Spike saves a woman from vampires and chews her out for walking home alone at night. "Get a cab, you moron. And on the way, if a stranger offers you candy, don't get in the van!" In fact, both ''Angel'' and ''Buffy'' have a distressingly high number of people walking alone at night, often with no stated reason.

* In one episode of the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Spike saves a woman from vampires and chews her out for walking home alone at night. "Get a cab, you moron. And on the way, if a stranger offers you candy, don't get in the van!" In fact, both ''Angel'' and ''Buffy'' have a distressingly high number of people walking alone at night.

* In one episode of the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Spike saves a woman from vampires and chews her out for walking home alone at night. "Get a cab, you moron. And on the way, if a stranger offers you candy, don't get in the van!"

** Dean actually points out the idiocy of a pair of teenagers in one episode.

** They might have gotten better in later seasons but throughout Season 1, the boys were always fighting about if the problem of the week was supernatural or not. With the exception of "The Benders", where it was just human cannibals, you would have thought with their years of training they would know better than that. Possibly explained in-universe in that they presumably follow a lot of false leads looking for supernatural things, which aren't shown in episodes because they're boring.

* In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Countrycide", when the team split up to investigate the creepy village, they were assaulted by [[spoiler:cannibals]] one-by-one.

* In one episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Xander and Giles make the mistake of enlisting Spike's help at one point, and he just outright tells them he's going to now betray them, asking if they've all forgotten he's an evil demon who hates them.

* In an example pertaining not to the game's storyline but instead its marketing, the circumstances concerning ''VideoGame/HaloReach'''s early arrival. Microsoft did everything it could to try and make it successful and apparently decided it was more efficient to distribute it to select reviewers from Live instead of just mailing copies. [[ForegoneConclusion Guess]] [[WhatAnIdiot what]] [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil happened]].

** While Terra's trust is somewhat justified (Terra's master insists that dark magic is ''never'' good, despite several scenes where Terra only keeps himself or others alive because of it, while Xehanort by comparison is calm, patient, understanding, repentant, and informs Terra that darkness, used carefully and when necessary, isn't any worse than other magic), the real idiot here is his master Eraqus himself. Terra had ''no'' reason to suspect Xehanort's motives, since Xehanort was (apparently) a respected Keyblade Master. However, Xehanort had, in the past, informed Eraqus ''to his face'' that he'd blanket the multiverse in darkness if he could, for no other reason than because he didn't believe the lore that darkness was a super evil destructive force. And damn the consequences. Then he used darkness to deeply scar Eraqus' face, and left. When the game's story kicks off, [[WhatTheHellHero he's briefly invited by to visit the apprentices before disappearing]], and then [[WhatAnIdiot Eraqus tells Terra to go FIND this guy.]]

* The whole "To Catch a Predator" segments on ''Series/{{Dateline}}''. People, the second Chris Hansen shows up (instead of the jailbait you met over the internet), points out the camera, and asks you to take a seat, just ask where the cops are and turn yourself in rather than embarrass yourself further. At least one guy simply walked out of the house and laid down on the lawn with his hands behind his head, waiting for the cops. This would have been GenreSavvy on his part [[SubvertedTrope had it not been]] '''[[WhatAnIdiot his second time on the show.]]''' On the other hand, genre savvy actually led to one guy's ''death''. As soon as he saw Chris Hansen and company pulling into his driveway, [[DrivenToSuicide he killed himself]]. Perhaps we should be grateful for the genre blindness.

** Cersei Lannister believes herself to be TheChessmaster. Problem is, while she is a decent ManipulativeBitch, she's definitely not a [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent]] one, and she has a nasty case of {{Pride}}, rampant paranoia, and extreme BlackAndWhiteInsanity. To her, people are divided into 'fawning admirers' and 'enemies', and she will strive to destroy the latter, no matter their actual relation to the house or the long-term consequences of her plotting. el trying to help clearly infected people, Stealth realizes society is doomed as, despite all the evidence in front of them, people will refuse to accept the reality of the undead even as it attacks them.
-->'''Stealth''': Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." But there is a fatal flaw in that maxim. It assumes people can tell the difference between what ''is'' impossible and what they ''believe'' impossible.

