History Main / LethallyStupid

Golden rule: A LethallyStupid character causes chaos by ACCIDENT. It’s never intentional.Because they don't realize they're at fault they don’t learn and repeat their mistakes. TheLoad, DamselScrappy, TheIdiot are often this, because of the problems they cause.

Don’t… ever… stay around a LethallyStupid character. Anywhere they go, havoc will go: properties will be destroyed, accidents will happen, people will die if they go near them. No mattter how bad it gets hey won’t notice how dangerous they are.

Or, in other words, Too Dumb For Everyone Around To Live.

Don’t… ever… stay around a LethallyStupid character. Just don’t. Anywhere they go, havoc will go. Properties will be destroyed. Accidents will happen. People will even die, if they have the misfortune to go near such a person. And they won’t even notice how dangerous they are.

Put simply, a character accidently causes a disaster because of a stupid idea, or because he didn’t think of the consequences, or because he made a terrible mistake. It is often PlayedForLaughs, because of the Slapstick and DarkHumor it may involve.

Golden rule: A LethallyStupid character always causes chaos by ACCIDENT. No matter how huge the damages are, it’s never intentional. However, they can be so stupid they wouldn’t even realize what they just did. Because of this, they don’t learn and often repeat their mistakes. TheLoad, DamselScrappy, TheIdiot are often this, because of the problems they cause.

This trope is very close to LethalKlutz, though a LethallyStupid doesn't have to be clumsy to cause disasters. Not to be confused with TooDumbToLive, when the character dies because of his own stupidity. Also, LethallyStupid characters don't all cause death, but they can make you want to kill them!

** Fat Buu is subversion: he knows fully well he kills people and does it gladly, but not out of malice. He is simply too dumb to realize it’s wrong.

* The titular ''{{Nine}}'' wakes up the monster machine who then proceeds to kill most of his friends.
* Scrat in the IceAge films. He caused the ice age, a volcano explosion and the continental drift simply by planting an acorn. Sort of subverted, since he tries to avoid to repeat his mistakes.
** Being TheLoad in the gang, Sid brings more problems than help to his friends. He is at his worst in the third movie where he steals three dinosaur eggs, which did not please their mommy.

* In two films of WinnieThePooh, Christopher Robin goes to school and leaves a message to tell his friends he’ll come back soon. Both times, Owl misreads the note and makes the others believe the boy has been kidnapped by a monster, sending them to a completely useless and dangerous quest.

* Alan in TheHangover. He is responsible for the events of both movies. But it is worse in the second since he uses the drugs again, not learning from his past misadventures.
** DueDate, from the same director and with the same actor has a similar character, who spends the whole movie making the protagonist’s life hell, out of sheer stupidity.

* In DieHard, the cops are so stupid and gullible they actually become threats to Mc Clane. Especially in the first and fourth movie.

* [[ThePinkPanther Inspector Clouseau]] will either destroy your property, his own, make you insane, or even cause your death. All this out of pure clumsiness.

* HarryPotter. Okay, he’s brave and everything, but he did, in some way, cause his godfather Sirius' death, because he was oblivious to Voldemort’s trap.
** Do you remember how often Hagrid put his pupils in danger by showing them creatures WAY too dangerous to study for kids? Or when he sent Harry and Ron to get help from Aragog? He doesn’t even seem to understand how cruel the creatures are.
* Adults in general in ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents are [[AdultsAreUseless so, so stupid and oblivious]] that they let the Baudelaire, other children and themselves open to danger. Olaf lampshades this in the movie, showing how many problems they would solve by just listening to the heroes. This goes double for Poe.
* [[{{Literature/Twilight}} Bella Swan]]. Nothing more can be said.

* In TheBigBangTheory, Sheldon may be a genius, but is so self-centered and narcissic he doesn't realize or understand how bad he can annoy people. Many of his antics are caused by his social ineptitude, so often that it would be difficult to call Sheldon a mere {{Jerkass}}. He simply doesn't function like most people. Because of that he is responsible for many catastrophes, and doesn't even see it most of the time.

* Leonard once made a dangerous experiment that resulted in the elevator being permanently broken. Thanks to Sheldon, only the elevator suffered.

Don’t… ever… stay around a LethallyStupid character. Just don’t. Anywhere they go, havoc will go. Properties will be destroyed. Accidents will happen. People will even die, if they have the unfortune to go near such a person. And they won’t even notice how dangerous they are.

** Big Bill is the least mean of the Gangreen Gang, but also the most destructive because of his strengh as huge as his idiocy.

* [[DragonBall Vegeta]]’s pride is very dangerous, as it has led to unleashing all three [[BigBad BigBads]]. To sum up, Vegeta a) invited Frieza to transform, b) let Cell absorb 18 (even fighting his son Trunks in the process) and c) fought Goku fully knowing it would wake Majin Buu. Every time, a planet is threatened, and in the first and last case, one exploded.

* [[DragonBall Vegeta]]’s sayan pride is very dangerous, as he is responsible for unleashing all three [[BigBad BigBads]]. To sum up, he a) invited Frieza to transform, b) let Cell absorb 18 (even fighting his son Trunks in the process) and c) fought Goku fully knowing it would wake Majin Buu. Every time, a planet is threatened, and in the first and last case, one exploded.

* Many characters in Ranma1/2. It's a miracle nobody dies onscreen.

* Scrat in the IceAge films. He caused the ice age, a volcano explosion and the continental drift simply by planting a acorn. Sort of subverted, since he tries to avoid to repeat his mistakes.

