History Main / InformedWrongness

Showing when someone is wrong can be a powerful tool for an author. It can characterize the villainous or misguided, it can lead to AnAesop, and it is vital for [[TheWarOnStraw strawmen]] in {{Author Tract}}s. It's even easier for an author to just ''tell'' us that someone is wrong rather than go through all those boring complicated fact things. Unfortunately, this often means that [[FridgeLogic when you think about it]], [[StrawmanHasAPoint they aren't wrong at all]]. The fact that we're supposed to be dismissing their opinions is because the writers are telling us to more than any actual logic.

* In ''Comicstrip/LittleOrphanAnnie'', Mrs. Warbucks donates large amounts of money to charity. However, she doesn't care a bit about the poor, she just wants to be praised and give a good impression. Fact remains that the poor probably wish more rich people were like her. Motivation aside, she does help the needy, and that's a good thing.

* [[CreepyChild Maria Ushiromiya]] of ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is often picked on by those around her (including her [[AbusiveParents own mother]]) for acting much younger than she is (9). This is despite the fact that, while she does have a tendency to act somewhat babyish, she also demonstrates a surprisingly in-depth knowledge of western occult lore and theological history far beyond what a typical nine year old should be able to understand. Instead of being recognized as some sort of savant, she's looked upon as creepy and off putting, and often gets smacked around by her mother for not being "normal" instead of recognizing Maria's obvious intellect.

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* In ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': Makoto witnesses a confrontation between Monokuma and the traitor in the group, the latter of whom is no longer willing to work for the former. When Kyoko confronts him about it, he refuses to share the details on the grounds that the information he learned is far too dangerous (Monokuma later reveals it in the hopes it will be seen as a ''motive for murder'') and that he doesn't really have proof. In response, she gives him the cold shoulder, calling him out because he preached to her about trusting each other before. Subverted in that Kyoko later realises Makoto had good reasons for withholding the information and apologizes.
** In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', case 4 ends with [[spoiler:Kaito being pissed at Shuichi because he trusted Oma (the TokenEvilTeammate and TheFriendNobodyLikes) over him, who has been an emotional support for Shuichi ever since Kaede's death while Oma has done nothing but spread discord, this support culminating in Gonta, who is the GentleGiant loved by everybody, executed for a murder he doesn't remember. The issue is: Oma was right, and Gonta really did commit a murder, even if he doesn't remember. Shuichi was tasked with finding out the truth and if he hadn't, everybody but Gonta would have been killed, making Kaito comes off as petty for punishing Shuichi for saving everybody in a way he disagrees with (even if it was the only way) and the rest of the game tries to make it seems like they are both being stubborn about it, while it hardly seems that way]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RayaAndTheLastDragon'' [[BrokenAesop breaks its Aesop]] of "trust and forgiveness" over protagonist Raya's head. She's repeatedly told that she needs to be more trusting, which blatantly ignores that trusting someone she barely knew helped send the world into it's current state in the first place.[[note]]The titular last dragon, Sisu, is the most insistent at this. But she comes from a culture of openness and trust and shows she doesn't really understand humans. Raya learns to trust Boun, Noi, and Tong... But this is after they ALL tried to steal her Dragon Gem at least once[[/note]]. When Raya's party confronts [[AntiVillian Namaari]], after she pulls a crossbow on them and demands Sisu and the gem fragments (betraying Raya's trust ''again''), Raya is called out for not trusting Sisu to handle the situation after [[spoiler: Namaari shoots and kills Sisu.]] But Raya (and the audience) can see Namaari's finger tightening on the trigger. It was perfectly reasonable for Raya to see this and react - ESPECIALLY given Namaari's previous actions.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The game is full of oddly binding rules regarding morality.
** For instance, several spells are designated "Evil", usually because they use necromancy and negative energy. Players are simply informed that using these forces is considered immoral in and of itself, though in some settings no explanation is given as to ''why'' animating undead or draining lifeforce is any different from, say, stabbing someone in the stomach (something downright ''expected'' of LawfulGood classes like Paladin). In other settings, these spells have proper grounding explaining why they're bad, such as being linked to TheCorruption, making the user a WalkingWasteland, or being [[AgonyBeam excessively cruel to the victims]].
** But the chief example of how arbitrary this can be is the Deathwatch spell. It's described as using "the foul sight granted by the powers of unlife" to... check the current health of people in the area, including whether they're alive in the first place. Not only is it a completely passive and harmless spell, but the most obvious utility it has is to check who's most in need of healing--apparently, triage is evil now. It seemed like there was some disconnect between whoever created the lore for the spell and the designers, as it found its way onto the spell list of the healer--a class which ''requires good alignment''.
** Later editions almost entirely remove this aspect, with the only exception being certain rituals that ''do'' require evil acts, such as the lich transformation.

** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'': Makoto witnesses a confrontation between Monokuma and the traitor in the group, the latter of whom is no longer willing to work for the former. When Kyoko confronts him about it, he refuses to share the details on the grounds that the information he learned is far too dangerous (Monokuma later reveals it in the hopes it will be seen as a ''motive for murder'') and that he doesn't really have proof. In response, she gives him the cold(er than usual) shoulder, calling him out because he preached to her about trusting each other before. Subverted in that Kyoko later realises Makoto had good reasons for withholding the information and apologizes.

** In an April 2021 storyline, Tiffany agrees to arrange a customized romantic dinner experience for Bets and Gunther, with Bets footing the bill for a pirate-themed evening. When date night arrived, Tiff had set up a standard "romantic dinner" instead. We're supposed to see both women as wrong: Tiff for ignoring Bets' express wishes and Bets for flipping out as a result. The problem her is that Bets had every right to be angry: She asked and paid for a specific service and Tiff agreed to provide it, with no intention of doing so. It doesn't matter whether or not the "pirate date" was a bad idea or not.
* The Lisa's Story movie arc in ''ComicStrip/FunkyWinkerbean'' practically runs on this. It revolves around Les Moore's insistence that "Lisa's story be told correctly" and not "glamorized." But he never says what that entails, or tells anyone what they're doing wrong. And, he originally wrote the script himself! It's even worse in the 2019-20 revisiting, where Les continues to complain about every aspect of the production, even though all of Hollywood is bending over backwards to appease him. On top of all that, Les' retellings of canonical events in the comic strip suggest he's not the most objective source of truth about Lisa.

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* A major example in volume 4 of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', where Weiss is punished by her father for ruining a fundraiser for Beacon by chewing out the attendees, who were funding the fundraiser, and nearly killing, albeit accidentally, an innocent woman with a boarbatusk summon. Jacques is understandably angry with Weiss for this, but not only does she show no regret for what she did, but she demands to leave Atlas to escape consequences and tells her father to his face [[ItsAllAboutMe that the Schnee legacy is hers to leave and that he doesn't belong in the family]]. So when Jacques [[BitchSlap slaps Weiss for her attitude towards him]] and grounds her, she still has the balls to remorselessly talk back to her father, it's only after he disinherits her that her punishment sinks in, despite her saying seconds earlier that she wanted to leave Atlas and her family behind. Instead of accepting her punishment, she escapes and spends the next 3 volumes being vindicative towards her family, culminating in her looking for a reason to get her father in legal trouble in volume 7, when as it turns out, she [[AssPull conveniently discovers that her father had been working with Arthur Watts as a desperate attempt to save his company and the economy of Remnant]]. Reminder that we're supposed to side with Weiss against [[DesignatedVillain Jacques]] in all of this.
** Made worse in that the discovery of Watts is what distracts the kingdom's defence and eventually leads to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero the downfall of Atlas]] [[AllForNothing and the Schnee Dust Company.]]
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* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' refers to Alterism as unnatural and Alterists as creepy. We don't actually see any Alterists save for one student doing some amateur work on himself and one hairdresser who only used the magic to style hair and we are never shown how Alterism is any more unnatural than pumping your head full of "ecomancy", the "natural" equivalent, beyond some bad hairdos. This was eventually addressed in one arc where Dominic and Luna admitted their dislikes stem from {{Freudian Excuse}}s and alterism is show to be akin to surgery, though with some more bizarre possibilities. It's still generally considered "wrong" in-verse due to a bad rap from its use by people more for physical enhancement than medical treatment. It was later revealed that a "prank" as a young student resulted in him having over a week of visions of the worst horrors that could go wrong with Alterism FROM THE VICTIM'S PERSPECTIVE. So Dominic's treating it as something horrible is a result of not being able to get over that traumatic incident. Otherwise it doesn't seem to be treated as being that wrong (and allowed a trans female character to successfully undergo physical transition and be happy). Which... means it's actually an IN-UNIVERSE example, albeit an Anvilicious one.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* A major example in volume 4 of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', where Weiss is punished by her father for ruining a fundraiser for Beacon by chewing out the attendees, who were funding the fundraiser, and nearly killing an innocent woman with a boarbatusk summon. Jacques is understandably angry with Weiss for this, but not only does she show no regret for what she did, but she demands to leave Atlas to escape consequences and tells her father to his face [[ItsAllAboutMe that the Schnee legacy is hers to leave and that he doesn't belong in the family]]. So when Jacques [[BitchSlap slaps Weiss for her attitude towards him]] and grounds her, she still has the balls to remorselessly talk back to her father, it's only after he disinherits her that her punishment sinks in, despite her saying seconds earlier that she wanted to leave Atlas and her family behind. Instead of accepting her punishment, she escapes and spends the next 3 volumes being vindicative towards her family, culminating in her looking for a reason to get her father in legal trouble in volume 7, when as it turns out, she [[AssPull conveniently discovers that her father had been working with Arthur Watts as a desperate attempt to save his company and the economy of Remnant]]. Reminder that we're supposed to side with Weiss against [[DesignatedVillain Jacques]] in all of this.
** Made worse in that the discovery of Watts is what distracts the kingdom's defence and eventually leads to [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds the downfall of Atlas]] [[AllForNothing and the Schnee Dust Company.]]
[[/folder]]