* In ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', Doujima is honestly surprised that the SchoolPlay that he and the rest of the student council are doing has [[SchoolgirlLesbians a female lead with a girlfriend]]. [[YuriGenre Two or three of the main female characters have crushes on other girls, while two supporting characters, both adult women, are also in a relationship]].

** The crew arrives at a town that welcomes pirates. Luffy, Sanji and Usopp fall easily for this, while Zoro and Nami ''fake'' being drunk to find out what the town is up to.

* Keima of ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' is normally incredibly, hilariously GenreSavvy. But the problem is, all his experience comes from galges, so when he runs into a situation that doesn't come up in them, he's at a loss. The best example is probably when he missed the MatchmakerCrush--''twice'', involving the same girl both times, no less (first time he was helping Chihiro with a boy, the second time she was helping him with Ayumi).

* After being [[TapOnTheHead knocked out]] many times by being hit on the back of his head, you might have thought that Franchise/{{Tintin}} would at least watch his back whenever he's sneaking up on a villain's lair or on the villains themselves.
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'': For beings who have lived for millions of years, 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 [[Comicbook/BlackestNight it is fulfilled]]; and 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}}s 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. The only reason for this is if the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Guardians]] were savvy they could turn every issue of ''Green Lantern'' 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]].
* Many characters in ''ComicBook/DraculaLives'' stories that are set in past centuries are ignorant to basic vampire weaknesses since many think vampires as nothing but legends. One man learns about them firsthand after stealing Dracula's journal and exploits this fact by selling the information to the villages on his menu.
* ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'': How long will it take for Iznogoud to understand that the problem in his quest for power is not Wa'at Alahf, but himself?
* ''Tales to Astonish'' had a {{metafiction}}al story where a writer for that very magazine submits stories about the military fighting and eventually defeating a monster and attempting to keep it secret, then learns that the monsters he created actually existed and were defeated the same way as in his stories. This happens twice in a row. So what does the writer do? Ponder his typewriter and the slightly ominous circumstances under which he bought it? Not until he has written and submitted a third story, with a monster that is practically invincible and ''[[SequelHook not]]'' defeated by the end, and been encouraged to go on a vacation, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou with predictable results]].

* The original ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' is notable for its exceptions and examples. It was the first film to feature zombies as mindless flesh-eating corpses, yet at least one character seems to be pretty GenreSavvy already. Most [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie rules]] are based on this film.
* A particularly infuriating example is Lucio Fulci's ''Film/TheBeyond'', in which the protagonist shoots zombies in the torso ineffectually and finally downs one with a [[BoomHeadshot head shot]]... and then continues to fire uselessly into their torsos for the remainder of the film. To put it into context, Fulci's horror movies are generally populated with characters who are juggling the IdiotBall.

