History Main / StupidGood

--> '''Bison:''' But why? Why do they still call me a warlord? And mad?! All I want to do, is to create the perfect genetic soldier! Not for power, not for evil, but for good. Carlos Blanka will be the first of many, they shall march out of my laboratory! And sweep away every adversary! EVERY CREED! '''EVERY NATION!!!' Until the very planet is in the loving grip of the Pax Bisonica. And then peace will reign in the world, and all humanity shall bow to me, in humble gratitude.

** In "The Old Man and the Lisa", Mr. Burns loses his fortune and befriends Lisa, who encourages him to be more eco-friendly. He somehow warps this into making a gigantic net that dredges the ocean for fish, then grinds them into a slurry, which makes him rich again. Burns offers Lisa a 10% of the profits ($12 million total) as his way of saying thanks, and she tears the check up because it's "[[HonorBeforeReason the right thing to do]]". The idea that she could have donated the money to actual environmentally-friendly charities never seemed to enter her head; she just wrote it off as "blood money" and dismissed it as inherently dirty.

** It's not the last time. In "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can", during the Spellympics she is offered a scholarship to any of the Seven Sisters colleges to throw the tournament (And a hot plate!). Obviously this is a moral dilemma, so she asks Marge if the family can afford to send her to college. Marge admits that it would be very hard on the family. Regardless, Lisa decides it's the 'right' thing to win anyway, even though her real reason for competing was for popularity and attention. As with the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' example, it's better that she's honest, but she could have decided to spell to the end honestly and see what came of it without risking the scholarship, or she could have outed the rigged contest to officials anonymously, but elects to give a loud public speech about how she's been bribed. This backfires in a way reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'''s misspelling "beagel" when she misspells "intransigance", and George Plympton tells her the word is spelled "...E-N-C-E!" and she loses the spelling bee. It's just arrogance that she assumes she can win the Spellympics even when they're rigged ''against'' her.
** Another episode, "Lisa Gets an 'A'", has Lisa cheating on a test, [[BrokeTheRatingScale earning an A+++]], which bumps up her school's average GPA to the point that the school earns a federal grant. However, at the ceremony for Lisa, she reveals to the audience that she cheated on the test. Yes, she's once again being honest even if it means that the other students won't get as good of an education because of it. However, Principal Skinner and the rest of the school staff [[BatmanGambit anticipated that she'd do this]], [[CrazyPrepared as the whole ceremony was a fake]]. They hold the ceremony a second time (without Lisa) and accept the grant money.
** All of those are more examples of WhatYouAreInTheDark. A straighter example is in "Bart Star", when Lisa wanted to join the Pee Wee Football league so she could make a statement about sexism. Flanders gladly welcomes her to the team, revealing that there are already some girls on the team. Surprised, Lisa tries to make it about animal cruelty (since footballs are made of "pig skins"), but they explain that the balls are synthetic and part of the profits go to Amnesty International. Her moral high ground utterly shattered, Lisa runs off in tears.

* The little-known Italian fantasy RPG ''Kata Kumbas'' has a playable class that is a [[CrystalDragonJesus Jesus-expy]]. In a game where experience is mostly gained by killing things, any player with this class forfeits ALL experience for the whole adventure if anything gets killed during the adventure itself. In other words, you lose all hope at gaining EXP if ''the other players'' kill even one of the AlwaysEvil monsters you encounter. Thus, this trope will come into play a lot.

** As a counterargument to this, many others have argued that Gotham's official law enforcement falls under this even more, and that dozens of authority figures should be held accountable before even beginning to look at the volunteering vigilante. With Batman, there at least exists the excuse that he doesn't want one vigilante to take the role of judge, jury, and executioner, and that the whole point of his crusade is to ''support'' law enforcement, not ''supplant'' it. With Gotham's official authorities, however, there exists no excuse why Joker hasn't been shot to death by cops, declared accountable for his actions by a legal psychiatrist, or just plain given the death sentence by a judge yet. Possible corruption isn't even a part of it, as Joker doesn't seem to be wielding any significant clout. During ''No Man's Land'' , a storyline where Gotham becomes ravaged by an earthquake and is declared legally lawless and no longer part of the U.S., James Gordon actually has the Joker at gunpoint, ''after the latter killed his wife'', and still chooses to just KneeCap him rather than finally doing what needs to be done, no laws holding him back in this one instance.