* A major example in volume 4 of ''WebAnimation/RWBY'', where Weiss is punished by her father for ruining a fundraiser for Beacon by chewing out the attendees, who were funding the fundraiser, and nearly killing an innocent woman with a boarbatusk summon. Jacques is understandably angry with Weiss for this, but not only does she show no regret for what she did, but she demands to leave Atlas to escape consequences and tells her father to his face [[ItsAllAboutMe that the Schnee legacy is hers to leave and that he doesn't belong in the family]]. So when Jacques [[BitchSlap slaps Weiss for her attitude towards him]] and grounds her, she still has the balls to remorselessly talk back to her father, it's only after he disinherits her that her punishment sinks in, despite her saying seconds earlier that she wanted to leave Atlas and her family behind. Instead of accepting her punishment, she escapes and spends the next 3 volumes being vindicative towards her family, culminating in her looking for a reason to get her father in legal trouble in volume 7, when as it turns out, she [[AssPull conveniently discovers that her father had been working with Arthur Watts as a desperate attempt to save his company and the economy of Remnant]]. Reminder that we're supposed to side with Weiss against [[DesignatedVillain Jacques]] in all of this.

* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': Agatha's treatment of the Puritans. While Norman was telling her that she was [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming just as bad as them]], that message somewhat falls flat as Agatha's curse wasn't as severe as what the Puritans did to her. They had ''murdered'' [[spoiler:an innocent 11-year-old child]] and had gotten away with such a heinous action. Agatha only cursed them to rise from their graves (it's ambiguous as to whether or not her curse had killed them, since neither she nor her descendant Norman showed such an ability in life, so it's possible she gained that power after her death) so they could be ridiculed and tormented by the townspeople. While the townspeople would accuse Norman of being behind the zombies and try to lynch him, that was not part of Agatha's plan. She only wanted to make the people [[DoubleMeaning "see how rotten"]] the Puritan judges were. Compare that to the Puritans' act of killing [[spoiler:a child]] and Agatha seems like the lesser of two evils.

* In ''Webcomic/TreadingGround'', protagonist Nate was cast as a repressed asshole by his and Rose's circle of friends for not giving in to Rose's advances, up to and including Rose stripping in front of him. Somehow lost in all of this is that Rose was 17 and Nate was in his 20s. And the fact that Rose agreed to [[JailBaitWait wait until she was 18]] before they pursued anything more than JustFriends (an agreement they came to when she was 16). It was heavily implied early on that Nate came up with that pact hoping Rose would get tired of waiting and move on to someone closer to her age, but that line of thought seemed to have been dropped by the end. Possible intentional MoralDissonance at work. It was brought up in-story that the age of consent in their state (South Carolina) is 16, and that neither Rose nor Nate -- [[SelectiveObliviousness possibly intentionally on his part]] -- were aware of this. Which still leaves the ridiculous idea that Nate was a jerk for not wanting to sleep with a teenager (even one as willing as Rose). Even if she was his age, there would still be nothing at all wrong with the refusal.

* ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'': [[spoiler:Agatha's treatment of the Puritans. While Norman was telling her that she was [[HeWhoFightsMonsters becoming just as bad as them]], that message somewhat falls flat as Agatha's curse wasn't as severe as what the Puritans did to her. They had ''murdered'' an innocent 11-year-old child and had gotten away with such a heinous action. Agatha only cursed them to rise from their graves (it's ambiguous as to whether or not her curse had killed them, since neither she nor her descendant Norman showed such an ability in life, so it's possible she gained that power after her death) so they could be ridiculed and tormented by the townspeople. While the townspeople would accuse Norman of being behind the zombies and try to lynch him, that was not part of Agatha's plan. She only wanted to make the people [[DoubleMeaning "see how rotten"]] the Puritan judges were. Compare that to the Puritans' act of killing a child and Agatha seems like the lesser of two evils.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheStalkingZukoSeries'', as well as other ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanfics, Aang [[spoiler:defeating Ozai without killing him]] gets this treatment, with the narrative failing to consider that Aang was able to spare a life by doing so, and that it's possible to [[spoiler:neutralize Ozai as a threat without killing him, especially once Ozai no longer has his bending]]. Opponents of Aang's decision typically can't come up with arguments that are much stronger than the (largely unsupported) idea that doing it will have consequences down the line, or that "[[BecauseISaidSo everyone else told him not to do it]]".

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The game is full of oddly binding rules regarding morality. For instance, several spells are designated "Evil", usually because they use necromancy and negative energy. Players are simply informed that using these forces is considered immoral in and of itself, though in some settings no explanation is given as to ''why'' animating undead or draining lifeforce is any different from, say, stabbing someone in the stomach (something downright ''expected'' of LawfulGood classes like Paladin). In other settings, these spells have proper grounding explaining why they're bad, such as being linked to TheCorruption, making the user a WalkingWasteland, or being [[AgonyBeam excessively cruel to the victims]]. But the chief example of how arbitrary this can be is the Deathwatch spell. It's described as using "the foul sight granted by the powers of unlife" to... check the current health of people in the area, including whether they're alive in the first place. Not only is it a completely passive and harmless spell, but the most obvious utility it has is to check who's most in need of healing--apparently, triage is evil now. It seemed like there was some disconnect between whoever created the lore for the spell and the designers, as it found its way onto the spell list of the healer--a class which ''requires good alignment''. Later editions almost entirely remove this aspect, with the only exception being certain rituals that ''do'' require evil acts, such as the lich transformation.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The game is full of oddly binding rules regarding morality. For instance, several spells are designated "Evil", usually because they use necromancy and negative energy. Players are simply informed that using these forces is considered immoral in and of itself, though in some settings no explanation is given as to ''why'' animating undead or draining lifeforce is any different from, say, beating someone to death with your bare fists. (Monks, fighters, and other such classes which do are aren't considered evil, and there are plenty of such classes that require a Good alignment.) In other settings, these spells have proper grounding explaining why they're bad, such as being linked to TheCorruption, making the user a WalkingWasteland, or being [[AgonyBeam excessively cruel to the victims]]. For example, using poison is considered an evil act. But the ''Book of Exalted Deads'' (which is basically this trope in book form) has magic substances called "ravages" which use is considered a good act... and they have ''exactly'' the same effect as poisons do (except they only affect evil creatures). A good example is the Deathwatch spell. Its described as using "the foul sight granted by the powers of unlife" to check the current health of people in the area, including whether they're alive in the first place. Not only is it a completely passive and harmless spell, but the most obvious utility it has is to check who's most in need of healing--apparently, triage is evil now. It seemed like there was some disconnect between whoever created the lore for the spell and the designers, as it found its way onto the spell list of the healer--a class which ''requires good alignment''. Later editions almost entirely remove this aspect and instead leave the morality up to the ritual in unique spells, such as the process of becoming a Lich being evil because the methods one must walk to achieve the requirements.

