History Main / PlotSensitiveSnoopingSkills

[[AC: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

A character who shows incredible insight into the minds of strangers is more or less blind to the secrets of his or her own [[TrueCompanions inner circle]]. This is generally done because the writers want it that way; if the character were to learn the motivations of his/her nearest and dearest, the series would run out of material a good ten or twelve episodes early. The character is ''not'' unobservant, per se, but is only really capable of guessing whatever the writer ''wants'' him or her to guess - and that rarely includes devastating revelations that have a personal effect on the guesser or that would cause an untimely plot twist. A requirement for the ChasteHero.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': This was one of the frustrating things about the way that Deanna Troi was written, or depending on your point of view, one of the things that made it difficult to write for her. When you're a psychologist ''and'' an empath whose entire job is to use your alien powers to tell other people's hidden motivations, there are a lot of stories that you ought to be able to stop dead in their tracks. As a result, telling those stories anyway often left her stuck somewhere between ForgottenPhlebotinum and IdiotBall.

** But not always. It's implied that Commissioner Gordon has a pretty good idea as to who Batman really is, but he doesn't attempt to prove this, because if he ''officially'' knew who Gotham's top vigilante was, he'd be obliged to do something about him. During ''[[Comicbook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land,]]'' Batman removed his mask but Gordon kept his eyes closed (no, really). Batman strongly suspects that Perry White figured out that Clark Kent is Superman quite some time ago and has chosen to keep silent.

-->-- ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'', Kid Stuff

* This applies to inspector Faber from the german ''Tatort'' (site of crime) crime series. Faber is quite brilliant in putting himself in other people's shoes and acting just the way it's necessary to get information from witnesses and suspects. But he mostly fails social skills altogether when it comes to his colleagues [[spoiler:- pretty much the only people he has steady social contacts with since [[DarkAndTroubledPast his wife and his little daughter died in a car accident]]]]. He doesn't really care for them - maybe except from [[TheNotLoveInterest Böhnisch]] [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple he most frequently works directly together with]] - and often is inept for team work.

** But not always. It's implied that Commissioner Gordon has a pretty good idea as to who Batman really is, but he doesn't attempt to prove this, because if he ''officially'' knew who Gotham's top vigilante was, he'd be obliged to do something about him. During ''[[Comicbook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]'', Batman removed his mask but Gordon kept his eyes closed (no, really). Batman strongly suspects that Perry White figured out that Clark Kent is Superman quite some time ago and has chosen to keep silent.

** Often applies to villains as well; Superman's disguise as Clark Kent is never picked up on by Lex Luthor, one of the smartest men in the world who sees both Superman and Clark quite often. (At least one story in which he ''has the connection pointed out to him'' and backed with up evidence suggests that the dismisses it not because he's blind to the facts as such, but because he can't bring himself to believe that somebody with Superman's powers would ever invest so much time into a complete second life as a "mere" reporter.)
** Notably averted in the early days of [[Comicbook/SpiderMan the Amazing Spider-Man]], as two of the sharpest folks supporting Spidey were NYPD captain George Stacy (Gwen's dad) and Bugle editor Robbie Robertson. They both worked out Spider-Man = Peter Parker, but they kept up the masquerade because they approved of Peter's actions.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}'', Rikk seems to have some kind of ''mental block'' that prevents him from realizing that Rumy is in love with him, despite having been outright told so on multiple occasions. Frequently lampshaded by his friends [[spoiler:and later, even by himself]].

* In Webcomic/Fans!, Rikk seems to have some kind of ''mental block'' that prevents him from realizing that Rumy is in love with him, despite having been outright told so on multiple occasions. Frequently lampshaded by his friends [[spoiler:and later, even by himself]].

* Series/{{Merlin}}: Arthur lives on this trope.

* Usagi from ''Manga/SailorMoon'' is a particularly {{egregious}} case. A number of one-shot characters fail to hide their innermost secrets from her, but she never notices her little brother's crush on Ami in the fourth season BeachEpisode.

-->-- ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', Kid Stuff

* Usagi from ''Anime/SailorMoon'' is a particularly {{egregious}} case. A number of one-shot characters fail to hide their innermost secrets from her, but she never notices her little brother's crush on Ami in the fourth season BeachEpisode.

* Robert [=DeNiro=]'s character in ''MeetTheParents'', who discovers all sorts of unsavory things about his future son in law, but has no clue (even when said clues are waved in his face) that his own son smokes pot. He also comes to some incorrect conclusions because he didn't bother to deconflict the different people with the same name, a mistake that is only possible if everyone involved ignores the fact that there might be more than one person with his same (or similar) name.

* Sostratos in the OverTheWineDarkSea series has an interesting justification. While he is too socially awkward to know how the sailors around him think, he can keep pace with the murderous politics of the Hellenic world because his historical studies made him accustomed to how warlords think at least, even if he can't understand ordinary people. This skill proves useful from time to time while trading in dangerous places.

* Chloe in early ''{{Smallville}}''.

* Film example: Robert [=DeNiro=]'s character in ''MeetTheParents'', who discovers all sorts of unsavory things about his future son in law, but has no clue (even when said clues are waved in his face) that his own son smokes pot.
** He also comes to some incorrect conclusions because he didn't bother to deconflict the different people with the same name, a mistake that is only possible if everyone involved ignores the fact that there might be more than one person with his same (or similar) name.

** Often applies to villains as well; Superman's disguise as Clark Kent is never picked up on by Lex Luthor, one of the smartest men in the world who sees both Superman and Clark quite often.

* Kate (and to some extent, nearly ''everyone'') on ''{{NCIS}}''. Kate is supposed to be an amazing profiler because of her Secret Service training, but she was the most oblivious person on the team until [=McGee=] showed up.
* You would think the profilers on ''CriminalMinds'' are a justified example, since they have a rule about not profiling each other, but their camaraderie is so strong that they really can't keep secrets from the team for long and they all are basically each other's [[ThereAreNoTherapists therapists]].

* Shawn Spencer in ''Series/{{Psych}}'' completely misread's Juliet's friendliness and touchiness with another cop as completely familial. This is in spite of having severe [[UnresolvedSexualTension UST]] with her.

-> '''Superman:''' What's with them?
-> '''Green Lantern:''' Man, for someone with like fifty different kinds of vision, you are ''so'' blind.

->-- ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', Kid Stuff

-> --''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', Kid Stuff

* Sostratos in the OverTheWineDarkSea series has an interesting justification. While he is to socially awkward to know how the sailors around him think, he can keep pace with the murderous politics of the Hellenic world because his historical studies made him accustomed to how warlords think at least even if he can't understand ordinary people. This skill proves useful from time to time while trading in dangerous places.

* Shawn Spencer in ''Series/{{Psych}}'' completely misread's Juliet's friendliness and touchiness with another cop as completely familial. This is in spite of having severe UST with her.

* Usagi from ''SailorMoon'' is a particularly {{egregious}} case. A number of one-shot characters fail to hide their innermost secrets from her, but she never notices her little brother's crush on Ami in the fourth season BeachEpisode.

A kind of involuntary SelectiveObliviousness, insofar as it is not an intentional ''refusal'' to guess at (or acknowledge) the truth. Also a frequent cause of FailedASpotCheck. Not exactly unknown in RealLife; compare TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes.