Quotes / The Scapegoat

"Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle. He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord."

— Leviticus 16:7-10

Everything is my fault apparently. Ate the last Spotted Dick Pudding in the fridge? My Fault. Crashed a car into the Worlds' First British Dairy Queen? My Fault. Unknowingly shot Archduke Ferdinand and blamed it on some other guy? Oh, MY FAULT!

— Alucard, Hellsing Ultimate Abridged

"How do men deal with fear? They seek reassurance... and scapegoats. The Church of the Eternal Fire understands this perfectly. And so it promises to improve the lives of its flock by pointing out the guilty. Who started the war? Who profits from it? Why, it's obvious - mages, elves, dwarves. In a word, any and all deviants."

— Ambassador var Attre, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

"We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before somebody thinks of blaming us"

—"Blame Canada", South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

With the chaos resulting from the Meteor reports, we desperately need to rally public support... it's better that we punish somebody, anybody.

—Scarlet, Final Fantasy VII

"Tiberias knows more than a Christian SHOULD about Salahadin's intentions!"

— Guy De Lusignan, Kingdom of Heaven

Bob Budiansky didn’t initiate the clone saga — he inherited it. And I know he came into the situation feeling very uncomfortable about what was planned for the future. He wanted to resolve everything in the best way possible, but the whole thing just spiraled out of control and he didn’t know quite how to deal with it.

—Editor/Writer Glenn Greenberg on layoffs triggered by the The Clone Saga

Whenever anything went wrong it became usual to attribute it to Snowball. If a window was broken or a drain was blocked up, someone was certain to say that Snowball had come in the night and done it, and when the key of the store-shed was lost, the whole farm was convinced that Snowball had thrown it down the well.

—Animal Farm

I am your standard dickhead sports fan in that any time my team loses, I will seek out a reason for that loss. I want one person or thing to blame for the end result. The coach is a moron. The quarterback sucks. We didn't run the ball enough. We didn't pass the ball enough. 'We just got beat by a better team,' etc. I always want there to be a bulletproof rationale for why my team looked like shit out there. And if you are a turd like Gregg Easterbrook, you can take it a step further and ascribe that loss to some kind of personal failing. The players didn't tackle well, so they are lazy. The coach called bad plays, so he is not a sophisticated thinker. The team punted from its own 45, so THE FOOTBALL GODS WERE DISRESPECTED. Shit like that.

—Drew Magary

Two years ago, 53-year-old Fred Ettish decided he had had enough of this shit. He wanted to get back in the cage and avenge his loss. At age 53, that would be crazy, right? Kind of, but Fred's problem was never a lack of balls. He signed to fight a kid named Kyle Fletcher in Brainerd, Minnesota. Ettish wanted revenge on an entire sport, and poor Kyle Fletcher just became the face for it.

—Seanbaby, The Five Greatest Revenge Matches in MMA History

No, you don’t have to check to see if Phylicia Rashad has been taking hacking classes at The Learning Annex. Apparently, the hacking had nothing to do with the Cosby story. The alleged hacker told The Daily Dot that he hacked New York Magazine’s website, because the magazine is named after the city where he had a shitty vacation. He claims he hasn’t even seen the cover. I guess “hacking a website that is named after the thing you hate” is the new “leaving a bad Yelp review.“

—Michael K.

Brian: "Maybe nobody's the victim. Maybe we're just victimizing ourselves to avoid bettering ourselves. We keep looking for somebody to blame, but it's us. We're the monsters."
Nick: "Or...is it the liberal media?!"
Brian: "That's it! Thank you!"
Everyone: "Victims of the liberal media!"

— The Dinner Party, Britanick

"I'm the Lord of Calamity, remember? Just blame everything on me. I'll shoulder it all."

— Velvet Crowe, Tales of Berseria

Messenger: ...In light of which, Her Imperial Highness, Empress Sanaki, has conveyed to you this edict. Occupation forces are to hereby lay down all arms, convene in Daein Keep, and await the inspection team.
Jarod: Hmmm...
Messenger: Duke Numida maintains that your forces performed alleged abuses independently... in flagrant violation of his orders. The apostle, in her mercy, will hear your testimony. Do not abuse her magnanimous spirit...and lose your small advantage.
Jarod: Hah! What a magnificently ruthless maneuver. I didn't know Numida had it in him. Disowning the entire occupation army...and framing me for their actions. Brilliant.

— Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Scorpia: All in favor of blaming this on Kyle?
(Lonnie and Rogelio voice their agreements while Kyle futilely protests.)
Scorpia: Yep. Yeah, that's unanimous.
Kyle: (groans) Oh, man.

—She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, "Roll With It"

"I have a feeling in a few years people are going to be doing what they always do when the economy tanks. They will be blaming immigrants and poor people."

—Mark Baum, The Big Short

"The Yard is setting me up as a scapegoat. They'll not risk Roberts, will they? I'm expendable. They get to preserve the reputation of their golden boy and the public... get blood."

—John Kildare, The Limehouse Golem

Bender: Humans are no threat to us!
Robot Elder: We're well aware of that.
Bender: You are?
Robot Elder: But they're useful to us as a scapegoat to distract the populace from our real problems.
Robot Elder 2: Like our crippling lugnut shortage!
Robot Elder 3: And a corrupt government of incompetent robot elders!
Incompetent Robot Elder: Durr, that's fer sure.
Robot Elder: Quiet, Jimmy.

Futurama, "Fear of a Bot Planet"

"Because that is the Cat's "role". All of us are monsters. Miserable, Misshapen creatures. Don't tell me you think we're happy like this? That we enjoy being freaks? Do you know how many handicaps we have, how much pain we go through, just to survive within the framework of this world...? Do you? To us, the existence of the Cat is our salvation. Without him, our lives would be completely unbearable. You see—that monster is the ugliest of us all. He's inferior to us all. So it's only natural for him to be discriminated against, disrespected, and locked up. The rest of us look at the way he's treated—and we sigh with relief. "Thank God," we think. "At least I'm better off than that." You should ask the others sometimes. "Did you know he was going to be confined? Deep down, don't you feel superior to him?" They won't know what to say. The Cat was prepared as an outcast creature...for our sakes."

—Shigure Sohma regarding Kyo, Fruits Basket

"Father always said that if Providence hands you a powerless scapegoat - it is a sin not to use him."

— Anevka Sturmvoraus, Girl Genius (Vol. 5 p. 71)

''Someone stole old Banyon's pig. Blame it on the Kellys!
Pat McGavin's horse and rig. Blame it on the Kellys!
Someone robbed the Sydney mail, sacked the church and cleared the jail,
and if the ‘tater crop should fail – they'll blame it on the Kellys.
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

If anybody steals a horse, blame it on the Kellys!
Anybody breaks the law, blame it on the Kellys!
If anyone does something new, or does what you would like to do,
and if the troopers don't know who – they'll blame it on the Kellys.
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

They're posted up on every wall. Blame it on the Kellys!
There's no crime too great or small, to blame it on the Kellys!
They killed a thousand, so they tell,
you know they're bound to burn in hell!
I think I'll steal a horse myself – and blame it on the Kellys.
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

Someone killed old Jim Divine. Blame it on the Kellys!
‘Twas a dark and deadly crime. Blame it on the Kellys!
Someone killed old Jim Divine, don't know how they did the crime,
Poor old man was a hundred and nine –
But blame it on the Kellys!
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

Them old lazy cows gone dry. Blame it on the Kellys!
Something made the baby cry. Blame it on the Kellys!
What's that you say, what's that you say?
Someone robbed the bank today
And though they were twenty miles away,
We'll blame it on the Kellys.
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

It hasn't rained in seven months. Blame it on the Kellys!
Sister Peggy's having fun. Blame it on the Kellys!
Your sister, Peg, has had her fun, but I fear that she's been badly done.
She's bulging out a bit in front. Blame it on the Kellys,
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

Landlord he closed down the mill. Blame it on the Kellys!
And not a word to my woman's ilk. Blame it on the Kellys!
Late last night when all was still,
Who crept over the windowsill?
He left us bread and he left us milk.
Blame it on the Kellys,
Blame it on the Kelly boys, blame it on the Kellys,
Shame, shame upon the name, blame it on – the Kellys.

— Waylon Jennings, "Blame it on the Kellys"

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