* In ''Webcomic/VeganArtbook,'' Dolly tries to go vegan for a week, but is extremely lethargic at the end of it. Because she can't cook and her mom didn't agree to make her vegan food for a week, her only vegan options were instant noodles and rice. We're supposed to conclude that she's only lethargic because she was doing it wrong (with the implicit message that anyone can survive on a vegan diet), but if her options are that limited, maybe it's not a good idea for her to go vegan, as it would endanger her health.

* In ''Webcomic/VeganArtbook,'' Dolly tries to go vegan for a week, but is extremely lethargic at the end of it. Because she can't cook and her mom wasn't on board with the vegan challenge, her only vegan options were instant noodles and rice. We're supposed to conclude that she's only lethargic because she was doing it wrong (with the implicit message that anyone can go vegan if they try hard enough), but if her options are that limited, maybe it's not a good idea for her to go vegan, as it would endanger her health.

* In ''Webcomic/VeganArtbook,'' Dolly tries to go vegan for a week, but is extremely lethargic at the end of it. Because she can't cook and her mom wasn't on board with the vegan challenge, her only options are instant noodles and rice. We're supposed to conclude that she's only lethargic because she was doing it wrong (with the implicit message that anyone can go vegan if they try hard enough), but if her options are that limited, maybe it's not a good idea for her to go vegan, as it would endanger her health.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is full of oddly binding rules regarding morality. For instance, several spells are designated "Evil", usually because they use necromancy and negative energy. Players are simply informed that using these forces is considered immoral in and of itself, though in some settings no explanation is given as to ''why'' animating undead or draining lifeforce is any different from, say, beating someone to death with your bare fists. (Monks, fighters, and other such classes which do are aren't considered evil, and there are plenty of such classes that require a Good alignment.) In other settings, these spells have proper grounding explaining why they're bad, such as being linked to TheCorruption, making the user a WalkingWasteland, or being [[AgonyBeam excessively cruel to the victims]]. For example, using poison is considered an evil act. But the ''Book of Exalted Deads'' (which is basically this trope in book form) has magic substances called "ravages" which use is considered a good act... and they have ''exactly'' the same effect as poisons do (except they only affect evil creatures).
** The likely pinnacle of "why is this spell evil?" is Deathwatch. It uses "the foul sight granted by the powers of unlife" to... check the current health of people in the area, including whether they're alive in the first place. Not only is it a completely passive and harmless spell, but the most obvious utility it has is to check who's most in need of healing--apparently, triage is evil now. It seemed like there was some disconnect between whoever created the lore for the spell and the designers, as it found its way onto the spell list of the healer--a class which ''requires good alignment.''

* In ''Webcomic/TreadingGround'', protagonist Nate was cast as a repressed asshole by his and Rose's circle of friends for not giving in to Rose's advances, up to and including Rose stripping in front of him. Somehow lost in all of this is that [[JailBait Rose was 17]] and Nate was in his 20s. And the fact that Rose agreed to [[JailBaitWait wait until she was 18]] before they pursued anything more than JustFriends (an agreement they came to when she was 16). It was heavily implied early on that Nate came up with that pact hoping Rose would get tired of waiting and move on to someone closer to her age, but that line of thought seemed to have been dropped by the end. Possible intentional MoralDissonance at work. It was brought up in-story that the age of consent in their state (South Carolina) is 16, and that neither Rose nor Nate -- [[SelectiveObliviousness possibly intentionally on his part]] -- were aware of this. Which still leaves the ridiculous idea that Nate was a jerk for not wanting to sleep with a teenager (even one as willing as Rose). Even if she was his age, there would still be nothing at all wrong with the refusal.

* ''WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas'':
** "Donald's Gift" tries to portray Donald as a Christmas-hating jerk for not wanting to go to the mall with Daisy and the triplets, but he had a rough day and just wants a day to relax, yet Daisy refuses to let him do so. Even worse, after he goes through one too many annoyances at the mall and understandably flips out, Daisy and the triplets ''disown'' him for it, [[NeverMyFault even though it was clearly Daisy's fault for bringing a distressed Donald to the mall against his will]]. All he just wanted was a break from the traditions for one day.
** "Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas" tries to make the audience view Mickey as being unfair to Pluto after he snaps at him, but Mickey had every reason to get angry at Pluto since the latter had tried to put the star on top of the tree against Mickey's orders, causing his hard-worked decorations to be destroyed in the process. Mickey also wasn't even being that harsh to Pluto and had simply told him to stay in his dog house.