* Because of his refusal to kill villains, and especially the fact he tries stopping others from killing villains, many readers have accused Franchise/{{Batman}} of falling under this trope. Mainly because whenever he sends villains (especially ComicBook/TheJoker) to jail or Arkham, they always break out and go back to their old ways over and over again while they continue to make Gotham the dangerous place it's always been to live in. And yet Bruce, along with his sidekicks, still haven't can't bring themselves to kill him or at least let someone else do it.

This is the kind of person who would attempt to convince [[{{Satan}} the devil himself]] that his evil crusade is wrong and that he and his [[CrystalDragonJesus good counterpart]] should resolve their differences with a kind word and a handshake. It is difficult, if not impossible to reason with hardened criminals or terrorists of any sort (at least, in most cases, without a credible threat of force that this sort of personality would naturally be unwilling to provide), both in reality and in fantasy. It gets even more ridiculous when one tries negotiating with entities whose goals include the [[EvilEmpire conquest]][=/=][[EarthShatteringKaboom destruction]][=/=][[TakeOverTheWorld domination]] of the world, or [[MadeOfEvil pure manifestations of evil]]. Yet the Stupid Good character attempts to convert the villain to the [[DefeatMeansFriendship side of good]] using ThePowerOfFriendship anyway -- cue everyone complaining when the [[RealityEnsues predictable bloodbath]] ensues.

More than a few people have recognized the FridgeLogic in the behavior of the average LawfulStupid character. After all, smiting someone merely because your magic radar told you he was evil seems [[DesignatedHero more sociopathic than heroic to most]]. Someone can be evil without being a threat; maybe they're [[VillainsOutShopping just out shopping]] [[GoKartingWithBowser or playing a friendly game]], or [[AffablyEvil dream of ruling the world, but don't necessarily want to harm anyone]], or are [[TheAtoner working on]] their [[InsistentTerminology good-impairement]] issues as a regular in the local MonstersAnonymous meetings. In order to avoid this, however, some people take things too far to the other side, resulting in AllLovingHero taken to its illogical extreme.

* Subverted in the Creator/AdamWest ''Series/{{Batman}}'' when Batman seems to let the gun moll for the Minstrel go simply because she said she was going to turn over a new leaf. Even Robin is aghast at how incredibly naïve Batman (even for ''this version'') is for doing it, until Batman reveals that he placed a listening bug in her purse and let her go so she'd return to the villain's hideout.

* Subverted in the movie ''Film/{{Dogville}}'' -- after being stupid good the entire movie, Nicole Kidman's character finally comes to the conclusion that arson is more fun than turning the other cheek.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' has Emiya Shiro, who takes his StayInTheKitchen attitude towards his Servant Saber to the point of refusing to summon her in a battle where he would clearly die without her; only a DeusExMachina saves his sorry hide. Though it can be inferred from this that Shirou's Stupid Good status is more properly a case of AlwaysSaveTheGirl; he's trying to keep Saber from fighting in the hopes of keeping her from getting hurt. During the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, Rin comes to realize that his almost-suicidal altruism is largely the result of his survivor's guilt and attempting to justify surviving an accident that claimed the lives of many others.
** Much like Shiro himself, Saber is also willing to sacrifice everything about herself for others. From the moment that she took up arms and became "king" of England, Saber spent her entire life fighting for others only to be betrayed near the end of her life. Her appearance in the Grail tournament was the result of her dying wish for her kingdom to prosper. Ironically enough, Shiro of all people is amazed at her selflessness, which only goes to further encourage his protective attitude towards her.

** On the one hand, their complete refusal to compromise even slightly on their principles would almost certainly have caused disaster for innocent people if Harry himself hadn't been more willing to be an AntiHero; in {{Literature/DeathMasks}} they threaten to kill a millennia-old sorcerer who is in a WillingChanneler SymbioticPossession with a FallenAngel unless he gives them information that would save literally millions of people from a magic-powered plague. However, as soon as the man in question relinquishes the ArtifactOfDoom containing the angel, they immediately withdraw, despite it being clear to everyone (including them) that the man is evil even without the influence of the angel, and they would have left without the apocalypse-averting information rather than interfere in the man's (to all intents and purposes nonexistent) chance to seek redemption had Harry not beaten the information out of him.

** This is a side effect of the minor artifact "Claw of the Mighty Simurgh". One its bearer has used any of its powers, they become loathe to use violence, urge peace to all living things, and refuse to attack anyone unless attacked (except undead).

