History Main / GuiltByAssociationGag

* In ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' the partygoers had every right to attack Ryo when he started slicing and stabbing them with a broken liquor bottle for no reason, he was doing it to summon demons as part of his ritual because he needed human blood to complete it, they then attack Akira even though he had nothing to do with it, just because Ryo was his friend and he was trying to help him.

** Ultimately inverted, as the friends posted bad things about Debbie, but it was Steve who carried out the (brutal) retribution on the girls. The friends were at fault for tricking him, but everyone was mad at Steve because he did those horrible things.

* One episode of ''Series/FatherTed'' features Ted and Dougal sneaking around after dark in a "rest home" full of sick and/or demented priests; the inmates all loom out of the darkness spouting deranged gibberish, except for one poor guy who enunciates quite clearly: "I really shouldn't be here!" He is of course left to his fate.

* In the ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' episode "Archie And The Lock-Up", Archie gets guilt-tripped into going out to rescue Mike from a protest that is turning ugly. He ends up getting arrested and stuck in a jail cell with the "pinkos, commies, and fags".
* At the end of one episode of ''Series/{{Jessie}}'', she makes the Ross kids work to pay off a video game that Ravi stole. Despite Emma being the OnlySaneMan in that situation, Jessie made her work too so she could have the day off.
* In the ''Series/{{Batman}}'' episode "Dizzoner the Penguin", Batman and the Penguin are running for mayor of Gotham City. Penguin makes the [[InsaneTrollLogic argument]] that since Batman is often seen in contact with criminals while he himself is often surrounded by police, he is the more trustworthy character.
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in "Sweet Dreams," an episode of ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. Frasier hears about a rally protesting developers tearing down a landmark bookstore in Seattle and decides to go with Roz and Daphne. When the cops show up and threaten to arrest people, they all stand firm--''except'' Frasier, who instead [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs like a coward]] and feels immensely guilty afterward. Daphne plays the trope straighter, as she ends up getting arrested despite only being at the rally to give Frasier a ride. Later in the same episode, Frasier's attempts to not back down on his principles by refusing to record a commercial gets Kenny, the new KACL station manager, fired, so he rallies all of the on-air talent to stand up for him to the owner. His stirring speech convinces the manager that he too needs to stand up for himself and follow his dreams...so he fires ''the entire staff'' (many of whom didn't want to join Frasier's cause in the first place) to turn the radio station from talk radio to all Latin music, all the time.
* In one episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Penny's [[BrainlessBeauty handsome-but-stupid]] boyfriend Zack drops by and eagerly asks to "talk science with the science nerds." Even though Zack's a NiceGuy and genuinely interested in their work, Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard make fun of him with condescending comments and snide jokes. When Zack catches on, he becomes genuinely upset and leaves while Penny [[WhatTheHellHero calls the guys out]] for their DoubleStandard of complaining about bullies while acting like bullies themselves. Raj asks why ''he'' got yelled at, as he didn't say anything, and Penny snaps "You laughed!"

* Occurs in Chapter 1 of ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo Tetris]]''. When Arle finds out that Tee is a friend of Zed, she challenges him to a battle because she believes he will have the same oppressive demands, expecting Arle to have proper manners like washing her hands. This is done despite the fact that Tee apologized for Zed's actions beforehand and told Arle that he did not expect those things from her.

* In ''Film/SugarHill'', the title character is carrying out a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the gangsters who killed her fiance, picking them off one by one. When one of her targets points out that he wasn't there that night and had nothing to do with the murder, Sugar, unbothered, tells him he still has to answer for all the ''other'' bad stuff he's done.

* Schools often employ this tactic to keep students under control in chaotic classrooms, much to the chagrin of well-behaved students. In more recent years, it's become something of a DiscreditedTrope, as teachers have gradually come to realize that the badly-behaved students often ''enjoy'' getting their more well-behaved peers punished for no reason, and can actually cause the ones who normally behave to start being disruptive themselves once they realize they're going to be punished either way.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'': Mike grew up in the 80s. ''Film/SpaceMutiny'' was made in the 80s. So when the SOL crew is forced to watch ''Space Mutiny'', Tom and Crow turn their anger towards Mike:

* In one episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Penny's [[BrainlessBeauty handsome-but-stupid]] boyfriend Zack drops by and eagerly asks to "talk science with the science nerds." Even though Zack's a NiceGuy and genuinely interested in their work, Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, and Raj make fun of him with condescending comments and snide jokes. When Zack catches on, he becomes genuinely upset and leaves while Penny [[WhatTheHellHero calls the guys out]] for their DoubleStandard of complaining about bullies while acting like bullies themselves. Raj asks why ''he'' got yelled at, as he didn't say anything, and Penny snaps "You laughed!"

