Innocence and naivete tend to go hand in hand in a wide array of media. As a consequence, the modern notion of innocence implies a crippling unfamiliarity with how life works. Does this mean the sane response to innocence is one of shock and horror, or that everyone who displays an attitude of kindness and charity is a dope? Of course not.
What innocence actually refers to is something slightly different than its common usage. Rather than "free from understanding", it means "free from wrongdoing". Compare a man who didn't commit the crime he is accused of versus a child playing in fall leaves. Both can be described as "innocent", even though the latter can also be described as "naïve". The difference between the two is one of degree and lies in their understanding of right and wrong. as well as their exposure to evil deeds. Once knowledge becomes part of the equation, this trope can be played differently; Innocence Lost, for example, implies an equivalent gain of knowledge about evil, and therefore some sense of how to combat it.
How characters approach the innocence/naivete dichotomy varies. The Knight in Sour Armor avoids naivete, as do nicer versions of The Cynic, while still retaining innocence. Just because someone is aware of how bad life is and how mean people are doesn't mean they can't fight for the right anyway. Moreover, a straight example of innocence as naivete can still work, since being unaware or unfamiliar with evil makes bad deeds harder to commit for the Wide-Eyed Idealist and Purity Personified types (though there are exceptions; genre blindness can contribute to this as well).
Compare with Good Is Not Dumb and Good Is Not Nice, as well as Obliviously Evil to see what can happen with too much naivete. Contrast with Good Is Dumb and Subverted Innocence. Virginity Makes You Stupid ties in to this trope on occasion, as it can be used to explore the difference between naivete and experience. A similar trope is Good Cannot Comprehend Evil, when the forces of good are too naïve to combat evil.
No Real Life Examples, Please!
Examples:
- Dragon Ball: This trope is largely responsible for Goku's characterization. He starts the series as a boy who due to his grandfather's death has been isolated up in the mountains for who knows how long before Bulma finds him while searching for the Four Star Dragon Ball. As a result, Goku was extremely ignorant of the ways of the world for a long time, to the point he didn't even know what a woman was, thought marriage was food, and otherwise ignorant of a number of other basic facts. Even as the series progresses and Goku grows older and experiences more he had little in the way of a formal education and thus remains largely ignorant of a great deal for the entirety of the franchise.
- Takopi's Original Sin: Takopi is a Happian, an Innocent Alien from a planet where all the inhabitants generally get along (with some rules) and he's taught to help others. However, his childlike innocence means he's not accustomed to the more complex morality of Earth, and he's unaware of what concepts like murder are. This proves to be a problem, as he resolves to help a Bad Future version of Marina be happy by killing Shizuka in the past, despite not knowing the full weight of what this means.
- The Powerpuff Girls Movie: The girls run into this trope for the first time when they help "Jojo" build his machine.
- Air Awakens: Vhalla Yarl, a library apprentice living a secluded life among books, is accused of it by prince Aldrik. He claims that her "transparent innocence" and lack of knowledge has made it easy for him to manipulate her. On the other hand, thanks to their relationship, Aldrik also changes for the better.
- Subverted in "The Blue Cross", the first Father Brown mystery. Professional thief Valentin is shocked he has been outmaneuvered by a parish priest who knows more about crime than he does.
"...We can't help being priests. People come and tell us these things."
"...Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?..." - By the end of Candide, the titular protagonist is well-aware that the world he lives in is nowhere near perfect, and while the road toward lasting happiness isn't clear, his commitment to gradual improvement and a dry-eyed view of life is summed up in the story's final line:
- Dial-a-Ghost: Oliver, a Heartwarming Orphan raised in loving surroundings, has trouble believing his cousins intend him any harm, even as evidence mounts that they are plotting an Inheritance Murder. The narration tells us that he even feels bad imagining that his cousin Fulton didn't look hard enough for his mail at the post office, because he is a child who had been brought up to trust people?
- Several poems in William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience discuss and play with this trope, particularly "A Little Boy Lost", where a young child inadvertently questions church dogma and is branded a heretic by an overzealous priest.
- In Wings of Fire, Sunny is very innocent and optimistic and tends to assume the best in other dragons. Her friends treat her as though she's very simple-minded because of it. In her book, we find out that she's actually very observant and has a go-getter attitude, but being treated as though she's stupid for being "sweet" has left her with an inferiority complex.
- Fargo: In Season One, Gus Grimly is a Barney Fife-esque beat cop and Nice Guy, who comes off as far more innocent than a cop should be; his naivete is exploited by the twisted hitman Lorne Malvo, who intimidates Gus into letting him go at a traffic stop, resulting in Malvo committing several more murders. By the end of the season, Gus has grown a little more cynical but redeems himself by killing Malvo.
- Season Four has Thurman Smutney, a Bumbling Dad and funeral director, who is one of the kindest, most innocent characters on the show. He gets in WAY over his head after borrowing from the Cannon Limited outfit, even inadvertently trying to pay back his debt with money stolen from Cannon by his own sister-in-law.
- It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Ben the Soldier is the only truly decent and kind character in the entire show, innocent almost to a childlike degree. He's also dumber than a bag of bricks and can be counted on to fall for the Gang's various scams (including a pyramid scheme and Dee's controlling behavior when they date). However, he usually ends up on top simply by virtue of his obliviousness.
- The Bible
- Pointedly defied by Matthew 10:16, which commands Christians not to shy away from knowledge of the evils in the world:
"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
- Averted with Jesus on the cross: "Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do."
- Pointedly defied by Matthew 10:16, which commands Christians not to shy away from knowledge of the evils in the world:
- Zigzagged with Bayley in WWE. She played this straight on her debut in NXT, being a naive Fangirl who seemed more interested in making friends than actually winning matches, and as a result was generally mocked and defeated easily by her opponents. She then went through Character Development to become a more serious competitor while retaining her Nice Girl and All-Loving Hero traits, becoming a shining example of Good Is Not Soft as NXT champion. However, upon her promotion to the main roster, she regressed to her previous naive characterisation, being totally oblivious to her best friend Sasha Banks having Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and being too soft to use a kendo stick as a weapon in a kendo stick on a pole match against Alexa Bliss, resulting in a Curb-Stomp Battle when Bliss gleefully took advantage of her mercy. She finally wisened up again after winning the Smackdown Women's Championship for the first time, and has completely averted this post Face–Heel Turn, being neither innocent nor naïve.
- Mega Man Zero: The Baby Elves, Crea and Prea, are two incredibly powerful Cyber Elves with the intelligence of young children. Big Bad Dr. Weil tricks them into opposing the heroes by claiming himself as their "grandfather" by saying he creating their mother, the Dark Elf. In actuality, Weil only corrupted the Mother Elf into the Dark Elf and is just taking advantage of their naivete.
- The Owl House: Luz's naivete is a recurring theme in the first season, particularly in the episode "Witches Before Wizards", where she buys into a demon's childish illusion of her own personal YA fantasy quest.