** Dr. Light himself, despite not being the action hero, is also quite gullible and possibly just as stupid as [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Knuckles]]. A grand example of this is in ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' where Dr. Wily begs Dr. Light and Mega Man to help him find a cure for the Roboenza virus after his own robots attacked him. Along with Mega Man, Dr. Light agrees to help Dr. Wily while ignoring the fact that Dr. Wily has ALWAYS gone back to his evil ways shortly after being released or broken out of prison (though one could argue that the Roboenza virus was dangerous enough that Light took the risk of trusting Wily, who ''did'' have a cure).
* Knuckles' main character trait from his debut in ''SonicTheHedgehog 3'' all the way to ''Sonic Adventure 2'' (at least) was his extreme repeated gullibility concerning who the bad guy was.

* In ''Series/{{Chernobyl}}'', Lyudmilla Ignatenko bribes her way into the ward where her husband is slowly and horrifically dying from radiation sickness, and spends days tending to and caring for him. Problem? She's pregnant, and her repeated exposure to her husband's secretions caused her baby to die shortly after birth.

*** He attempts to hold a peace summit with an OmnicidalManiac named Sylvanas Windrunner, who has become the Warchief of the Horde [[DroppedABridgeOnHim (Vol'Jin got unceremoniously killed by a random mook)]] to try and see if a lasting truce could be worked out. It ends in a bloodbath, the [[WhamEpisode War of The Thorns]], the [[WatchingTroyBurn Burning of Teldrassil]] and the [[HereWeGoAgain resumption of hostilities]] between the Alliance and the Horde, resulting in the Fourth War. To say that fans on both factions were [[FlameWar extremely]] [[InternetBackdraft displeased]] with the writing is putting it [[UnderStatement mildly]].

It also often means [[SuperGullible extreme gullibility]]. A Stupid Good character will spare the villain if he pleads no matter how obvious it is they intend to return to villainy. After all, forgiveness is a good thing, right?

* Mackenzie the half-demon, from ''Literature/TalesOfMU'', because of demons being stereotyped as StupidEvil. [[CharacterDevelopment She's getting better, though.]]
** Her SuperpoweredEvilSide is even more StupidEvil than her normal self was ''ever'' Stupid Good. I guess there ''is'' some truth to the stereotype.
* In general, it's safe to say that ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' isn't kind to any who entertain the notion of being really, really nice people before engaging either their brain or general-purpose cynicism. Whichever.
** Eddard Stark is bound by an [[HonorBeforeReason inflexible code of honor]]. It isn't as irksome in the otherwise CrapsackWorld as one might expect. His flaw isn't his code of honor, but his belief that other people are better or more honest than they actually are and that they can be shamed into doing the right thing; he's willing to do the right thing, no matter how hard that may actually be.
** His son, on the other hand, falls into this category towards the end.
** Roose Bolton's legitimate son Domeric was an earnest and kind soul, who ended up being killed by his sadistic bastard brother Ramsay because he believed they could be best friends if they just got to know each other. In Domeric's defense, this was some time ''before'' [[AxCrazy Ramsay]] [[SerialKiller acquired]] [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame his]] [[TheDreaded reputation.]]
** Lord Edmure Tully is also a prime example: he rushes out and repeatedly gets himself into boiling hot water when it comes to longer-term strategy, for all he can pull wonders off tactically and in the very short term. He just can't hang back and watch his people get hurt in a bid for longer-term or multiple-step solutions. Or, can't bear the thought of the smallfolk having nowhere to find safety while he is fine behind thick walls. Accepting more mouths to feed when you're facing a castle-siege is... really nice, but not very ''wise''.
*** Of course, this is only the case in-universe. In real life, protecting the peasants was the whole point of having a huge castle with thick walls. After all, if the besieging enemy kills all your peasants, then who's going to farm your lands?
* Carrot Ironfoundersson, Captain of the Ankh Morpork City Watch in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, often appears to be this way; in fact, were he anyone else, he ''would'' be this way. But because he happens to be the lost One True King of Ankh, his natural innate charisma means people tend to behave toward him as he expects them to, whether they intended to or not.

* The eighth book of the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series features a culture of people that are so Stupid Good that they won't even defend themselves when TheEmpire invades and starts with the evaile. When the DesignatedHero shows up, some of them even serve as willing human shields for the Bad Guys, because war is bad, mmkay? TooDumbToLive doesn't even begin to cover it.