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' has one of these during the "Kiss Negi" competition during the class trip. Nitta tells the students that anyone caught outside their hotel rooms will be forced to do the SeizaSquirm in the lobby all night. [[MetaGuy Chisame]] is roped into the competition by Ayaka, realizes early on the whole game is stupid, heads back to her room. And is caught by Nitta on the way. Eventually everybody else is caught too... along with Negi, who had absolutely nothing to do with it (but he was ''also'' outside of his room, for different reasons). [[FridgeLogic This makes even less sense when you consider that a teacher, 10 years old or not, really should be able to be out of his room]].

* In ''WebVideo/DanganronpaAbridgedThing''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma'', after Taokaka comments on Bullet's {{stripperiffic}} uniform, she hits Ragna whose only crime was [[UnprovokedPervertPayback standing next to Tao]]. He then decides to retaliate by ''doubling down'' on insulting her.

* Early in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', Yosuke makes the boneheaded mistake of waving a couple of weapons around in public. You, the main character, are arrested along with him, capped off with a lecture from your uncle. Being a SilentProtagonist, you make no apparent effort to defend yourself, even though you were just sitting there the entire time.

** Monty Python just loves this one-- near the beginning of ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', a man is loaded onto a cart full of dead plague victims. When he insists he's "not quite dead yet" and attempts to leave, the cart-pusher refuses to take him at first, but the man who brought him slips the cart-pusher some money. A hefty whack from his cudgel and the man wasn't complaining any more.

* In Film/{{Pumpkinhead}} Joel was the only one of the group who deserved Pumpkinhead’s wrath, as he was the one who ran over Billy, although an accident he refused to help him and only cared about himself, as he had a similar incident with a girl and was going to jail if convicted, and he assaulted his friends when they tried to call an ambulance, and the others are also pursued by Pumpkinhead even though they tried to help Billy as he was dying, ultimately Joel ends up being killed, but so are Steve, Kim, and Maggie who were innocent.

* In the opening chapter of ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'', Arcie is arrested in a bar after getting caught lifting purses red-handed. Sam is arrested... for sitting next to him while dressed in assassin black. Justified by the fact that the overly Light society no longer cares about right or wrong, just identifying and brainwashing anyone who might be Dark.

* In ''Manga/DevilMan'' the partygoers had every right to attack Ryo when he started slicing and stabbing them with a broken liquor bottle for no reason, he was doing it to summon demons as part of his ritual because he needed human blood to complete it, they then attack Akira even though he had nothing to do with it, just because Ryo was his friend and he was trying to help him.

Compare: MyFriendsAndZoidberg, CantGetAwayWithNuthin, GoAmongMadPeople. If the character didn't do the listed thing, but DID do something else, it may become ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne. The opposite of this trope is IAmSpartacus, where people who aren't guilty deliberately associate themselves with the guilty party and AccompliceByInaction, where people who didn't do the act are considered guilty because they [[BystanderSyndrome didn't do anything to stop it.]] Jokes of this kind are a type of BlackComedy. See also MisplacedRetribution and KarmicMisfire, especially when the victim is the only one targeted for what their guilty association did. For people who are victimized by just being there, see GuiltByCoincidence.

* On ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', Edd is always beaten up along with the others when Eddy's schemes go south even though he's usually the voice of reason, trying to convince the other two that they should be doing something productive instead. This was Lampshaded on one occasion: after beating up the Eds, Sarah admits that Edd didn't deserve the beating but then she adds "Give those cute ones an inch, and they'll take a mile!"

** In the "Heck House" segment of episode "WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror XVIII", Bart, Milhouse, Nelson and Lisa are sent temporarily to hell, yet Lisa took no part in the chaos they wreaked. She points this out along the way to hell: "I warned you, and yet my punishment is no less severe. That's odd."

** In yet another Halloween episode, everyone in town is cursed by a witch, [[BecomingTheCostume causing them to turn into their Halloween costumes]], including Hans Moleman, who turns into a mole despite not wearing a costume.

* Schools often employ this tactic to keep students under control in chaotic classrooms, much to the chagrin of well-behaved students. In more recent years it's become something of a DiscreditedTrope, as teachers have gradually come to realize that the badly-behaved students often ''enjoy'' getting their more well-behaved peers punished for no reason, and can actually cause the ones who normally behave to start being disruptive themselves once they realize they're going to be punished either way.

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': In the artwork for Wrongful Arrest, Sangan was arrested with a Delinquent Duo imp for the crime of smuggling a Pot of Greed even though Sangan was just along for the ride.

* In that Creator/EddieIzzard routine, the guy who accidentally asks for death instead of cake, even though he ''meant'' cake. Fortunately the interrogator is Church of England.
* The last victim of the guillotine in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emi1Dunjzv8 this sketch]] courtesy of ''Series/TheWhitestKidsUKnow''.
* Creator/DenisLeary invokes this in his imfamous bit of comparing the death of Jesus to that of Elvis, saying not only was [[ImGoingToHellForThis he going to hell]], [[TakingYouWithMe but so was everyone who heard the joke]].