* Any "victim" character in ''Film/TheStrangers'' is so genre blind it's astounding they're not forced to wear dark sunglasses and follow a seeing-eye dog. The first death involves [[spoiler:the husband's friend, Mike, walking into the house after the three killers have already pinned the protagonists down in a corner. The husband, James, has a shotgun pointed at the door to the room they're hiding in. Instead of turning off the deafeningly loud record player and calling out to the couple, Mike slowly... creeps... down... the hall... (''BLAM!'')]] It gets really horrid when Kristen, the wife, attempts to [[spoiler:run across the backyard for a radio in the barn. Instead of carefully selecting her steps, she tumbles into a two foot deep trench and [[TwistedAnkle snaps her leg like a twig]]]].
* Batman's Genre Blindness is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' when he demands that the Joker let Rachel go while standing near the edge of a broken window high up in a skyscraper, holding her outside of it. Joker stares at him for a second and responds "Very poor choice of words" before [[UnhandThemVillain literally letting go of her]].
* In ''Film/TimeBandits'', the dwarves don't recognize Myth/RobinHood when they see him. [[GenreSavvy Kevin]] attempts to explain after they have lost all their treasure to the poor.
* In ''Film/{{Timecrimes}}'' Hector has clearly never seen or read any stories about TimeTravel, thus he's completely unable to wrap his head around the fact that "that man" is himself from an hour ago, and not some impostor. [[JustifiedTrope This is pretty consistent with how intelligent he's shown to be prior to this point.]]
* In ''Film/BurntOfferings'', the heroine forgets one of the most basic rules of real estate: if it seems too cheap, ''something is horribly wrong with the place.'' In real life, it's usually something like "the roof is a major rainstorm away from collapse, we're hoping the super-low price will distract you from the contract clearly stating it's being sold as-is." This, however, being a horror movie...
* The delightfully cheesy '80s film ''Film/AmericanDreamer'' features a housewife who gets bonked on the head and decides that she's the heroine of her favorite series of books, which feature the female, Film/JamesBond-esque Rebecca Ryan. She manages to live through several assassination plots through sheer luck, dragging along the [[OnlySaneMan only person]] who doesn't buy into her delusion. She's an odd combo of Genre Blind and GenreSavvy, because she seems to be aware of all her tropes but thinks of them as the way the world's supposed to work.
* Used and lampshaded in ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'' where the main character is a critic who criticizes characters in a play for making the same sort of mistakes he's making in dealing with his criminally insane family; in one scene he describes the stupidity of an oblivious victim, even going so far as to suggest using the curtain cords as rope to tie him up.
* In ''Film/MulhollandDrive'', Betty, who finds the amnesiac Rita, convinces her to try investigating in order to find out her identity, "like in the movies". They have no idea what [[MindScrew they're getting into]].
* Music/{{Beyonce}}'s character from the movie ''Film/{{Obsessed}}''. When her husband is stalked by a {{Yandere}}, at first she's far angrier at her husband than she is at his stalker, even though he's very ''very'' adamant that it was not an affair, and that she was a stalker. Even with the extremely clear evidence that the woman is mentally unstable, she kicks him out of the house to spend the night alone somewhere.

* The heroes of the ''Film/NationalTreasure'' movies have apparently never seen an ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movie.

* Ofelia in ''Film/PansLabyrinth'', despite loving fairy tales and having been gravely warned ''not'' to eat anything, still eats two grapes from the table of a grotesque monster and then proceeds to get her fairy guides eaten and almost die herself.
* In ''Film/IronMan2'' when the Hammer Drones [[IncrediblyObviousBomb begin flashing and beeping in an increasingly high pitch]] Pepper just stands there watching one with a confused look.
* In ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'', Agent Rhodes continually takes on the Horsemen like regular criminals and keeps playing into their hands by refusing to think how a magician would. [[spoiler: Or so everyone thinks, see ObfuscatingStupidity.]]
* More horror films than not in general that feature a group of teens/young adults will have all save for maybe one, usually ignored character fall into this. ''Film/DeadSnow'' at least nods to this with a round of ConversationalTroping on the HorrorTropes that pertain to their vacation in an isolated cabin in the woods. But there's a limit to how seriously they take it, and especially won't let it spoil their fun -- but they do mobilize quickly at the first sign of zombies. The campers become more victim to bad luck, WrongGenreSavvy, and ThisIsReality than the classic horror deaths.
** ''Film/CabinInTheWoods'' is an inversion of this, in which the characters are supposed to act in genre-blind ways, and are pushed in that direction when they don't. For example they all resolve to stay together, but are dosed with a gas that confuses them and leads them to split up.
* In ''Film/{{Volcano}}'', none of the characters seem to understand the signs of a volcanic eruption even as ash, firebombs and lava flows are literally exploding forth and blanketing the city. At first it's understandable that people might be confused by what's happening, but eventually the ignorance becomes so unbelievable that it seems the mere concept of a volcano or even lava is almost fantastical.

