History Main / StupidGood

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, who along with his childlike naivete, is notorious for his desire to get stronger and have fair and challenging fights, even it puts his friends, his family, and the entire world at risk. Stand-out examples include believing Raditz and letting go of his tail when he's lying to save his own skin, letting Vegeta live after he had Nappa kill several people (including some of Goku's friends) and tried to conquer the planet because he sees Vegeta as a WorthyOpponent and wants to fight him again, healing Cell with a Senzu bean to make his fight with Gohan more fair, and convincing Zeno to hold the Tournament of Power even though the losing universes get destroyed. [[spoiler: Zeno was planning on destroying all the universes, so this actually gave them a fighting chance, but no one knew that]].

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, who, along with his childlike naivete, is notorious for his desire to get stronger and have fair and challenging fights, even it puts his friends, his family, and the entire world at risk. Stand-out examples include believing Raditz and letting go of his tail when he's lying to save his own skin, letting Vegeta live after he had Nappa kill several people (including some of Goku's friends) and tried to conquer the planet, because he sees Vegeta as a WorthyOpponent and wants to fight him again, healing Cell with a Senzu bean to make his fight with Gohan more fair, and convincing Zeno to hold the Tournament of Power even though the losing universes get destroyed. [[spoiler: Zeno was planning on destroying all the universes, so this actually gave them a fighting chance, but no one knew that]].

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, who, along with his childlike naivete, is notorious for his desire to get stronger and have fair and challenging fights, even it puts his friends, his family, and the entire world at risk. Stand-out examples include believing Raditz and letting go of his tail when he's lying to save his own skin, letting Vegeta live after he had Nappa kill several people (including some of Goku's friends) and tried to conquer the planet, because he sees Vegeta as a WorthyOpponent and wants to fight him again, healing Cell with a Senzu bean to make his fight with Gohan more fair, and convincing Zeno to hold the Tournament of Power even though the losing universes get destroyed. [[spoiler: Zeno was planning on destroying all universes any way, so this actually gave them a fighting chance, but no one knew that]].

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, who, along with his childlike naivete, is notorious for his desire to get stronger and have fair and challenging fights, even it puts his friends, his family, and the entire world at risk. Stand-out examples include believing Raditz and letting go of his tail when he's lying to save his own skin, letting Vegeta live after he had Nappa kill several people (including some of Goku's friends) and tried to conquer the planet, because he sees Vegeta as a WorthyOpponent and wants to fight him again, and healing Cell with a Senzu bean to make his fight with Gohan more fair.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, whose notorious for his desire to get stronger and have fair and challenging fights, even it puts his friends, his family, and the entire world at risk. Stand-out examples include letting go of Raditz's tail when he lies to save his own skin, letting Vegeta live after he tried to conquer the planet because he sees him as a WorthyOpponent and wants to fight him again, and healing Cell with a Senzu bean to make his fight with Gohan more fair.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'': Son Goku, whose notorious for his desire to get stronger and have fair and challenging fights, even it puts his friends, his family, and the entire world at risk. Stand-out examples include letting go of Raditz's tail when he lies to save his own skin, letting Vegeta live after he tried to conquer the planet because he sees him as a WorthyOpponent and wants to fight him again, and giving Cell a Senzu bean to make a his fight with Gohan more fair,

** 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 [[{{Kneecapping}} kneecap]] him rather than finally doing what needs to be done, no laws holding him back in this one instance.

* Plays heavily into the backstory of ''Videogame/BaldursGateII''. An elf named Jonoleth committed heinous crimes in pursuit of power, culminating in an attempt to [[AGodAmI usurp the divinity of an elven god]]. As punishment, Queen Ellesime stripped him of his elven soul ([[MortalityEnsues rendering him mortal]]), and [[TheExile banished him from her kingdom]]. However, she allowed him to keep his tremendous magical power, hoping that living among humans would [[TheAtoner teach him the error of his ways, and he'd use said power for good]]. Suffice it to say, he did not. [[spoiler:When you meet her, she admits she was naive, [[MyGreatestFailure and many innocent people have suffered horribly for her mistake]].]]

Despite the implications, not actually related to DumbIsGood, which is where a lack of intelligence means a person is innately inclined to be good, as opposed to taking Good to such extremes as to act in a stupid manner (so this is more along the lines of GoodIsDumb). Not be confused with the implications with the KindheartedSimpleton (whose level of stupidity and gullibility mixed with their compassion and goodness can relate, except that the Kindhearted Simpleton is thoroughly kind to the point that it redeems their acts of stupidity instead of subverting it.)

