History Main / MistakenForMurderer

* In an episode of ''TheFairlyOddparents'', Timmy and Cosmo believe that [[TheFamilyForTheWholeFamily Big Daddy's men]] are going to murder Wanda. Turns out [[spoiler: they were taking her out to dinner]].

* Though they are no major characters, Kogoro Mouri of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' frequently accuses the wrong persons for the murders that happen.
* In ''GGundam'', [[HuskyRusskie Argo Gulski]] has Canada's Gundam Fighter Andrew Graham trying to kill him because [[YouKilledMyFather he thinks Argo killed his wife]] back during his SpacePirate days. In reality, Argo was trying to ''save'' her from [[ExplosiveDecompression getting sucked through a hull breach]] but couldn't get to her in time, and from where Andrew was standing at the time he couldn't see what was really happening.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'': During two of the Atari-style mini games, you'll notice a purple guy (this one is light purple) [[spoiler: that kills some kids.]] However, during another mini game, you'll run into another purple guy (this one is dark purple) that stops your progress. It's somewhat hard to tell due to the graphical limitations, but the dark purple guy has a badge, glowing white eyes[[note]][[FridgeHorror just like the animatronics]][[/note]], and [[spoiler: [[TheReveal what appears to be]] [[BigBadFriend a phone]] [[TheDogWasTheMastermind in his hand.]]]] The mini games, along with the animatronics being suspicious of adults, strongly implies that the robots can't tell two adults apart. This means that the animatronics think that any security guard ([[ObliviouslyEvil even the most innocent ones]]) is a suspect... and causes them to suffer HeWhoFightsMonsters in the process, as ''they're trying to kill the murderer.''

* "VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2": During two of the Atari-style mini games, you'll notice a purple guy (this one is light purple) [[spoiler: that kills some kids.]] However, during another mini game, you'll run into another purple guy (this one is dark purple) that stops your progress. It's somewhat hard to tell due to the graphical limitations, but the dark purple guy has a badge, glowing white eyes[[note]][[FridgeHorror just like the animatronics]][[/note]], and [[spoiler: [[TheReveal what appears to be]] [[BigBadFriend a phone]] [[TheDogWasTheMastermind in his hand.]]]] The mini games, along with the animatronics being suspicious of adults, strongly implies that the robots can't tell two adults apart. This means that the animatronics think that any security guard ([[ObliviouslyEvil even the most innocent ones]]) is a suspect... and causes them to suffer HeWhoFightsMonsters in the process, as ''they're trying to kill the murderer.''

* "VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddy's2": During two of the Atari-style mini games, you'll notice a purple guy (this one is light purple) [[spoiler: that kills some kids.]] However, during another mini game, you'll run into another purple guy (this one is dark purple) that stops your progress. It's somewhat hard to tell due to the graphical limitations, but the dark purple guy has a badge, glasses, and [[spoiler: what appears to be a phone in his hand.]] The mini games, along with the animatronics being suspicious of adults, strongly implies that the robots can't tell two adults apart. This means that the animatronics think that any security guard (even the most innocent ones) is a suspect.

* P.J. and Gabe of ''GoodLuckCharlie'' misinterpret their next door neighbor Mrs. Dabney's outburst at her soap operas, and her attempts to get rid of a bad smell and a large, heavy trunk as evidence that she murdered her husband.

* In the ''AxisPowersHetalia'' faniction [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7333172/1/ Paranoia]] [[{{Tsundere}} South Italy]] ends up panicking and imagining that [[LoveFreak America]] has been plotting to kill him.

* In the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' Halloween cartoon "I Murdered Pom Pom", a deflated inflatable pumpkin leads Homestar to believe he somehow murdered Pom Pom. Strong Bad decides to egg Homestar on, and things spiral out of control until [[spoiler: Homestar accidentally kills Pom Pom for real.]]

Often the result of BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon. If the police think that the character is guilty but their friends stand by them, then it's ClearMyName. See also GuiltByCoincidence. Expect a MistakenConfession if it's a comedy. If the misunderstanding was deliberately engineered, it's a FrameUp.

* In the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' cartoon "I Murdered Pom Pom", a deflated inflatable pumpkin leads Homestar to believe he somehow murdered Pom Pom. Strong Bad decides to egg Homestar on, and things spiral out of control until [[spoiler: Homestar accidentally kills Pom Pom for real.]]

[[folder: Web Video]]

Often the result of BetterManhandleTheMurderWeapon. If the police think that the character is guilty but their friends stand by them, then it's ClearMyName. See also GuiltByCoincidence. Expect a MistakenConfession if it's a comedy.

[[folder:Videogames]]

* In ''DeadOrAlive 2'', opera singer Helena is fully convinced that the {{ninja}} Ayane is responsible for the murder of her mother. While Ayane neither confirms nor denies her involvement, [[spoiler:Christie]], her real assassin, shows up in ''DOA 3'', and has [[spoiler:her]] sights set on Helena.

* Justified in [[{{ChzoMythos}} 5 Days A Stranger]], in that the character mistaken for the murder did in fact commit the murder. Granted that it was actually due to a case of DemonicPossession.

* ''Series/KamenRiderAgito'' gives this a twist by having policeman Makoto Hikawa think Agito is a murderer while being friends with Shoichi Tsugami, Agito's civilian identity. This gets resolved when Hikawa learns Agito's identity and realizes that a nice guy like Shoichi could never be a cold-blooded killer. This plot was [[RecycledScript recycled]] in ''Series/KamenRiderFaiz'' and ''Series/KamenRiderKiva''[[hottip:*:All three shows had the same head writer]]; while ''Kiva'' handled it in near-identical fashion, ''Faiz'' labored the point for a bit too long, especially by having the resident JerkAss make Faiz look bad by periodically stealing the Faiz belt and wreaking havoc with it.

* Though they are no major characters, Kogoro Mouri of Detective Conan frequently accuses the wrong persons for the murders that happen.

* [[spoiler: Double]] subverted in ''The Burbs'', in which nosy neighbors become convinced that the folks who just moved in are AxCrazy maniacs because they act creepy.

* It happened twice in ''Seinfeld''. When Kramer moves to Los Angeles, there's a whole story arc based on the police there mistaking him for a serial killer. Also, there's one episode where a guy who owns Seinfeld money gets his toes broken by him (acidentally), ends up in the trunk of his car (accidentaly), and assumes from a conversation he hears between Jerry and Elaine that they're planning on killing a woman.

* Happens to your character in ''Light's Out'', the sequel to ''Dark Fall: The Journal''.

* ''KamenRiderAgito'' gives this a twist by having policeman Makoto Hikawa think Agito is a murderer while being friends with Shoichi Tsugami, Agito's civilian identity. This gets resolved when Hikawa learns Agito's identity and realizes that a nice guy like Shoichi could never be a cold-blooded killer. This plot was [[RecycledScript recycled]] in ''KamenRiderFaiz'' and ''KamenRiderKiva''[[hottip:*:All three shows had the same head writer]]; while ''Kiva'' handled it in near-identical fashion, ''Faiz'' labored the point for a bit too long, especially by having the resident JerkAss make Faiz look bad by periodically stealing the Faiz belt and wreaking havoc with it.

* It happened twice in Seinfeld. When Kramer moves to Los Angeles, there's a whole story arc based on the police there mistaking him for a serial killer. Also, there's one episode where a guy who owns Seinfeld money gets his toes broken by him (acidentally), ends up in the trunk of his car (acidentaly), and assumes from a conversation he hears between Jerry and Elaine that they're planning on killing a woman.