** In the Prequel Trilogy, Obi-Wan Kenobi demonstrates a surprising amount of Genre Blindness. He knows that there's an AncientConspiracy out there somewhere looking to plunge the Galaxy into darkness, he knows that Palpatine is an ambitious and slimy politician who used a crisis to seize an alarming amount of power, but he's so cynical about politics and politicians that he can't quite put two and two together. At worst, Obi-Wan figures that Palpatine is the UnwittingPawn of the unknown Sithlord. The possibility that Palpatine ''is'' the Sithlord - and the possibility that this entire crisis has been deliberately and systematically engineered ''by'' him - doesn't enter Obi-Wan's head until it's too obvious to deny...and too late to do anything about it.

* ''Film/SpaceBattleshipYamato'': After Captain Okita gives the order for the ship to prepare for warp, Doctor Sado stops a passer-by in the hallway to worriedly ask her what "Warp" is. Given that this is the first time humanity has ever used a warp engine, she might be forgiven for being uniformed. As it is, the passer-by herself only seems to be kind of sure that her explanation[[note]]that they will be jumping over a very large distance[[/note]] is correct. Also, Doctor Sado is [[INeedAFreakingDrink very drunk.]]
* ''Film/FaustLoveOfTheDamned'': Lt. Margolies, an honest cop who's been investigating The Hand (a syndicate responsible for satanic sacrifices), just walks straight into their headquarters after he sees his corrupt boss go there for a meeting with M. He probably didn't think that M was ''really'' the devil himself, but even leaving that aside it was an incredibly stupid move to just introduce himself and walk into their base of operations with no real plan or back-up whatsoever. [[spoiler:Sure enough, he gets captured and brainwashed by the bad guys after spying on them for a bit.]]
* Inverted in ''Film/LastActionHero''. Hero Slater is entirely genre savvy about how his fictional world works, but struggles when transported to the real world because it doesn't work like an action movie.

* In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'', the narrator observes that Eustace "had read none of the right books," and as a result does not recognize a dragon when he sees one and is generally poorly equipped for his first visit to the world of Narnia. This is distinctly in contrast to the Pevensies, particularly Peter and Edmund, who are much more GenreSavvy.
* The Bigtime series by Jennifer Estep takes place in a world where superheroes and supervillains are as common as dirt. The characters are unaware that if you have an AlliterativeName (95% of them seem to), odds are higher that that person is a superhero, and their superidentity is something that also starts with that letter. (Examples: Fiona Fine = Fiera, Sam Sloane = Striker.) Occasionally subverted with the [[BadassNormal Belluci family's "Johnny Angel"]] and Sean Newman = Mr. Sage. When characters are trying to figure out who a superhero's real identity is, they have to resort to other means. This leads to an interesting experience for the reader, who knows VERY early on who everyone really is long before the characters can.
* 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. Hey, if the writers are genre-blind and [[CriticalResearchFailure ignorant of the material they're referencing]], you can hardly expect the characters themselves to do much better.
** Not genre-blindness, but an example of how well the writers knew their [[Literature/TheBible source material]]: ''And then that [[TheAntichrist lawless one]] will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.'' - [[Literature/BooksOfThessalonians 2nd Thessalonians]] 2:8-12 ...In other words, people are deluded then because they didn't take advantage of the opportunity for salvation that is offered now. You have to assume that there are, as illustrated, people who figure that they can hedge their bets - and if you can assume it, you can rest assured that God has thought of it.

* The Limper in Glen Cook's ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' fits this trope. Even after the Company: 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, he fails miserably, and he isn't even up against the company at the time, just the people who decided not to go with them.

* The title character in Patrick Senecal's ''Literature/{{Aliss}}'' completely misses the fact that she's inhabiting an [[WholePlotReference updated]] ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''. When she actually speaks a line from ''Alice'' [[spoiler:during the trial]], she hasn't the slightest clue where it came from. By contrast, the Red Queen is fully GenreSavvy.
* 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 Creator/ElmoreLeonard's ''Pronto'', Tommy "The Zip" Bucks is a Italian-born mafioso who constantly fails to realize that US Marshal Raylan Givens is a CowboyCop who does not always play by the rules. Tommy is a ruthless killer who prides himself on his ability to walk up to a person in a crowded restaurant, shoot him dead and then walk away. Yet, until the very end, he cannot imagine that a US policeman would choose to just shoot him dead rather then arrest him and have him face trial. In contrast Nicky, Tommy's ButtMonkey sidekick for most of the book, quickly realizes that Raylan is extremely deadly and should not be antagonized or threatened.

