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Cassandra Bystander

 Cassandra Bystander
type
FeatureClass
 Cassandra Bystander
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander
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CassandraBystander
 Cassandra Bystander
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A character is doing something they would hate to be caught doing, whether it be illegal, out of character, or just plain strange. Naturally, that character would prefer to keep their actions hidden. So when an Innocent Bystander notices them, say, sneaking away from robbing a bank wearing nothing but a shower cap and an alligator purse, what's there to say to keep said bystander from blabbing the secret?
"Go ahead and tell everyone you know. No one will believe it."
This character has just created a Cassandra Bystander, taking Refuge in Audacity to create a Cassandra Truth, thereby ensuring their secret is kept safe and the bystander doesn't go blabbing. The circumstances around the creation of a Cassandra Bystander can be as lighthearted as a celebrity messing with a fan by doing odd things to as serious as some forms of Gaslighting. This may invoke You Wouldn't Believe Me If I Told You. If they go on to tell others, and are believed, it becomes a Tempting Fate.
Can be Played for Drama if, instead of a stranger, the bystander is someone who the character knows, or the secret that required the creation of a Cassandra Bystander is a crime committed to the bystander. Subtrope of Cassandra Truth. Compare and contrast to Cassandra Gambit, as a Cassandra Bystander is at most one or two people; more than that would mean the secret is out anyways. Compare Masquerade, which is about a conspiracy to hide something unusual from the public, and Shameful Source of Knowledge. Contrast Hidden in Plain Sight and Leave No Witnesses.