Despite the implications, not actually related to DumbIsGood, which is where a lack of intelligence means a person is innately inclined to be good, as opposed to taking Good to such extremes as to act in a stupid manner (so this is more along the lines of GoodIsDumb).

This often extends to such utter pacifism that they refuse to [[ThouShaltNotKill kill]], [[ActualPacifist attack, or even defend themselves]] from ''anything''. While most people would flee or fight back when faced with a foe which cannot be reasoned with, this person will attempt to talk down the enemy even as they're charging with swords drawn, howling for their heads, and if they ''do'' fight, they will make sure to get the guy healed afterwards.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' reveals that Jimmy and Chuck's father was this. He ran a convenience store and would hand out money to anyone with a sob story just in case it was true. In a flashback, he's shown handing an obvious scam artist ten dollars out of his nearly empty register and offering the guy a free spark plug for his car. When the very young Jimmy sees through the scam and protests, his father reprimands him for daring not to believe the poor man's story. In another instance, the father spends a lot of time and effort tracking down a customer who unknowingly paid him with a collectible coin. However, the coin was not very rare and only worth about $3-4 if sold to a collector. Jimmy's father seemed incapable of accepting any sort of windfall if he did not think he earned it 100% through hard work.

* 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.

One fairly awesome way that a Stupid Good Fluffy Tamer can be played completely straight even in the most cynical of works with little to no {{narm}}, however, is by a pairing that results in a BadassAndChildDuo. In a DeathWorld, this is typically the only way a child or [[ThePollyanna equivalently naive]] character [[TooDumbToLive could plausibly survive]], and the mere existance of a WideEyedIdealist can be enough to [[AwakeningTheSleepingGiant rouse]] an {{antihero}} into a KnightInSourArmor, devoting themselves to the preservation of this innocence.

Not necessarily a perfect mirror to StupidEvil. Many fictional characters (and real people) see good as being worthy of pursuit for its own sake, even when it seems illogical; evil characters are expected to place self-interest above the desire to merely be perceived as "evil". After all, part of being evil is not caring about what other people think about you (in most cases). However there is no universal agreed-upon-by-everyone "good" or "bad".

** Vash could be argued as a sympathetic {{deconstruction}} of this. He suffers rather heavily to save people without hurting others [[spoiler:to the point that when you see his bare chest, it is almost all either scar tissue or metal braces holding it together]]. He had plenty of opportunities to save many lives by ending a few, but always chose to resolve conflicts peacefully. [[spoiler:Being forced to confront that choice when it concerned people that he knew personally was what finally broke him.]]
*** What's more, Vash is one of the few people on the planet who can live up to his ideal that he can save everyone due to his insane skills. He's aware that he is different in this respect, so its less him being stupidly good and more using his more then adequate gifts to protect everyone. [[spoiler:Even at his lowest point, when faced with an enemy he simply can't defeat, mentioned above, he never gives up his ideals, but he does realize by the end that there are some forces he cannot overcome and he can't be everywhere at once, the last scene of the anime is him basically accepting this fact and moving on to try and live a more reasonable life.]]

* The ''[[{{Unicorn}} kirin]]'' of ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' are uniformly Stupid Good, but this is an accepted fact in-universe: as the ''kirin'' are supernatural creatures of mercy, it's something that is hardwired in their nature, and one of a ruler's most important challenges is learning when to ignore the advice of his ''kirin'', since a kingdom cannot be ruled on compassion alone.

** 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 [[{{Kneecapping}} kneecap]] him rather than finally doing what needs to be done, no laws holding him back in this one instance.
* The Guardians of the Universe from the ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' franchise waffle between this and LawfulStupid; although they are successful in creating the Green Lantern Corps, many of their other decision are the cause of most of their problems (like the Man Hunters, or Sinestro), and they tend to be to busy [[NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering arguing]] with each other and their own Lanterns, that they take forever to decide on a proper solution.