* Eve Forward's ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'' has the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil central to its plot -- if it's not maintained, the world will be sublimated into either a big light blur or a big dark blur with a possible domino effect for other worlds -- but supports this mostly by populating the side of Good with LawfulStupid [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]], with some Stupid Good lackeys for variety. This has the unfortunate effect of undermining the premise, since the "good" antagonists really aren't particularly good people, and the "evil" protagonists mostly aren't particularly evil either. Notably, one such Stupid Good lackey, the centaur bard Robin, eventually clues in and performs a FaceHeelTurn to side with the "evil" protagonists, and the BlackKnight called Blackmail turns out to be a legendary [[KnightInShiningArmor paladin]] who has sided with the protagonists for the sake of saving the world and in disgust at his former TrueCompanions's LawfulStupid behavior.
* In one of C. S. Forester's Literature/HoratioHornblower novels, Hornblower can save his ship only by lying to a French officer that Napoleon has recently died. To make the enemy believe him, Hornblower has to support the lie by taking an oath on his honor as an officer. He plans to resign his commission in disgrace at the next port, because he has permanently dishonored himself. Fortunately for him, he finds out, by Jove, Napoleon really IS dead, so the lie was the truth all along. In Forester's defense, he conveys the standards of that culture so vividly that the reader can believe in Hornblower's scruples. This incident subverts the Stupid Good trope on a couple levels. Hornblower is arguably being "stupid good" in that he expects his enemies to completely ditch their plan solely because Hornblower gives his sworn word. However, he's not being "stupid" because they ''do'' take his word, and he's not being "good" because his actions are utterly shameful in his culture.
* Literature/SisterhoodSeries by Creator/FernMichaels: Averted for the most part. Subverted, however, in ''Lethal Justice''. Alexis Thorne a.k.a. Sara Whittier goes to see Arden Gillespie and Roland Sullivan after they have been caught embezzling and are soon to be arrested. She offers them some wine and tells them that she forgives them for framing her for their crimes and ruining her life. However, after Roland and Arden drink the wine, when asked why she's not drinking, Alexis reveals that she doctored the wine with tranquilizers and states that she's not stupid! Yep, she was just pretending to be Stupid Good just to get them to let their guards down! She follows it up by having a tattoo artist put "BASTARD" on Roland's forehead, "BITCH" on Arden's forehead, and tattoo Arden's body with snakes.
* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse: To be honest, the New Republic and Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order have fallen victim to this. The trilogy that introduced Natasi "I Satan" Daala and Kyp Durron is particularly notable for this. Mon Mothma tried to negotiate peace between the New Republic and the Empire with Ambassador Furgen, who made it no secret that he was pure evil. In fact, he throws his drink in her face and says that there will never be peace between the two governments. Then it turned out later that the drink contained nanobots that were destroying her from the inside out! You would think Mon Mothma would have had more common sense by this point in time, but apparently not. Then there is the matter of Kyp Durron going around blowing up solar systems containing Imperial citizens with the Sun Crusher. Mon Mothma and her council know what he has done, but instead of punishing him, they hand him over to Luke Skywalker, who welcomes him back with open arms. Several characters were more than happy to point that this is not how life works, and Kyp now has the pleasure of NeverLiveItDown for the rest of his life!
** This carries over into the new EU as well. Mon Mothma, is so utterly determined to restore the former Republic ''exactly'' as it had been (i.e. utterly dysfunctional) that she basically writes the New Republic constitution so that the reformed Senate immediately becomes a NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering.
** ''Literature/TheNewRebellion'' has a character named Femon reveal in her thoughts that she considers the New Republic too weak. She feels that the NR is too lenient with its enemies by practically never punishing them for their crimes. Femon is TheDragon to BigBad Kueller/Dolph (think UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler), who is PuttingOnTheReich, and she turns on him because she perceives that he has fallen to the same weakness as the NR, and he kills her for turning on him. On one side, this seems to say that everything she thinks is supposed to be dismissed and blown off. On the other side, this qualifies as StrawManHasAPoint, because the NR has done more reacting than acting.
** Indeed, it is remarkable that the NR lasted for around 30 years living on this trope! At least the Yuuzhan Vong series did one thing right, and that was to tear this trope into tiny shreds!
* The Wild Turkeys in ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow'' are friendly to a fault, but are too stupid to understand danger until it is too late. [[spoiler:Because of this, they all die en masse.]]

* Played with in Literature/TheDresdenFiles and the [[KnightInShiningArmour Knights]] [[ThePaladin of the Cross]]:
** On the one hand, their complete refusal to compromise even slightly on their principles would almost certainly have caused disaster for innocent people if Harry himself hadn't been more willing to be an AntiHero; in {{Literature/DeathMasks}} they threaten to kill a millennia-old sorcerer who is in a WillingChanneler SymbioticPossession with a FallenAngel unless he gives them information that would save literally millions of people from a magic-powered plague. However, as soon as the man in question relinquishes the ArtifactOfDoom containing the angel, they immediately withdraw, despite it being clear to everyone (including them) that the man is evil even without the influence of the angel, and they would have left without the apocalypse-averting information rather than interfere in the man's (to all intents and purposes nonexistent) chance to seek redemption had Harry not beaten the information out of him.
** On the other hand, they are prevented from falling firmly into this trope for two reasons; one, in the above example, Harry totally refutes the villain's assertions that they are too "weak" to do the pragmatic thing, since he is fully aware that it takes enormous personal strength to be so dedicated, and he greatly admires them for it even in the midst of his exasperation. Two, it is explicitly confirmed and proven that the knights have a BargainWithHeaven that works through ContrivedCoincidence, and consequently nothing too terrible has ever come of them sticking to their principles, even if it takes something spectacularly improbable (or Harry's willingness to do the dirty work) to make things turn out mostly OK.
* Pharoah Akhnaton in ''Literature/TheEgyptian''. He attempts to disband the army, confiscates the land of the priests of Ammon, causing them to curse it, distributes it to the poor without regard for whether or not they know how to farm and then when the Syrians revolt and the Hittites invade wants to bankrupt what little of the treasury is left to buy them off despites being told by sevral sources that this will only convince them of Egypt's weakness and encourage their invasion.

* In ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVDemonsAndAngels Demons and Angels]]", the characters meet their good and evil duplicates. Their "high" selves are so naive and trusting that they don't realise they are being deliberately shot, stabbed and crushed, and the High Kryten thinks a grenade is a "welcome gift".
* ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'' has a guy who called himself Methos (not the real Methos played by Peter Wingfield) who wanted all Immortals to lay down their swords, embrace peace, and help little old ladies across the street at every opportunity. He didn't last through half the episode, getting decapitated by the VillainOfTheWeek.
* Peter Petrelli ("[[BigBad Adam]] [[GenreBlind is my friend]]. [[WhatAnIdiot I can't let you hurt him."]]) of ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.

** The Thals in first-ever Dalek story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]" initially refuse to fight against the Daleks in any way.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3ETheGunfighters The Gunfighters]]", the Doctor refuses against all logic to accept that Doc Holiday isn't a thoroughly [[NiceGuy decent gentleman]] or is obviously trying to manipulate the Doctor into getting shot in his stead.
** The Dulcians in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E1TheDominators The Dominators]]" are more extreme than the Thals. As {{Actual Pacifist}}s, they are so dedicated to pacifism that they sort of just mindlessly do whatever they're told with no resistance at all, which allows the two Dominators to enslave them to a pathetic degree. The Dulcian council is particularly bad. Despite agreeing with themselves that "pacifism is itself a course of action" before the Dominators break into their council chamber and threaten them with death, they can only pick up the Dominators on using a rude tone of voice. Rather than, say engaging in proper negotiation, instead of doing pacifistic but noble actions like sticking to their principles or protesting. (This, of course, this ends horribly for them.)

*** Although, his reluctance to kill The Master may be because he and The Master are the [[LastOfHisKind last two remaining time lords in existence.]]
* In the series ''Series/StargateSG1'', we have the Nox. At first, they seem to be this trope, causing the SG-1 team deep concern over the Go'auld's desire to take over their planet. As the team goes to leave, we find the Nox are pacifists who can make things invisible, revive the dead, yet prevent any fatal violence in either direction. Suffice it to say they are also SufficientlyAdvancedAliens who make the Go'auld look like cavemen. So they aren't exactly stupid, but they do fail to see the contradiction in how they look down on anyone who would resort to violence ''even in self-defense'' as primitive savages, while keeping to themselves the technology that allows their culture to protect itself nonviolently or undo the deaths caused by aggressors.