** Petyr Baelish in his youth was another example. After [[spoiler:drunkenly sleeping with foster-sister Catelyn Tully after a feast]], he learns that she is betrothed to Brandon Stark and challenges him to a duel for Cat's hand. [[SarcasmMode After all, in ballads the little hero always defeats the big bully and Cat loves him, right?]] Except he's a short scrawny 15-year-old boy and Brandon is a 20-year-old expert swordsman. A SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs and he nearly dies. [[spoiler:Also, Cat did genuinely love Brandon and the girl in Petyr's bed that night was actually Cat's younger sister Lysa.]] However, he took this lesson very much to heart, and as an adult one of his greatest talents is ''causing'' this trope in other people; he plays the part of a smart, but overconfident, SmugSnake so that people will miss the fact that he's actually a full-fledged MagnificentBastard, and [[ItWasHisSled in the first book]] [[spoiler: he convinces Ned Stark (see below,) that he is a SarcasticDevotee when he is in fact a DevilInPlainSight]].

** Cersei Lannister believes herself to be TheChessmaster. Problem is, while she is a decent ManipulativeBitch, she's definitely not a [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent]] one, and she has a nasty case of {{Pride}}, rampant paranoia, and extreme BlackAndWhiteInsanity. To her, people are divided into 'fawning admirers' and 'enemies', and she will strive to destroy the latter, no matter their actual relation to the house or the long-term consequences of her plotting.

* ''Literature/MertonOfTheMovies'': Due to having NoSenseOfHumor, the title character is unable to spot that he's in a comedy. Both in the movies he's starring in and in his actual life.
* 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 personnel trying to help clearly infected people, Stealth realizes society is doomed as, despite all the evidence in front of them, people will refuse to accept the reality of the undead even as it attacks them.
-->'''Stealth''': Arthur Conan Doyle wrote "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." But there is a fatal flaw in that maxim. It assumes people can tell the difference between what ''is'' impossible and what they ''believe'' impossible.
* In ''Literature/{{Replay}}'', the protagonists have *two centuries* of subjective time to contemplate their situation, but never make the connection that their replays start such that they have to take a new approach each time. That is, repeats are timed for dramatic contrast.
* Catherine Morland in ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'' thinks she is in a Gothic horror story instead of the prosaic world she is in, making the trope ''OlderThanSteam'' .
* ''Literature/TreasureIsland'': Crewing out a ship for a secret mission in search of buried treasure, the characters hire a one-legged, tattooed old sea-dog with a Bristol accent and a parrot. But then, Long John Silver is the one who made all these traits stock attributes of pirates in the first place. Jim Hawkins still might have known better since he was specifically warned by Billy Bones to beware of "a one-legged sea-faring man" — they just decide he couldn't possibly have meant this particular one-legged sea-faring man.

* In the Taiwanese CopShow ''Series/BlackAndWhite'' they meet an undercover and ask him to find some information. The guy is already leaving when he turns around and declares "Please remind the chief that he promised to [[{{Retirony}} retire me after this case.]] I have promised my [[FatalFamilyPhoto girlfriend that I'll marry her soon. My boy is already five years old and still illegitimate..."]] This ''complete'' and ''utter'' lack of genre savvyness triggers cringing equivalent to watching someone take a head dive into a shark basin. And for good measure another cop explains that "[[TemptingFate He's the last surviving undercover in that group]]." It was just painful.

*** Rory happily sighs that [[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong nothing bad could ever happen]] in his idyllic life in Upper Leadworth. Even discounting the possibility that this could be a dream designed to torture him, he seems to have forgotten he's in a sci-fi series — and he says this after the Dream Lord has already made it clear there's a deadly danger in ''both'' worlds.

** In the opener of season 3, Mohinder Suresh, the resident scientist, [[ProfessorGuineaPig tests an experimental Super-power giving serum on himself]]. That's something that's never gone wrong before. What's really bad is that he announces his plan to inject himself right in front of a living example of BlessedWithSuck who [[WhatTheHellHero points this out]].