* In ''Fanfic/TheHavocSideOfTheForce'', after Literature/HarryPotter saves over a hundred slaves from the Hutts, he's absolutely pissed to be outed as such in the middle of the throne room despite his efforts to remain anonymous. Padme insists no one there would sell him out and that she trusts all of them implicitly. Even worse, afterwards, Padme tells Palpatine this, but asks him to keep it a secret. Naturally, Palpatine forwards this information to said Hutts, resulting in Harry being attacked before he even arrives at his next destination.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'', a spaceship is trying to reach the Sun (which is extinguishing) to detonate an uber-nuke into it (don't ask) and reactivate it. After a dramatic incident, it turns out there isn't enough oxygen for the crew to survive and complete the mission. The solution would be to kill one of them, who has gone insane -- with his death, they would spare enough oxygen to complete their task. The female protagonist, Cassie, takes the moral high ground and refuses to give her consent to the killing. Keep in mind that not only it was the sacrifice of one person versus the destruction of '''Earth and of the whole human race on it''', but that they were all going to die ''anyway'', since they had no chance to go back to Earth, whether they completed the mission or not.

* 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.]]

* 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 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.

* The Valar in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. They're unable to comprehend that [[{{Satan}} Morgoth]] is evil and especially that he is iredeemably, permanently evil, and believe him instantly when he claims to be reformed, only to have it blow up in their faces quite spectacularly later on.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': 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 [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten never hearing the end if it]] for the rest of his life!

* Subverted in one of Creator/FredSaberhagen's {{Literature/Berserker}} short stories. Everyone tells the main character he's being stupid by trying to talk with the Berserker that's approaching the planet he lives on, because Berserker are giant automated spaceships programmed to destroy all life and you can't argue with the pre-programmed directive of a machine. The Berserker does agree to talk, which is consistent with other stories in which they try to study humans so they can learn how to destroy them more effectively. During the conversation, the Berserker asks the man for a cell sample, which he provides. Eventually, the Berserker says it's going to leave to consider his arguments some more, and offers the man a gift, which he accepts. After the Berserker leaves, other people, fearing an obvious TrojanHorse, ask him about the "gift". The last line of the story [[TheEndingChangesEverything provides the twist ending]]: [[spoiler: "I think it's killing off my cancer."]]

* Subverted in the Creator/AdamWest ''Series/Batman1966'' 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.
* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' reveals that Jimmy and Chuck's father was this. He ran a convenience store and would hand out money to anyone with a sob story just in case it was true. In a flashback he's shown handing an obvious scam artist ten dollars out of his nearly empty register and offering the guy a free spark plug for his car. When the very young Jimmy sees through the scam and protests, his father reprimands him for daring not to believe the poor man's story. In another instance, the father spends a lot of time and effort tracking down a customer who unknowingly paid him with a collectible coin. However, the coin was not very rare and only worth about $3-4 if sold to a collector. Jimmy's father seemed incapable of accepting any sort of windfall if he did not think he earned it 100% through hard work.

* 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 lied about it to the doctors to let them see him. Her repeated exposure to her husband's secretions caused her baby to die shortly after birth.

** The Doctor can veer between LawfulStupid (wrathful Doctor) and Stupid Good (overly forgiving Doctor) on occasion, particularly in the new series. Most notably, he forgives and/or seeks to save the Master and Davros, respectively, each of them a OmnicidalManiac. In the original series story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E7Logopolis Logopolis]]" the Master destroyed most of the universe and all the people living in it. (Back then, the Doctor tended more to kill or try to kill his enemies, including, often the Master himself.) It's worth noting that those in the second group tend to be long-time recurring foes with JokerImmunity.

%%* ''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.
* 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/StargateSG1'': The Nox. At first, they seem to be this trope, causing the SG-1 team deep concern over the Goa'uld'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 Goa'uld 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-defence'' as primitive savages, while keeping to themselves the technology that allows their culture to protect itself non-violently or undo the deaths caused by aggressors.

* In the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek TNG]]'' episode "Peak Performance", Jean-Luc Picard demonstrates this attitude when he disdains the idea of participating in a war simulation, because he believes that Starfleet's primary role should be diplomacy and exploration. (But Jean-Luc, what are all those torpedoes and phasers for?)

* Wrestling/JohnCena came off as this a bit during his mid 2011 feud with Wrestling/CMPunk. John was ''adamant'' that he defend his WWE title against Punk at the next PPV, despite Punk saying he was going to leave the company at midnight, just a little bit after said PPV. Yes, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon seemed corrupt for trying to meddle in it and suspending Punk, running parallels to the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob. John got his way....and Punk won, leaving the company with the title, exactly what Vince was trying to prevent.

* 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[[note]]Though it's implied that he ''does'' arrest Wily before bringing him to the hospital. Wily just has JokerImmunity and escapes anyway, but not before making enough of the Roboenza cure for everyone affected[[/note]].
** ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'' (the American version) attempts to avert the trope at the very end by having Mega Man attempting to kill Wily after being so fed up with all of the doctor's evil doings. While it makes logical sense to get rid of Dr. Wily, it also makes Mega Man look totally out of character, especially since he goes back to his good natured ways in the later sequels.