[[folder: Films, live-action]]

* In ScaryMovie, many deaths are due to some characters being LethallyStupid. In the fourth, the father keeps almost killing his daughter accidently.

* HarryPotter. Okay, he’s brave and everything, but he did, in some way, cause his godfather Sirius’death, because he was oblivious to Voldemort’s trap.
**Do you remember how often Hagrid put his pupils in danger by showing them creatures WAY too dangerous to study for kids? Or when he sent Harry and Ron get help from Aragog? He doesn’t even seem to understand how cruel the creatures are.

* OfMiceAndMen: Lenny kills his pets and a woman accidently, because of his great strength and little mind.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
* Steve Urkeel in FamilyMatters. A boy genius who is still so clumsy and stupid Carl is lucky to be alive and sane (most of the time).

* In TheBigBangTheory, Sheldon may be a genius, but is so self-centered and narcissic he doesn't realize or understand how bad he can annoy people. Many of his antics are caused by his social inaptitude, so often that it would be difficult to call Sheldon a mere {{Jerkass}}. He simply doesn't function like most people. Because of that he is responsible for many catastrophes, and doesn't even see it most of the time.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* In JackieChanAdventures, many episodes start when Jade causes troubles when toying with magic. She even accidently shrank Jackie!

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' all the members of Dethklok are this. Every time they put on a show it's likely to result in the violent deaths of their fans and other innocent victims, as the group tends to leave a trail of death and destruction anywhere they travel. Dethklok even requires fans who attend concerts to sign "pain waivers" that absolve the band of legal liability for these occurences.
[[/folder]]

** Also the Kankers. They just don’t know how bad they make their boyfriends suffer.

This trope is very close to LethalKlutz, though a LathallyStupid doesn't have to be clumsy to cause disasters. Not to be confused with TooDumbToLive, when the character dies because of his own stupidity. Also, LethallyStupid characters don’t all cause death, but they can make you want to kill them!

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' all the members of Dethklok are this.

* In TheWalkingDead, Patricia frees a SerialKiller out of mercy, while he had already murdered two kids. It’s a miracle he didn’t get to kill anyone.

Not to be confused with TooDumbToLive, when the character dies because of his own stupidity. Also, LethallyStupid characters don’t all cause death, but they can make you want to kill them!

* In TheBigBangTheory, Leonard made a dangerous experiment that resulted in the elevator being permanently broken. Thanks to Sheldon, only the elevator suffered.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' all the members of Dethklok are this ''all the time.''

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}''all the members of Dethklok are this ''all the time.''

* [[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] is definitely not someone you’d want to see in a nuclear central. DependingOnTheWriter, Homer’s stupidity can either cause merely property damages, or actually hurt people, and even make them insane (poor Frank Grimmes…). In the Halloween episodes, he is often seen killing others because of his idiocy.
* Zapp Braddigan in {{Futurama}}. Whenever he is called for help, he’ll come to make things worse.

* Almost every adult in SouthPark are this, but Randy Marsh takes the cake. He even accidently killed his daughter’s boyfriend!

Put simply, a character accidently causes a disaster because of a stupid idea, or because he didn’t think of the consequences, or because he made a TERRIBLE mistake. It is often PlayedForLaughs, because of the Slapstick and DarkHumor it may involve.

* In two films of WinnieThePooh, Christopher Robin goes to school and leaves a message to tell his friends he’ll come back soon. Both times, Owl misreads the note and makes the other believe the boy has been kidnapped by a monster, sending them to a completely useless and dangerous quest.

* Wherever TheThreeStooges go, disasters are in the air. Just compare what the setting and characters looked like before and after those three showed up.

* The titular ''WesternAnimation/Nine'' wakes up the monster machine who then proceeds to kill most of his friends.

Dreyfus: Compared to Clouseau, this doomsday machine is just a water pistol.

* [[Twilight Bella Swan]]. Nothing more can be said.
* Lenny in MiceAndMen kills his pets and a woman accidently, because of his great strength and little mind.

* This the point of 1000WaysToDie: many idiots are responsible for killing other idiots.

* Almost every adult in [[SouthPark]] are this, but Randy Marsh takes the cake. He even accidently killed his daughter’s boyfriend!

* [[TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] is definitely someone you’d want to see in a nuclear central. DependingOnTheWriter, Homer’s stupidity can either cause merely property damages, or actually hurt people, and even make them insane (poor Frank Grimmes…). In the Halloween episodes, he is often seen killing others because of his idiocy.

** Fry and Zoidberg are this too. Subverted with [[TheJerkass Bender]].

* [[DragonBall Vegeta]]’s sayan pride is very dangerous, as he is responsible for unleashing all three BigBads. To sum up, he a) invited Frieza to transform, b) let Cell absorb 18 (even fighting his son Trunks in the process) and c) fought Goku fully knowing it would wake Majin Buu. Every time, a planet is threatened, and in the first and last case, one exploded.

* The titular [[WesternAnimation/Nine 9]] wakes up the monster machine who then proceeds to kill most of his friends.
* In FindNemo, Darla killed her last pet fish because she shook the bag too much. Did she learn from it? Nope, she does the same with Nemo.

** Fat Buu is subversion: he knows fully well he kills people and does it gladly, but not out of malice. He is simply too dumb to realize it’s wrong.

* JerryLewis always portrays a character like this. Though, most of the time, he manages to look fairly likable.