* ''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.

** Queens who act surprised when an eliminated contestant returns, and especially when they're indignant that the eliminated queen might win the season without having been there for all of it. This "twist" has been pulled multiple times and the returning queen not only never wins, she's usually eliminated again within an episode or two [[note]]Trixie Mattell was eliminated, returned and later won a crown - but, critically, not on the season she was eliminated from[[/note]].

** The cultures encountered by SG-1 often appear blind to the obvious fact that the Stargates aren't of a make that could be credited to an ancient culture, and just consider it an old artifact. Some don't even realize that it is a sort of gate (even if just a symbolic one), despite it standing on a pedestal with stairs leading up to it.

** They might have gotten better in later seasons but throughout Season One, the boys were always fighting about if the problem of the week was supernatural or not. With the exception of "The Benders", where it was just human cannibals, you would have thought with their years of training they would know better than that. Possibly explained in-universe in that they presumably follow a lot of false leads looking for supernatural things, which aren't shown in episodes because they're boring.

* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', there's at least one Horror Movie Stupidity Cliche in any given episode. The first episode takes the cake, though. Two teenagers— one of them asthmatic— search for the OTHER HALF OF A CORPSE. At night. In the woods.

** Subverted at Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} King of Trios 2012, Night 1, September 14, 2012. Team [[Wrestling/RingOfHonor ROH]] (Wrestling/TheYoungBucks [Matt & Nick Jackson- aka Generation Me] and Mike Bennett, w[=/=]Wrestling/MariaKanellis) d. the Faces of Pain (Meng\Wrestling/TheBarbarian\The Warlord) when Bennett pinned Meng with a sunset flip.

** In the end, it's not Genre Blindness at all. He's smart, but covers it with a lot of [[ObfuscatingStupidity Obfuscating Bond]] [[BondVillainStupidity Villain Stupidity]]. [[spoiler: The only reason he left the players alive as long as he did was that he ''wanted'' them to become stronger than he is. The entire fight is Arthas giving more and more to the battle, until he finally holds nothing back and fights with his full strength. If the players die, unfortunate, but still good minions. If they ''don't'', he's found minions that surpass even his ''own'' immense power, which is what he ''wants'', being a necromancer with near-unbreakable control over his resurrected minions, and the ability to trap souls in his blade. The raid can't actually slay him on its own - either you're weaker and he kills you, or you're stronger, [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment and he]] ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption kills you]]''. Knowing that [=NPCs=] are next to useless compared to players, he begins his reanimation ritual, mocking the frozen Tirion while he and the crippled and restrained Bolvar watch helplessly. And, in the end, he only loses because Tirion's rescue subverts every boss battle trope that [=WoW=] has. When, in any other Final Boss Battle, does an ''NPC'' disarm and permanently paralyze the boss, turning him into a glorified ''training dummy''? Arthas, with 10% HP remaining, can actually be struck by weak melee hits until death (which can take something like an hour, if Tirion is the only one doing it). Let's rephrase that: Arthas, the BigBad of an entire expansion, dies because an NPC gets up off the ground after [[TheProtagonist the party]] dies, and [[PrecisionFStrike flipping]] ''solos'' him. '''''Outside of a cutscene.''''']]

* There is only one character in ''Webcomic/BooksDontWorkHere'' who can't hear the narrator speak and ignores the 4th wall. It makes for some interesting conversations.
* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'':
** Rare, but when Dr. Wiley distracts Mega Man with "there's something behind you" -- ''[[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/041202 he forgets to run away.]]''
** Mynd was this at first. Although he is a smart and dangerous villain, he is handicapped by not actually [[NoFourthWall reading the comic itself]]. [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011024 Here is a prime example,]] where he recognizes Proto Man as a truly competent fighter, yet could not resist announcing his plans to the audience. [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/011028 Thus, he is a victim of a]] RunningGag. When he finally attacked, he abruptly became savvy, heavily following the EvilOverlordList. In fact, there was supposed to be a series of comics before the attack where he finally sat down and went on an ArchiveBinge. [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011101a.html Here]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011102a.html are]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011103a.html the]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011104a.html comics]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011105a.html showing]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011106a.html this]] [[http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/comics/0111/011107a.html development.]]
* ''Webcomic/CurseQuest'': Hinted at for Capatin Walrus. He doesn't seem to know the difference between a witch and a sorceress, despite clearly living in a fantasy world.
* ''Webcomic/FurthiaHigh'': Kale's girlfriend Eve demonstrated this at the end of [[http://furthiahigh.concessioncomic.com/index.php?pid=20091130 page 147]]. Possibly lampshaded by the way her last line is written.