** In the end the Pkunk can be considered a [[SubvertedTrope subversion of this]]. [[FreudianSlip They let slip some comments on how they feel about the Ilwrath]] they just have decided to stick to they pacifistic ways, also [[MartialPacifist Pkunk starships have weapons and they are willing to defend themselves]] is the unwillingness to go to the offensive what is costing them. And they know full the consequences of going back to the Yehat but unlike the Ilwrath the Yehat ''may'' decide spare them. Also his space hippie doctrine has given them EnlightenmentSuperpowers even allowing them to come BackFromTheDead (fail to stop his genocide at hands of his cousins and the ending will reveal they are still alive) [[EarnYourHappyEnding so in the end it payed to the Pkunk to be so good natured]].

** Varian himself may had such a moment in the Siege of Orgrimmar, when he stopped Thrall from executing Garrosh, not considering that he could escape to commit more atrocities. [[spoiler: And he does]]. He then decided to give the Horde another chance under Vol'jin after disposing of Garrosh instead of taking advantage of their weakened state to defeat them once and for all. While such an outcome was inevitable ([[StatusQuoIsGod obviously a faction-based MMO can't have one of it's factions completely destroy or conquer the other]]) some, including a few of his fellow Alliance leaders, like Jaina, still question whether Varian truly had the interests of the Alliance at heart when he made this choice, or if he was just making a moral decision at the expense of his own faction. On the other hand, Wrathion alludes to how the rest of the Horde would not have gone down without a long and bloody fight, albeit one he sees as an acceptable sacrifice to unite all of Azeroth.

** And beforehand, similar arguments can be thrown at Malfurion Stormrage. He is the protector of the wilds, but absolutely does ''not'' condone usage of underhanded means even when it's saving the wilds, especially when dealing with his brother Illidan. He turns into a demon in order to save the forest? He's just as bad as the demons and must be banished for his crimes. What was that, Illidan is trying to cast a disastrous spell and in a way put a harm on his lover Tyrande (somewhat. The truth was being twisted by Maiev)? Even if that was aimed to destroy the common enemy, the Lich King? He must pay for his crimes... though he backpedals when there are chances that Tyrande might live, and Illidan genuinely offers to work together to save her. When he woke up from his Emerald Dream, he didn't realize that the Horde as of current were no longer the same good Horde that fought with him to stop Archimonde (it was under Garrosh) so he didn't lift a finger when his forests were razed. He may be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure at times, but sometimes, that can be questioned.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', this is viciously deconstructed with Anise's parents Pamela and Oliver, whose PerpetualPoverty is caused by donating their entire salaries back to the [[CorruptChurch Order of Lorelei]] and Oliver's tendency to fall for scams. Neither of them mind, because their faith protects them from harm, and if anyone's so desperate for money that they have to scam others, surely they deserve the charity, right? However, because of a scam Oliver fell for in the past, they're deeply in debt; Anise's [[FilleFatale precocious]] GoldDigger behavior, PlayedForLaughs most of the time, takes on a [[DudeNotFunny rather less pleasant cast]] when it's understood that she's actually just trying to bail her parents out of their own idiocy. [[spoiler:Later, we discover that it's even worse than that: [[TheHeavy Grand Maestro Mohs]] has been using their debt to practically enslave Anise and force her to act as TheMole for the sake of her parents.]]

** The player can play this trope straight themslves in the conclusion of the Jedi Knight storyline depending on their decisions, though it fails, as well as some of the other storylines.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' pulls some rather controversial stunts [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption to try and force the player to play this way during the ending.]] [[spoiler: The final challenge of the game is that someone has to go into the Project Purity control room and activate the purifier, sacrificing themselves in the process because of the blast of lethal radiation that would come after. The only heroic choice in the game is to make this HeroicSacrifice yourself, even though you can have up to ''three'' party members (a super mutant, a robot and a ghoul) who should be able to survive the radiation. If you ask them, though, they'll just tell you that this is your destiny, call you a coward, or just flat-out refuse in a very out-of-character manner. Partially averted in the ''Broken Steel'' DLC, which allows the super mutant to do the deed for you, and though he does survive, the game still calls you a coward for not performing a StupidSacrifice for the greater good.]]

