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| - Say a character finds out about a paranormal phenomenon, or a sinister conspiracy. There wouldn't be much of a plot left if they could just call the police and let them take care of it. In these cases, heroes will simply talk like homeless paranoid schizophrenics. What's more, this will give the heroes a reputation for Crying Wolf, making it even harder for them to get anyone to believe them. Of course, the senseless deaths of the skeptics is often seen as a karmic comeuppance in favor of the hero, even if it was the heroes' fault they aren't believed in the first place.
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| abstract
| - Say a character finds out about a paranormal phenomenon, or a sinister conspiracy. There wouldn't be much of a plot left if they could just call the police and let them take care of it. In these cases, heroes will simply talk like homeless paranoid schizophrenics. 1.
* They will continually repeat a bizarre claim in a panicked voice 2.
* They will avoid mentioning what led them to believe it in the first place 3.
* They will never consider sticking to the provable parts of the story for the time being 4.
* Most important, they will be stunned and angry that anyone would find their claim implausible, regardless of how implausible it would be even if they weren't completely flushing any credibility they might otherwise have down the toilet in their method of persuasion.They may then start wondering out loud if the disbeliever is "in on it." And if anyone tries to calm them down, rather than taking a few deep breaths, sitting down for a moment and coming back to the problem in a calmer fashion they will immediately violently lash out, thus prompting the immediate summoning of the nearest security guards to have them ejected from the premises. What's more, this will give the heroes a reputation for Crying Wolf, making it even harder for them to get anyone to believe them. Of course, the senseless deaths of the skeptics is often seen as a karmic comeuppance in favor of the hero, even if it was the heroes' fault they aren't believed in the first place. The other side of this trope is that, if the person making the claim sounds crazy, the listener will dismiss them to the point of going out of their way to dismiss them, no matter how simple it would be to investigate. When someone is screaming "", you can be assured that the listener will not turn around; they will, in fact, stubbornly and strenuously refuse to turn around. A possible cause of any disbelief towards the explanation of "aliens did it" in a continuity where aliens and alien invasion are not only known and documented, but semi-regular events. (Of course, this may be because some people are just stubbornly, willfully stupid, but hey.) A kind of Poor Communication Kills. See It Was Here, I Swear, Cassandra Truth, Properly Paranoid, Not Helping Your Case and You Can See That, Right?? Sometimes, this overlaps with Clap Your Hands If You Believe — the character must convince someone to believe because belief itself is necessary to save the day. Examples of You Have to Believe Me include:
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