** A visiting scientist regards Picard as showing this in "Silicon Avatar," when he says that he doesn't want to attack a crystalline entity responsible for the destruction of an entire colony (where the scientist's son was killed), but instead wants to try to communicate with it as a means to prevent further attacks. As he puts it, the creature is so different and on such a larger ''scale'' than humanoids, it may just be operating an animal-like intelligence rather than malice, or unaware that these little specks it eats up are thinking, feeling beings as well. She thinks he's naive and kills the unique entity out of vengeance.
* Subverted in the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek TOS]]'' episode "Errand Of Mercy". The Organians appear to fit this trope for most of the episode, but it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler: they were powerful EnergyBeings and they were just humoring the Klingons when they let them take over their planet]].
** Double subverted with [[spoiler:Edith Keeler]] from ''The City on the Edge of Forever''. [[spoiler:She knows who's a bad risk for her soup kitchen, but does not get that you cannot negotiate with a Hitler.]]
* Subverted in the Creator/AdamWest ''Series/{{Batman}}'' when Batman seems to let the gun moll for The Minstrel go simply because she said she was going to turn over a new leaf. Even Robin is aghast at how incredibly naive Batman (Even for ''this version'') is for doing it, until Batman reveals that he placed a listening bug in her purse and let her go so she'd return to the villain's hide out.
* ''Series/DueSouth'': Fraser often appears like this. Of course he is smarter than he looks.

* Leslie Knope of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' seems like this much of the time. In the first season her attempts to do good almost always backfired. She grows more savvy after that, and also has friends who are less scrupulous.
%% * Earl Camembert, the hapless co-reporter on SCTV News from, well, ''Series/{{SCTV}}.''
* In {{NCIS}} season 13, episode 13, Abbey's brother Luca is a prime example. He takes in a woman who "needs his help" and refuses to give her phone number, be in any pictures, or even reveal her last name.
* In ''Series/TheATeam'' episode "Semi-Friendly Persuasion", Karl Peerson, the leader of the Society of Man, falls into this. He runs an Amish-esque commune which is sworn to non-violence, but his community is threatened by a gang of local thugs who view them as "freaks." Karl fully intends to give in to the bullies and even openly insults the A-Team when his son calls them in, claiming their violent ways make them just as bad as the villains. Even at the end, when the villains have been defeated, he holds to his stance and makes it clear that he intends to leave town anyway, feeling that he can't possibly stay in his new home knowing that it was won by violence.
-->'''Karl:''' I hope you don't expect me to thank you now.\\
'''Hannibal:''' No... You know, even though you're one of the most closed-minded people I've ever met in your own way, I have to give you one thing: you don't change your tune when you win. Most people do.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The eponymous hero of ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'' is "huge, but a wimp" says the theme song. The episode "Horders and Sorcery" begins with a puppet play of heroics to recruit Mongol Horders.
-->'''Dave:''' Awww, the monster got hurted!
* Xavier from ''WesternAnimation/XavierRenegadeAngel'' is a near-perfect embodiment of this trope.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Brian Goes Back to College", Brian is given the chance to cheat on an exam, but chooses not to and fails the class. He then says that "[[AnAesop at least I failed honorably"]] and "at least I didn't quit". The entire family immediately calls him out on that, saying that [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop he should've just cheated and passed]]. The whole point of taking the class was to get a college degree that would allow him to be hired for a dream writing job he was otherwise completely qualified for. True, it is morally preferable that he be honest, but it is rather pious of him to swagger like that about failing a class for a degree that was going to be purely superficial.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Lisa Simpson, so many times:
** In "The Old Man and the Lisa", Mr. Burns loses his fortune and befriends Lisa, who encourages him to be more eco-friendly. He somehow warps this into making a gigantic net that dredges the ocean for fish, then grinds them into a slurry, which makes him rich again. Burns offers Lisa a 10% of the profits ($12 million total) as his way of saying thanks, and she tears the check up because it's "[[HonorBeforeReason the right thing to do]]". The idea that she could have donated the money to actual environmentally-friendly charities never seemed to enter her head; she just wrote it off as "blood money" and dismissed it as inherently dirty.
*** On top of that, the sight of Lisa ripping up the check gives Homer a heart attack. In the hospital he says that he understands why Lisa did it, but adds that they really could have used that "twelve thousand dollars". [[WhatAnIdiot Lisa quietly tells him that]] it was twelve ''million''. Cue another heart attack.
** It's not the last time. In "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can", during the Spellympics she is offered a scholarship to any of the Seven Sisters colleges to throw the tournament (And a hot plate!). Obviously this is a moral dilemma, so she asks Marge if the family can afford to send her to college. Marge admits that it would be very hard on the family. Regardless, Lisa decides it's the 'right' thing to win anyway, even though her real reason for competing was for popularity and attention. As with the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' example, it's better that she's honest, but she could have decided to spell to the end honestly and see what came of it without risking the scholarship, or she could have outed the rigged contest to officials anonymously, but elects to give a loud public speech about how she's been bribed. This backfires in a way reminiscent of ''WesternAnimation/ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'''s misspelling "beagel" when she misspells "intransigance", and George Plympton tells her the word is spelled "...E-N-C-E!" and she loses the spelling bee. It's just arrogance that she assumes she can win the Spellympics even when they're rigged ''against'' her.
** Another episode, "Lisa Gets an 'A'", has Lisa cheating on a test, [[BrokeTheRatingScale earning an A+++]], which bumps up her school's average GPA to the point that the school earns a federal grant. However, at the ceremony for Lisa, she reveals to the audience that she cheated on the test. Yes, she's once again being honest even if it means that the other students won't get as good of an education because of it. However, Principal Skinner and the rest of the school staff [[BatmanGambit anticipated that she'd do this]], [[CrazyPrepared as the whole ceremony was a fake]]. They hold the ceremony a second time (without Lisa) and accept the grant money.
** All of those are more examples of WhatYouAreInTheDark. A straighter example is in "Bart Star", when Lisa wanted to join the Pee Wee Football league so she could make a statement about sexism. Flanders gladly welcomes her to the team, revealing that there are already some girls on the team. Surprised, Lisa tries to make it about animal cruelty (since footballs are made of "pig skins"), but they explain that the balls are synthetic and part of the profits go to Amnesty International. Her moral high ground utterly shattered, Lisa runs off in tears.