* Grace of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. Despite being a {{Tykebomb}}, raised in a laboratory by unethical scientists, and then later by a ruthless, murderous mutant, she's a complete pacifist, and can't stomach ANY kind of violence. In the end, facing down Damien -- a mutant supremacist who intends to annihilate all of humanity, used to savagely beat her while she was a child, intends to rape and forcibly impregnate her to create a race of superhumans, killed her father and then showed her his severed head when she was five, and is now about to kill all her friends -- she FINALLY snaps and goes CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass on his ass. Halfway through tearing him a new one, however, she regains her self-control, apologizes for attacking him, asks him to surrender (pretty please with sugar on top?) and refuses to attack him further. The only reason he still managed to wind up dead is that he attempted a TakingYouWithMe gambit, only to have Grace saved by a DeusExMachina. And afterwards, Grace is traumatized for DAYS about having acted violently.
** Lampshaded somewhat later, when history-class introduces Grace to World War II, Nazis, Hitler, and concentration-camps. Making her realize that Damien was basically a second Hitler ([[StupidJetpackHitler with superpowers]]), and that offering him a chance to surrender and walk away was probably really stupid.

* Surprisingly, Gadget Hackwrench from ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', despite being TheSmartGuy of the team. Gadget is [[TheHeart sweet, gentle, and compassionate]] almost to a fault, and several episodes have it lead to AmusingInjuries among the team or other difficulties solving the case simply because Gadget was so willing to give the VillainOfTheWeek the benefit of the doubt. A couple villains (Thaddeus from "Dirty Rotten Diapers" and Lahwhinie from "Gadget Goes Hawaiian") even directly took advantage of her trusting nature for their own ends. That said, there's no force on earth that can [[BewareTheNiceOnes save you from her wrath should she find out]], as she will ''very'' quickly put her staggeringingly high IQ to work ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge utterly destroying you]]''.

* 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.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E21TheOldManAndTheLisa 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 [[BeyondTheImpossible simultaneous heart attacks]]. 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.

** All of those are more examples of WhatYouAreInTheDark. A straighter example is in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E6BartStar 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.

-->'''Hannibal:''' You can build your meeting house now. You don't need us.

* 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.

** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E21TheOldManAndTheLisa 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.

* Downplayed in "Fanfic/{{The Curse_of_theDualshock}}", Chase -- used the cursed controller out of Stupidity, trapping the 9 pups in their console, setting off the events of the story\\\.

* In ''Film/StreetFighter'', [[DumbMuscle Zangief]] is this. Oh so hilariously so. He believes in friendship, loyalty, honor, fighting for freedom and peace, and saving the world, and ''ends up working for the villains'' because he actually believes [[BigBad General M. Bison's]] insane DelusionsOfGrandeur and takes his psychotic rants purely at face value. [[spoiler:It takes him all of about a second to [[HeelFaceTurn turn face]] and save the lives of about half the main cast once Deejay spells it out to him that he's an idiot and ''Bison'' is the enemy of freedom and peace, not the A.N.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Orihime, oh Orihime... Your heart is always in the right place: you want to save your friends, those arrancar were hurt and one was even ''killed'' because of you, and you can't just sit back and let your friends get hurt for your sake. But honey, maybe you should use the brain that we know you have in there and think: your friends have already displayed their rescue fetishes, those arrancar were trying to kill you and one was still hitting you while you were healing her, and Aizen is a MagnificentBastard who has probably planned for you to do all of that (and you know it, heck, you [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] it after he showed you the Hogyoku)! There's also the protagonist Ichigo, with his habit of sparing and even saving the enemies who try to kill him. As an example of how bad Ichigo can be with this, after waking up from his Hollow-side taking over, he saw that Ulquiorra, an already viciously powerful opponent, had been dismembered by his outburst. His logical reaction was to offer that Ichigo could ''injure himself to an equal extent'' to have a fair fight with him.
** The Ulquiorra incident is particularly bad because Ulquiorra demonstrates that he has the ability to regenerate limbs... Yeah, it wasn't a smart time for him. Granted, [[spoiler:Ulquiorra was currently suffering from a [[MortalWoundReveal fatal wound regardless]]]], but Ichigo wasn't aware of that at the time he made the offer.

* Suzaku from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has an instance of this, [[spoiler:by offering to consider Ashford a neutral place for himself and his bitter rival, Kallen, even going so far as to not mention her illegal actions to his superiors]]. It doesn't go poorly, but he only barely avoids a violent confrontation.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': 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!

* {{Charmed}}: Grams becomes this in the episode "Witchstock".