Examples
 Cassandra Bystander
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2024-02-10T10:29:33Z
 Cassandra Bystander
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2024-02-10T10:29:33Z
 Cassandra Bystander
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DBTropes
 Cassandra Bystander / int_17293dfa
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_17293dfa
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Implied to be the mastermind's plan regarding Kokichi in Danganronpa V3. After Kokichi derails everything by pretending he is the mastermind and kidnapping Kaito, the real mastermind creates a flashback light convincing everyone else that he is a Remnant of Despair and they must stand against him as symbols of hope. The point of it being, since he's a liar, no one will believe Kokichi if he denies it and the mastermind's plans can proceed uninterrupted.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_17293dfa
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_17293dfa
featureConfidence
1.0
 Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Visual Novel)
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Cassandra Bystander / int_17293dfa
 Cassandra Bystander / int_261c8d3f
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_261c8d3f
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In one The Simpsons Halloween special, Homer overhears Kang and Kodos plotting an invasion. They invoke this trope, but also spray him with rum to help seal the deal.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_261c8d3f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_261c8d3f
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1.0
 The Simpsons
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Cassandra Bystander / int_261c8d3f
 Cassandra Bystander / int_3558eaa2
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_3558eaa2
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Community: Vice Dean Laybourne invokes this by putting an astronaut making paninis and a black guy dressed up as Hitler in the AC repair room; that way, those who escape the program and try to recount what they saw are laughed off.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_3558eaa2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_3558eaa2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Community
hasFeature
Cassandra Bystander / int_3558eaa2
 Cassandra Bystander / int_49340431
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_49340431
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In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Holt claims that he injured his wrist after tripping on an uneven sidewalk. He then privately reveals to Jake that he actually got hurt at a hula-hooping class, and shows Jake some photos.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_49340431
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1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_49340431
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1.0
 Brooklyn Nine-Nine
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Cassandra Bystander / int_49340431
 Cassandra Bystander / int_53a0bd32
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_53a0bd32
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In the The Twilight Zone (1959) episode "Long Live Walter Jameson," Walter Jameson is the fiancé of Sam Kittridge's daughter Susanna. After Kittridge learns that Jameson is more than two thousand years old, Sam tells Jameson that he will have to tell Susanna not to marry him. Jameson tells Sam to go ahead because Susanna will never believe him.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_53a0bd32
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_53a0bd32
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1.0
 The Twilight Zone (1959)
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Cassandra Bystander / int_53a0bd32
 Cassandra Bystander / int_6a705f21
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_6a705f21
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The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: When Mr. Goldblatt sees Barry and Jeremy chasing a dinosaur, they point out that he really doesn't want to tell anyone.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_6a705f21
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_6a705f21
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius (Comic Book)
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Cassandra Bystander / int_6a705f21
 Cassandra Bystander / int_8f46e5b1
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_8f46e5b1
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Strange Times Are Upon Us: Ila'kshath, a very large Gorn, surprises a deer hunter in 1859 Pennsylvania (Time Travel was involved). In response to his CO Brokosh pointing out the possible contamination of the timeline, Ila'kshath points out that even if the boy told anyone, they'd think he was telling tall tales.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_8f46e5b1
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1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_8f46e5b1
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1.0
 Strange Times Are Upon Us (Fanfic)
hasFeature
Cassandra Bystander / int_8f46e5b1
 Cassandra Bystander / int_90c73dda
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_90c73dda
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An early Animorphs book has the team barely escaping being boiled alive as lobsters by demorphing. The poor woman, who just had to face three crustaceans suddenly growing and gaining human body parts, is reassured by Marco telling her it was all just a nightmare, and of course she shouldn't tell anyone about it, because then she'd get locked up.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_90c73dda
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_90c73dda
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1.0
 Animorphs
hasFeature
Cassandra Bystander / int_90c73dda
 Cassandra Bystander / int_a9c57bd
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_a9c57bd
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In an episode of The Greatest American Hero, Bill addresses a pair of crooks who experienced Ralph's superpowers when he captured them and tells them the last guy who blabbed about seeing a costumed man fly ended up in a straitjacket.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_a9c57bd
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_a9c57bd
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Greatest American Hero
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Cassandra Bystander / int_a9c57bd
 Cassandra Bystander / int_aa45c974
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_aa45c974
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Muted: The bird demon Raum is called back to the Severin family house, but can't teleport directly there because it's warded, so he lands outside... in a big dramatic cloak, his skin covered in feathers. He uses an illusion to change into an ordinary human in a Hawaiian T-shirt, and only then notices a lady standing next to him.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_aa45c974
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_aa45c974
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1.0
 Muted (Webcomic)
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Cassandra Bystander / int_aa45c974
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b3c9e076
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b3c9e076
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In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Miles gets away from the pod people and begins trying to warn the populace, banging on cars in a maniacal way. One of the pod people says to let him go; it's not like anyone will believe him.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b3c9e076
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b3c9e076
featureConfidence
1.0
 Invasion of the Body Snatchers
hasFeature
Cassandra Bystander / int_b3c9e076
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b90288a0
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b90288a0
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One of the earliest strips of Ingrid the Plague Doctor has the main character invoke this on the reader, by revealing what she keeps under her black cloak, claiming that no one would believe them if they said so. The joke appeared again in the 25th episode of the rebooted series.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b90288a0
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_b90288a0
featureConfidence
1.0
 Ingrid the Plague Doctor (Webcomic)
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Cassandra Bystander / int_b90288a0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_bb3fde3d
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_bb3fde3d
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The Danny Phantom Recurring Fanon Character Wes Weston runs on this trope. Besides Sam and Tucker, Wes is the only other person in Amityville who's caught Danny transforming into Danny Phantom or vice versa. In most cases, Danny is fine with it—not only because no one would ever believe what Wes is saying, but because Wes looks a lot like him and anyone who'd see the physical similarities between Fenton and Phantom would always just assume Phantom was Wes instead.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_bb3fde3d
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1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_bb3fde3d
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1.0
 Danny Phantom
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Cassandra Bystander / int_bb3fde3d
 Cassandra Bystander / int_c4778e4b
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_c4778e4b
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The page quote from Mythbusters is spoken in one of the duct tape specials, positing how one would survive lost in a desert/river environment. By the time Adam says it, the two of them, decked out in tuxedos covered in dust from wandering around, are using a combination of bubble wrap, sticks, and duct tape to assemble rafts to go down the river. Not the weirdest thing they've done.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_c4778e4b
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1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_c4778e4b
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1.0
 MythBusters
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Cassandra Bystander / int_c4778e4b
 Cassandra Bystander / int_df07d96e
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_df07d96e
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In one episode of Lois & Clark, the villain learns Superman's identity through a time traveler's journal. At the end, Clark incinerates the journal and hands the villain over to the authorities, confident he won't be believed without evidence.
 Cassandra Bystander / int_df07d96e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_df07d96e
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1.0
 LoisAndClark
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Cassandra Bystander / int_df07d96e
 Cassandra Bystander / int_fb7c549b
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Cassandra Bystander
 Cassandra Bystander / int_fb7c549b
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Feralnette AU: Chloe witnesses Marinette tearing an akumatizing butterfly apart with her bare hands. She coldly tells the shell-shocked Spoiled Brat that "Nobody will believe you".
 Cassandra Bystander / int_fb7c549b
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1.0
 Cassandra Bystander / int_fb7c549b
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1.0
 Feralnette AU (Webcomic)
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Cassandra Bystander / int_fb7c549b

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Cassandra Bystander
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Truth and Lies
 The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius (Comic Book) / int_bb804089
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Feralnette AU (Big Fat Break) (Fanfic) / int_bb804089
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Lord Doom (Fanfic) / int_bb804089
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Chucky / int_bb804089
type
Cassandra Bystander
 Feralnette AU (Webcomic) / int_bb804089
type
Cassandra Bystander