History Main / LethalNegligence

* In the ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' web-short "Let You Down", Sasha Yakovleva, the previous netrunner on Maine's crew, learns during a netrun on Biotechnica to steal some valuable info that the corp had deliberately withheld information about a prescription painkiller called Securicine which had led to her mother's death by neurodegeneration. Biotechnica had known all along about the side effects, but refused to fix them or disclose them to the public, resulting in Sasha deciding to give her life to expose their coverup to the press.

* In 1983, the bulk carrier ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Electric Marine Electric]]'' sank, with the loss of all but three of her 34 crew. In the subsequent investigation, it was found that the ship's penny-pinching owners had allowed the ship to decay to unseaworthy condition. Hatch covers had deteriorated past the point they should have been replaced, and were repaired using second-rate materials that were only meant to be used as stopgaps. It got to the point where gaping holes in the deck were simply circled so that no one tripped over them. But there was another layer of this trope in play, as the reason this was allowed to happen was because the agencies responsible for inspecting the ship rushed their inspections.

* In 1983, the bulk carrier ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Electric Marine Electric]]'' sank, with the loss of all but three of her 34 crew. In the subsequent investigation, it was found that the ship's penny-pinching owners had allowed the ship to decay to unseaworthy condition. Hatch covers were allowed to deteriorate past the point they should have been replaced, and were repaired using second-rate materials that were only meant to be used as stopgaps. It got to the point where gaping holes in the deck were simply circled so that no one tripped over them. But there was another layer of this trope in play, as the reason this was allowed to happen was because the agencies responsible for inspecting the ship rushed their inspections.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittles'': Henry agrees to take a babysitting job, but then is invited to go play football in a field nearby with some of his friends. He decides to leave the infant in the care of his friends, the titular Littles. Grandpa Little tries to warn him that this is a very bad idea and that he needs to take responsibility. A fire starts in the house due to the baby pulling on an electrical cord to a game, and the child is only prevented from receiving serious harm by the quick thinking of the Little family.

* In the ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' web-short "Let You Down", Sasha Yakovleva, the previous netrunner on Maine's crew, learns during a netrun on Biotechnica to steal some valuable info that the corp had deliberately withheld information about a prescription painkiller called Securicine which had led to her mother's death by neurodegeneration. Biotechnica had known all along about the side effects, but refused to fix them or disclose them to the public, resulting in Sasha deciding to give her life to disclose this to the world.

* In the ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' web-short "Let You Down", Sasha Yakovleva, the previous netrunner on Maine's crew, learns during a netrun on Biotechnica to steal some valuable info that the corp had deliberately withheld information about a prescription painkiller called Securicine which had led to her mother's death by neurodegeneration. Biotechnica had known all along about the side effects, but refused to fix them or take the drug off the market, resulting in Sasha deciding to give her life to disclose this to the world.

* In the short Flash game ''VideoGame/{{Reincarnation}}: Loving Every Evil Triumph'', the nameless Reincarny that Vile, the demon protagonist of the series, has to deal with has gotten so engrossed in his gaming that he's neglected to feed his cat Meowxis, causing him to starve to death, meaning that Vile has to send him back to Hell.

The [[SevenDeadlySins sin of]] {{sloth}} is generally considered one of the lighter sins, as laziness isn't ''immediately'' harmful the same way other sins are. However, sometimes inaction can be just as harmful as actively hurting people, especially if a person has a responsibility to ensure a person's safety.

* This trope often occurs in ''Series/DisastersAtSea''. One notable example being the ''Marine Electric'', which is noted in further detailed under "Real Life."

* In 1983, the bulk carrier ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Electric Marine Electric]]'' sank, with the loss of all but three of her 34 crew. In the subsequent investigation, it was found that the ship's owners had allowed the ship to deteriorate to an unacceptable level. Hatch covers were allowed to deteriorate past the point they should have been replaced, and were repaired using second-rate materials that were only meant to be used as stopgaps. It got to the point where holes in the deck were simply circled so that no one tripped over them. But there was another layer of this trope in play, as the reason this was allowed to happen was because the agencies responsible for inspecting the ship rushed their inspections.