* Fans have pointed out that WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack tends to act this way sometimes. Frequently, when having to choose between going home and forfeiting his chance to do so in order to save an innocent from death, imprisonment, slavery, or something worse, Jack will choose the latter without hesitation, because well, that's what he does. He never seems to stop to consider that if he were to keep going and take the opportunity, he's succeed in his goal to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, and save ''everyone'' in this CrapsackWorld, ''including'' said innocents whom he selflessly puts first. Of course, because FailureIsTheOnlyOption (if he ever succeeded, the show would end) this is necessary.
* The ghost character Poindexter from an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. Even though Danny is getting his revenge against Dash's bullying, Poindexter seems to think that Dash, the muscular jock in a lettermen, is the victim.
* [[KnightInShiningArmor Silverbolt]] of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is a Maximal with a sense of honor and nobility so overdeveloped that even the most idealistic of his comrades sometimes roll their eyes at his speeches and secretly wonder if his processor has a glitch.
-->'''Creator/ScottMcNeil''': And then of course, Silverbolt: strong, proud, brave, and smart as a sack of hammers.
** He also consistently expects the (nominally evil) Blackarachnia to covert to the light side, despite her protestations. Even after she ''shoots'' him, he optimistically notes it was non-lethal. [[spoiler:(In the end, he's right about her, but she gives him very little reason to believe in her.)]]
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' has the title character [[LiteralSplitPersonality split into good and evil halves]] by a ray gun. The evil half becomes the first appearance of recurring villain [[EvilCounterpart Negaduck]], while the good half is ineffective because he's unwilling to actually fight.
** Then there's Binkie Muddlefoot, who tends to be this way a lot in the series. For example, one time when Darkwing tries to use his gas gun on Megavolt, she tries to stop him, claiming that guns are bad (despite the fact that it's a non-lethal weapon and the villain was trying to kill both of them).

* Due to his naïveté, Butters from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' can teeter anywhere from mildly oblivious and gullible to TooDumbToLive. This happens especially in "Butters' Very Own Episode".
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' began with a fairy breaking [[BewareOfViciousDog Earl the Tough Dog]] free from the science lab in hopes that he will mend his ways. As soon as she does, [[TooDumbToLive he promptly eats her.]]

** Corrin ''repeatedly'' exhibits this in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', such as trying to reason with [[TheCaligula Garon]], despite all that doing is incurring his wrath and having to prove several times they aren't a traitor to the throne, or trusting Zola, despite Zola impersonating Izana earlier on in an attempt to trick the party, and sure enough Zola stabs Corrin in the back a couple of chapters later.

