History Main / ItSeemedTrivial

->''"You never tell me anything, so how the hell should I know what might be important?"''

* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'', Michael is part of a group trying to prevent [[AIIsACrapshoot The Oracle]] from gaining control, and is the only person who is not from the BadFuture in which it has attained power. Two problems. First, he's the group's ButtMonkey, so nobody else tells him anything, which means he has no idea what the Oracle is, never mind that it exists. Second, he's the group's ButtMonkey, so nobody listens to him, which means while he knows that British Intelligence created something called the Echelon Plug-in (he was given a copy of it), nobody knows what ''it'' is, never mind that it exists. [[spoiler:When they ''finally'' tell Michael what the Oracle is, Michael makes a comparison of the two programs and the others realize that the Oracle and Echelon Plug-in are ''one and the same''. In other words, the Oracle already exists in Michael's time, which explains a ''lot''.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'', Michael knows that British Intelligence created something called the Echelon Plug-in; he was given a copy of it. Unfortunately, Michael is generally treated like a ButtMonkey and has been so locked out of the loop that he doesn't know what the Oracle is or that it even exists. Of the group trying to prevent the Oracle from gaining control, Michael is the only person who is not from the future, but nobody else listens to him, so they don't know about the existence of the Echelon Plug-in. [[spoiler:When they ''finally'' tell Michael what the Oracle is, Michael makes a comparison of the two programs and the others realize that the Oracle and Echelon Plug-in are ''one and the same''. In other words, the Oracle already exists in Michael's time, which explains a ''lot''.]]

->''"This information would have been useful'' ''''''a few years ago!'''''

-->-- '''Michael''', ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}''

* In the DanteValentine series, Danny is forever begging Japhrimel to tell her things. He doesn't until it comes up in battle. When Danny asks why he didn't tell her sooner, he shrugs it off answering, "I did not want to trouble you with something so trivial." He abuses this excuse to the point Dante is often ready to scream.

-> [[LockedOutOfTheLoop You never tell me anything]], so how the hell should I know what might be important?
-->-- '''Michael''', ''{{SSDD}}''

[[AC:Live Action Television]]

* In an episode of ''LawandOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Elliot is accused of murdering a suspect in custody when the man's spleen is found lacerated in an autopsy. When ME Warner, who performed the autopsy, goes to him to apologize for having to implicate him in the man's death, Elliot is horrified at his own actions and says he never meant for anyone to die; he tried to save the man. How? By performing CPR. Which Warner immediately realizes could have caused the injury, meaning his cause of death was something else. She didn't know he'd done it, and none of the people who had witnessed it realized it was relevant at all, let alone the difference between Elliot going free or being charged with murder.

* In ''{{SSDD}}'', Michael knows that British Intelligence created something called the Echelon Plug-in; he was given a copy of it. Unfortunately, Michael is generally treated like a ButtMonkey and has been so locked out of the loop that he doesn't know what the Oracle is or that it even exists. Of the group trying to prevent the Oracle from gaining control, Michael is the only person who is not from the future, but nobody else listens to him, so they don't know about the existence of the Echelon Plug-in. [[spoiler:When they ''finally'' tell Michael what the Oracle is, Michael makes a comparison of the two programs and the others realize that the Oracle and Echelon Plug-in are ''one and the same''. In other words, the Oracle already exists in Michael's time, which explains a ''lot''.]]

--> ''"A lot of information about the origin of the Court has been lost or, in my opinion, deliberately hidden. If you have somehow come across information from that time, it could provide valuable insight. (...) However, such information is useless until properly investigated. When you feel you have uncovered the whole story, please, tell me about it."''

* In ''FanFic/SayItThice'', [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Danny, Sam, and Tucker]] never think to mention to the new girl about the rumors concerning the Ghost With the Most and his missing "Mortal Bride." Likewise, [[Film/{{Beetlejuice}} Lydia]] never thinks to mention she was almost married to a ghost once. Without these minor details, no one can make the connection and realize they are dealing with the same entity. Of course, it makes sense that the topics wouldn't come up when talking to near-strangers.

* In ''ThePrincessBride,'' Inigo Montoya can be forgiven for not realising that a wheelbarrow might turn out to be of significance:
-->'''Westley:''' What are our liabilities?
-->'''Inigo:''' There is but one working castle gate, and... and it is guarded by 60 men.
-->'''Westley:''' And our assets?
-->'''Inigo:''' Your brains, Fezzik's strength, my steel.
-->'''Westley:''' I mean, if we only had a wheelbarrow, that would be something.
-->'''Inigo:''' Where did we put that wheelbarrow the albino had?
-->'''Fezzik:''' Over the albino, I think.
-->'''Westley:''' Well, why didn't you list that among our assets in the first place?

-> [[LockedOutOfTheLoop You never tell me ''anything'']], so how the hell should I know what might be important?

-> [[LockedOutOfTheLoop You never tell me ]]''[[LockedOutOfTheLoop anything]]'', so how the hell should I know what might be important?

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Many a school shooting could be averted if not for this. Often times there's tons of evidence that person is going to do this but its knowledge is scattered in bits and pieces throughout the community. This why sociologists suggest residences of communities keep lines of communication open even if risking embarrassment or being seen as a gossip spreader.
----

* This trope is pulled in spades in the ''AceAttorney'' series, infuriating the player character to no end. Witnesses will sometimes not bother to tell the player a vital piece of information or give some important evidence that could help clear their name or solve the case because they feel the item/information has no bearings on the current situation.

* In an episode of ''LawandOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Elliot is accused of murdering a suspect in custody when the man's spleen is found lacerated in an autopsy. When ME Warner, who performed the autopsy, goes to him to apologize for having to implicate him in the man's death, Elliot is horrified at his own actions and says he never meant for anyone to die; he tried to save the man. How? By performing CPR. Which Warner immediately realizes could have caused the injury, meaning his cause of death was something else. However, no one else had the medical knowledge to know that, which was why no one mentioned it.

The revelation of the fact may bring about WhyDidntYouJustSaySo, with "It seemed trivial" (or some variant thereof) being the answer.

This is when someone knows a fact that would be of great importance to the heroes but never says anything, for the simple reason that that person has ''no idea'' the fact is important. A subtrope of PoorCommunicationKills, and definately overlaps with LockedOutOfTheLoop.

-> You never tell me ''anything'', so how the hell should I know what might be important?

This is when someone knows a fact that would be of great importance to the heroes but never says anything, for the simple reason that that person has ''no idea'' the fact is important. A subtrope of PoorCommunicationKills.

* In ''TalesOfTheAbyss'', Jade deduced almost immediately that [[spoiler:the "Luke" he was traveling with was actually a replica of the real Luke.]] Jade didn't tell because doing so would have resulted in [[spoiler:massive amounts of existential angst on replica!Luke's part]] with no apparent beneficial trade-off. In hindsight, that wasn't the best decision. Revealing the truth would have stopped the BigBad's manipulations, even if Jade wasn't aware of them.

* In ''TalesOfVesperia'', Judith knew the truth about the blastia and how they were affecting the planet. Did she share any of this information? No. And when Rita and the others asks, "why didn't you say anything?" Judith's response (as seen during one of the private scenes between her and Rita) amounts to, "it didn't seem important at the time."

* Antimony Carver, from ''GunnerkriggCourt''. At the point of Chapter 33, she had enough information about [[spoiler:Jeanne, one of the Court's founders]], whose information was [[{{Unperson}} deliberately hidden or destroyed]]. This is even lampshaded at some point in Chapter 23 by Jones:

* It seems like in ''{{House}}'' every other episode or so features this -- the key turns out to be something that the patient would have gladly divulged (especially as an alternative to the humiliating but irrelevant parts of his life that they unearth while looking for the clue), but couldn't see that it would possibly be relevant.
* The ''{{Columbo}}'' episode called "Lady In Waiting" has a wealthy woman kill her brother and make it look like she accidentally mistook him for a burglar after he tripped the alarm system. Her fiancé came to the house unexpectedly as her setup was unfolding. Only later did he realize (with Columbo's help) that [[spoiler:he heard the three fatal shots first, '''then''' heard the alarm sound]].

* In ''{{SSDD}}'', Michael knows that British Intelligence created something called the Echelon Plug-in; he was given a copy of it. Unfortunately, Michael is generally treated like a ButtMonkey and has been so locked out of the loop that he doesn't know what the Oracle is or that it even exists. Of the group trying to prevent the Oracle from gaining control, Michael is the only person who is not from the future, but nobody else listens to him, so they don't know about the existence of the Echelon Plug-in. [[spoiler:Only when they ''finally'' tell Michael what the Oracle is do they learn about the Echelon Plug-in; Michael makes a comparison of the two programs and the others realize that the Oracle and Echelon Plug-in are one and the same. In other words, the Oracle already exists in Michael's time, which explains a ''lot''.]]