* When the bulk carrier ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Marine_Electric Marine Electric]]'' sank in 1983, it was found that the ship's owners had allowed the ship to deteriorate to an unacceptable level. Hatch covers were allowed to deteriorate past the point they should have been replaced, and were repaired using second-rate materials that were only meant to be used as stopgaps. It got to the point where holes in the deck were simply circled so that no one tripped over them. But there was another layer of this trope in play, as the reason this was allowed to happen was because the agencies responsible for inspecting the ship rushed their inspections.

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** Season 2’s [[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS2E11Abuse “Abuse,”]] which involves a celebrity couple who emotionally neglect their children. SVU becomes involved when the older child is killed after running into traffic, after the parents lost track of him at his own birthday party. The rest of the episode revolves around the younger daughter, who engages in self-harm to get their attention. The episode ends without resolving this issue or the neglect, leaving lingering concern that the daughter will one day go too far in her efforts to get the attention she craves.

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** Season 2’s “Abuse,” which involves a celebrity couple who emotionally neglect their children. SVU becomes involved when the older child is killed after running into traffic, after the parents lost track of him at his own birthday party. The rest of the episode revolves around the younger daughter, who engages in self-harm to get their attention. The episode ends without resolving this issue or the neglect, leaving lingering concern that the daughter will one day go too far in her efforts to get the attention she craves.
** Season 4’s “Risk,” which involves smuggled cocaine in baby formula. A couple posing as a loving family with an infant are trafficking it from south of the border, and when their housekeeper takes the wrong can out of desperation, her child dies from the tainted milk.
** Season 5’s “Manic,” which ends with a pharmaceutical company being sued for sending unregulated samples through the mail that induced psychosis in a teenager who later brought a gun to school and killed two classmates.
** Season 10’s “Retro,” in which a case about a baby with untreated AIDS uncovers a quack doctor who is an AIDS-denialist; he is put on trial after it’s uncovered that his influence led to the death of another child, whose mother did not get her tested or treated.
** Season 10’s “Lead,” which is similar to “Manic” in which a toy company is sued over using illegal leaded paint on their toys. A young man who killed a local doctor accused of molesting his patients had acquired a lead-related developmental disability after playing with and mouthing the toys as a child.
** Season 17’s “Institutional Fail,” in which a child dies despite being under the purview of Child and Family Services, who were found to be faking records of visits to keep up with their overwhelming caseload.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'''s origin story, as first told in ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15'', is set off by an act of negligence. After Peter Parker gains superpowers from a radioactive spider bite, he uses these newfound abilities to earn money through wrestling and television. However, the fame goes to his head, and in his vanity, Peter doesn't bother to stop a robber fleeing the studio. Consequently, the robber escapes and in a later burglary he kills Peter's kindly Uncle Ben. Peter is devastated to learn that a good man has been murdered as a result of his inaction, and pledges from now on to use his powers for the betterment of his city.

# Jobs that involve sanitation and safety (e.g. health inspectors, safety inspectors, garbage collectors) are important because without them, buildings would not be held to safety standards, food poisoning would be widespread, trash would fill the streets, etc. Naturally, safety and sanitation workers who neglect their duty could indirectly harm or even [[IndirectSerialKiller kill]] people by not properly inspecting buildings, taking bribes from unsanitary restaurants, improperly disposing of garbage, etc. Instances of this can result in NoOSHACompliance.

* ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'': "That's Life!" revealed that whenever Timmy went to summer camp, his parents would forget to feed whatever pet he had at the time, resulting in them all dying. His parents would proceed to bury them and tell Timmy they simply ran away.

One way to make lazy characters [[HateSink more detestable]] is to have their laziness affect people they are supposed to be protecting/providing for. This trope can manifest itself in a number of ways:

# Jobs that involve sanitation and safety (e.g. health inspectors, safety inspectors, garbage collectors) are important because without them, buildings would not be held to safety standards, food poisoning would be widespread, trash would fill the streets etc. Naturally, safety and sanitation workers who neglect their duty could indirectly harm or even [[IndirectSerialKiller kill]] people by not properly inspecting buildings, taking bribes from unsanitary restaurants, improperly disposing of garbage, etc. Instances of this can result in NoOSHACompliance.

# People on positions of authority (e.g. police officers, politicians, firefighters) [[ComesGreatResponsibility have a responsibility to use their power for their citizens safety]], so neglecting said responsibility in favor of exploiting the privileges can inevitably lead to the people they are responsible for taking care of being harmed.

{{Supertrope}} to ForgotToFeedTheMonster. Compare LethallyStupid and LethalKlutz. If the negligent person is an adult, it is also a case of AdultsAreUseless, or PoliceAreUseless if the person is a police officer. A SurveillanceStationSlacker can potentially be responsible to for this. Can overlap with an AccidentalChildKillerBackstory if the death was caused by negligence. Compare/Contrast MurderByInaction, where a character deliberately allows someone to die by not saving them.

* ''Anime/HellGirl'': "[[Recap/HellGirlS1E4SilentCries Silent Cries]]" has [[MonsterOfTheWeek Yoshiyuki Honjou]], a neglectful veterinarian who's responsible for the deaths of many pets, including [[VictimOfTheWeek Junko Kanno's]] pet dog Candy. When Junko finds out the truth, her attempts to gain evidence fails as Yoshiyuki gloats that [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections he has the connections to get away with it]]. When Junko pulls the string and has him sentenced to Hell, the Hell Correspondence give him a taste of his own medicine by crashing his car, breaking his leg, taking him to an illusory hospital, and ignoring his pleas for treatment just like how he ignored the animals he was supposed to take care of.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'''s origin story, as first told in ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumber15'', is set off by an act of negligence. After Peter Parker gains superpowers from a radioactive spider bite, he uses these newfound abilities to earn money through wrestling and television. However, the fame goes to his head, and in his vanity Peter doesn't bother to stop a robber fleeing the studio. Consequently, the robber escapes and in a later burglary he kills Peter's kindly Uncle Ben. Peter is devastated to learn that a good man has been murdered as a result of his inaction, and pledges from now on to use his powers for the betterment of his city.

* In ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', Joseph "Swing King" Clarence is described as having caused the death of 36 people in the collapse of a Ferris Wheel in his popular Southland Amusement Park through saving on maintenance. Even though [[KarmaHoudini he escaped any legal consequence]], he's the first target 47 will have to kill in the game.

** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b-v4wtzL3o8 Akamatsu]] is a LazyHusband who is on thin ice with his wife, Yuzuriha, for cheating on her on top on his neglect of household chores and care for his son, Kuroki. One day, when Akamatsu is out with Kuroki, he leaves him roaming in the streets in order to go drinking and cheating with a hostess. Yuzuriha and her parents are naturally [[AdultFear horrified that Kuroki was lost]], and angered at Akamatsu for abandoning him. Worse, Akamatsu tries to "justify" himself by claiming that it was fine since Japan is a safe country and that [[NeverMyFault the woman he was cheating with was at fault for making him cheat]]. Naturally, neither Yuzuriha nor her parents buy his excuses, causing him to get divorced and [[IHaveNoSon disowned]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{Monirobo}}'': [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U6viCjkYICU Mitsuya left his]] wife, Masumi, and [[ParentalAbandonment son, Tomoya]], to be with Keiko, his friend's wife. Two years later, after Mitsuya and Keiko have a baby, they leave it in a tote bag in front of Masumi's house. To make matters worse, when Masumi takes the baby to a doctor, she discovers that it was extremely malnourished because Mitsuya and Keiko were unemployed [[LazyBum bums]] who not only tried to get Masumi to take care of their child, but also expected her to pay off the debt Mitsuya racked up. Fortunately, they receive a HumiliationConga in the form of being imprisoned for child neglect, being forced to work off their debt, and being beaten by Masumi's father (an ex-boxer), while the baby is HappilyAdopted.

* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'': Mark Beaks, being BrilliantButLazy as he is, ends up endangering the lives of others and [[TooDumbToLive himself]] as a result of his negligence in fixing and double checking the inventions he steals.
** In "[[Recap/DuckTales2017S1E13BewareTheBUDDYSystem Beware the B.U.D.D.Y System]]", he steals the blueprints for a driving robot that Gyro was working on and builds it as is despite the fact that Fenton ,[[NiceJobBreakingItHero who uploaded the blueprints on the internet to fix it]], explicitly told him about the design flaw that made the robot [[AIIsACrapShoot turn evil]]. Predictably, when Beaks [[BullyingADragon insults the robot]], ''while it is driving'', it almost kills him, and the other passengers.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Listing all the times Homer's laziness has endangered his family, not to mention all of Springfield (being safety inspector of the nuclear plant and all) would fill up this whole page and then some. Perhaps the most egregious example is "King Size Homer", where he willingly makes himself morbidly obese so he can qualify for disability and work at home -- all so he could avoid morning calisthenics at the plant. Naturally, he slacks off and neglects to vent pent up gas from the nuclear core, which would have led to a catastrophic explosion had he not gone to the plant to shut it off manually. [[spoiler:Which he never gets to do before falling into the tank just as it ruptures, his fatter than usual body blocking the deadly gas]].
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# Jobs that involve sanitation and safety (e.g. health inspectors, safety inspectors, garbage collectors) are important because without them, buildings would not be held to safety standards, food poisoning would be widespread, trash would fill the streets etc. Naturally, safety and sanitation workers who neglect their duty could indirectly harm or even [[IndirectSerialKiller kill]] people by not properly inspecting buildings, taking bribes from unsanitary restaurants, improperly disposing of garbage, etc.

** In "[[Recap/DuckTales2017S1E13BewareTheBUDDYSystem Beware the B.U.D.D.Y System]]", he steals the blueprints for a driving robot that Gyro was working on and builds it as is despite the fact that Fenton ,[[NiceJobBreakingItHero who uploaded the blueprints on the internet to fix it]], explicitly told him about the design flaw that made the robot [[AIIsACrapShoot turn evil]]. Predictably, when Beaks [[BullyingADragon insults the robot]], ''while it is driving'', it almost kills him, and the other pasengers.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'': The disaster that wiped out all but one of the crew was caused by Rimmer improperly fixing the ship's drive plate, causing a lethal radiation leak. In "Justice", this act is referred to as "wilfull negligence" on Rimmer's part.

[[folder: Films - Animated]]

# [[ParentalNeglect Parents who are too lazy to take care of their children]] will sometimes endanger their children's lives due to their irresponsibility; whether it involves leaving them in a hot car for hours at a time, leaving young children at home by themselves, [[ParentalAbandonment abandoning them to fend for themselves]], not taking them to the hospital or feeding them properly, [[TrashOfTheTitans not cleaning the house]], or any other form of negligence, some parents are so lazy when it comes to taking care of their kids, they can end up [[AbusiveParents abusing]] or [[OffingTheOffspring killing their children]] by sheer laziness.

Differs from BystanderSyndrome, in that this trope involves a stranger sitting back while someone else is endangered, while this trope involves someone being hurt because someone neglected their official responsibilities.

* One MonsterOfTheWeek in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' had the power to make people lazy, which she managed to use on all but one of the Rangers, making them too lazy to fight. She was originally [[SealedEvilInACan sealed inside a cave by]] [[HandsomeHeroicCaveman Koda's]] father, as her powers made his tribe too lazy to hunt, only for Koda to [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidently free it]].
* ''Series/RedDwarf'': The disater that wiped out all but one of the crew was caused by Rimmer improperly fixing the ship's drive plate, causing a lethal radiation leak. In "Justice", this act is referred to as "wilfull negligence" on Rimmer's part.

* In the short Flash game ''VideoGame/{{Reincarnation}}: Loving Every Evil Triumph'', the nameless Reincarny Vile has to deal with has gotten so engrossed in his gaming that he's neglected to feed his cat Meowxis, causing him to starve to death, meaning that Vile has to send him back to Hell.

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'''Indices'''
* ApathyIndex
* TheJerkIndex
* CharacterFlawIndex