** As a counterargument to this, many others have argued that Gotham's official law enforcement falls under this even more, and that dozens of authority figures should be held accountable before ven beginning to look at the volunteering vigilante. With Batman, there at least exist the excuse that he doesn't want one vigilante to take the role of judge, jury, and executioner, and that the whole point of his crusade is to ''support'' law enforcement, not ''supplant'' it. With Gotham's official authorities, however, there exists no excuse why Joker hasn't been shot to death by cops, declared accountable for his actions by a legal psychiatrist, or just plain given the death sentence by a judge yet. Possible corruption isn't even a part of it, as Joker doesn't seem to be wielding any significant clout. During ''No Man's Land'' , a storyline where Gotham becomes ravaged by an Earthquake and is declared legally lawless and no longer part of the U.S., James Gordon actually has the Joker at gunpoint, ''after the latter killed his wife'', and still chooses to just KneeCap him rather than finally doing what needs to be done, no laws holding him back in this one instance.

** Another episode, "Lisa Gets an 'A'", has Lisa cheating on a test, [[BrokeTheRatingScale earning an A+++]], which bumps up her school's average GPA to the point that the school earns a federal grant. However, at the ceremony for Lisa, she reveals to the audience that she cheated on the test. Yes, she's once again being honest even if it means that the other students won't get as good of an education because of it. However, Principal Skinner and the rest of the school staff [[CrazyPrepared anticipated that she'd do this, as the whole ceremony was a fake]]. They hold the ceremony a second time (without Lisa) and accept the grant money.

** Elincia, queen of Crimea from the same game, ends up paying for this attitude. She has proof Ludveck is rallying the rebellion to usurp her throne. Upon hearing that his army has mobilized, her first thought is diplomacy. Her hesitance to resort to violence allows her childhood friend to be captured and used as a bargaining chip for the throne of Crimea. [[spoiler:She picks this moment to develop from stupid good to BadassPacifist. She refuses to surrender the throne to an obvious tyrant, no matter the cost, even if that is her friend's life. ([[BigDamnHeroes Cue Ike.]])]] In fact, Ludveck's entire motivation is that he sees her as this.

** In "The Old Man and the Lisa", Mr. Burns loses his fortune and befriends Lisa, who encourages him to be more eco-friendly. He somehow warps this into making a gigantic net that dredges the ocean for fish, then grinds them into a slurry, which makes him rich again. Burns offers Lisa a 10% of the profits ($12 million total) as his way of saying thanks, and she tears the check up because it's "[[HonorBeforeReason the right thing to do]]". The idea that she could have donated the money to actual environmentally-friendly charities never seemed to enter her head; she just wrote it off as "blood money" and dismissed it as inherently dirty. It's not a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming, but rather sickening in its piousness.

* Because of his refusal to kill villains, and the fact he tries stopping others from killing villains, many readers have accused Franchise/{{Batman}} of falling under this trope. Mainly because whenever he sends villains (especially ComicBook/TheJoker) to jail or Arkham, they always break out and go back to their old ways over and over again while they continue to make Gotham the dangerous place it's always been to live in. And yet Bruce, along with his sidekicks, still haven't figured this out yet.

* Uther the Lightbringer in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''. He is so honorable and decent, that he refuses to kill an entire city filled with people that could, at any moment, turn into the undead. He suggests that there might be another way, even though there likely isn't. The only alternative would be to let the Dreadlord Mal'Ganis collect them all, and nobody wants that. Arthas is so disgusted that he relieves Uther of his command and suspends the Paladins' from service. Jaina also refuses, even though, being a sorceress, should know that there is no cure.

* From the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series, we have Mega Man himself. He refuses to believe [[ObviouslyEvil Bass]] is an enemy, even as he's attacking. He knowingly walked into a trap to save Dr. Light, even after being told it was a fake, because it ''might'' be real. When learning that Dr. Wily has a cold, he takes him to the hospital instead of bringing him to justice.

** Dr. Light himself, despite not being the action hero, is also quite gullible and possibly just as stupid as [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Knuckles]]. A grand example of this is in ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' where Dr. Wily begs Dr. Light and Mega Man to help him find a cure for the Roboenza virus after his own robots attacked him. Along with Mega Man, Dr. Light agrees to help Dr. Wily while ignoring the fact that Dr. Wily has ALWAYS gone back to his evil ways shortly after being released or broken out of prison.