* The man in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page404.html this]] ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'' strip thinks it a good idea to buy a newspaper with the headline "Local Man Devoured by Newspaper Box" ''from a newspaper box''. No points awarded for guessing what happens next.
* {{Justified|Trope}} with Jordie the Cleric in ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' since he has no real-world adventuring experience. The other members of Julie's group do lampshade it when it pops up.
* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Sarah [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-08 considers]] the reasons not to go through the isolated dark alley while unarmed but still decides to do it.

* You would have thought that WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic would have learned not to [[TemptingFate tempt fate]] anymore. [[LampshadeHanging He even said early on]] that he should learn to keep his fucking mouth shut.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Jayuzumi}}'':
** Some people in his videos do not realise that they are being trolled, thus making themselves even bigger targets.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV6_-IBoJFQ This video, entitled "Bad Violin Trolling"]], shows a player by the name of "cider dude" refusing to mute Jay and instead angrily ranting and vowing to report him, under the [[InsaneTrollLogic perfectly rational belief]] that a report to Microsoft would instantly go against him.
** Considering how being trapped in corners is such a widespread tactic in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', the amount of people that fall for it is simply ''staggering''. While Jay himself occasionally falls victim to it, he does have legitimate excuses (replying to online hate mail during a game, etcetera).
* LetsPlay/DaithiDeNogla is usually savvy enough when playing ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'', but in some cases, particularly in ''Murder'', he trusts others far too easily. This results in him being literally backstabbed on a semi-regular basis.
* When playing ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', LetsPlay/{{Strippin}} calls out his friend Benji for building a treehouse when he has a habit of falling to his death. The less savvy Benji insists that this would be a cool base, only to fall to his death almost immediately. Strippin just comments "I totally called that".

* Explained in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' by the Villain Traditions that most of the bad guys follow. These traditions include the villains "making their lame pun and leaving" the heroes in a DeathTrap. Señor Senior Senior [[ContractualGenreBlindness sticks closely to this]], even telling Kim how to escape. Shego, on the other hand: "I prefer [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim the direct approach]], but you know Drakken..." Drakken does start getting better about it by season 3, where he immediately launches the doomsday weapon sans countdown.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Tam Ryvora naïvely believes that the First Order, a faction which emulates and idolizes the evil Galactic Empire, is just another faction instead of the bad guys. She brushes off her friends and co-workers when they try to warn her about the FO's true nature after they begin to occupy the Colossus, claiming that they're making the platform more secure after [[spoiler:the kidnapping of Colossus owner Captain Doza's daughter Torra by pirates — which the First Order arranged]], and getting angry with Kaz when he tries to point out how oppressive the First Order is making the platform. At one point, she uses the fact that her grandfather used to work in an Imperial factory to defend herself, even after her boss Yeager points out in response that the Empire liked to prey on the vulnerable. In "[[Recap/StarWarsResistanceS1E18Descent Descent]]", it comes to a head when [[spoiler:after finding out that Kaz and Yeager have been [[LockedOutOfTheLoop keeping her in the dark]] about their Resistance connections when stormtroopers come to arrest Team Fireball, she decides to side with the First Order, and refuses to listen to Yeager when he tries to tell her she's being manipulated and lied to.]]

* In VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}, Philip decides to travel a remote location in Greenland that he heard about in some notes his father told him to [[SchmuckBait destroy without reading]], because apparently he has never read a horror novel before.