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{{trope}}
▲<small>{{quote box|[http://lolita-art.deviantart.com/art/forbidden-fruit-36390123 Image] courtesy of Daniela Uhlig<ref> See discussion page for direct link</ref>. Used with permission.}}</small>
{{quote|''If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.''
|Susan Sto-Helit, ''[[Discworld]]''}}
There are two closed doors right next to each other, identical in every way except one: One has a large KEEP OUT sign on it in bold, red letters. [[Schmuck Bait|Which door is someone more likely to try to open]]? It's not rocket science.
'''Forbidden Fruit''' is a person, place, or thing absolutely irresistible to one or more characters, whose appeal lies solely in the fact it has been [[Department of Redundancy Department|forbidden, prohibited, and declared unquestionably off limits]]. They feel they must have it only because they know they can't or shouldn't have it. Frequently takes the form of a [[Sealed Evil in
Can be a result of [[Genre Blindness]], but not usually, since the attraction of
Needless to say, opening the forbidden door or acquiring the
Can also be seen in [[Shipping]]; people like pairings with the [[Capulet Counterpart]], [[Ho Yay]], incest, etc. ''because'' it breaks taboo.
The trope takes its name from the Bible, where Eve is tempted into eating the
In his analysis of the [[Fairy Tale]], ''The Morphology of the Folktale'', Vladimir Propp concluded that the functions "prohibition" and "disobedience" really formed a single plot
[
See also [[Curiosity Killed the Cast]], [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!]], [[Schmuck Bait]], and [[Wanting Is Better Than Having]]. Prime source of [[Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere]], [[Do Not Do This Cool Thing]] and the [[Streisand Effect]].
For the [[Kerry Greenwood]] novel of the same name, see ''[[Corinna Chapman]]''.
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Ah
** This is how Skuld got "impregnated" with her angel.
** In one of the ''[[Ah
** Aoshima is implied to lust after Belldandy because of this trope.
* In episode 57 of ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'', Viper the Elder captures Kururu with a trap hidden in a box marked "Don't you dare open this!" As he goes to open the box, Kururu even remarks "That just makes me want to open it even more."
* The sealed door at the Fuuka Shrine in ''[[
* In ''[[Mamotte Shugogetten]]'', one of Shaorin's previous masters was a little girl. When she wanted to go to the town near their house, Shaorin told her absolutely no, because the wolves were near it. Shaorin later goes to town herself, leaving the girl all alone. The instant Shaorin leaves, the little girl leaves as well. This leads to the girl being fatally injured by the wolves and dying in Shaorin's arms.
* Implied in ''[[One Piece]]'' with Boa Hancock. She's declared the "most beautiful woman in the world," and can mesmerize and have pretty much ''any'' man she wants. Guess who she ends up falling for? Luffy, the [[Chaste Hero]] who will [[No Hugging, No Kissing|absolutely never return her feelings]]. It's even implied that she fell for him ''because'' he was "not like the others," with him calling her a "stupid lady" and telling her to shut up.
** In a more literal example, the Devil Fruits, which give the eaters superpowers but make them unable to swim, even taking away their buoyancy. And due to the fact that that world is mostly water, it's a heavy price to pay for anyone who would be a major part of the plot.
* Arguably, any person who wants Sousuke from ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''. Which is [[Even the Guys Want Him|a lot of people]]. Pretty much every one of them ''knows'' that it's [[The Stoic|near impossible]] for him to [[Chaste Hero|ever return their feelings]]. And although each one of them normally has another person who is in love with them, they can't seem to help but be drawn to the mysterious and unattainable Sousuke. It came as a huge shock to most characters that he started to have some reciprocating feelings towards Kaname - something even ''she'' didn't know or expect (as she herself even thought that having feelings for him is hopeless, but it's something she just can't help).
** Especially noticeable with [[Stalker
* The chosen priestesses in ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' must be virgins and remain as such until they summon the deity that chose them and ask for three wishes. Cue excessive amounts of [[Attempted Rape|rape attempts on the heroine,]] [[Melodrama]] between love interests, and [[Rape
** This is taken even further when, {{spoiler|in the prequel manga, during the time of the priestesses of Genbu and Byakko, it's revealed that a wish for the priestess to be with a man she loves in the world of the Universe of the Four Gods cannot ''ever'' come true. The Priestess of Byakko, Suzuno, requests this wish, and Byakko cannot grant it to her.}}
* ''[[Sakura Gari]]'': The one person Souma finds himself truly falling in love with is the only person who has absolutely no interest in him. As a matter of fact, it's addressed that the main reason he fell in love with Masataka was because Masataka was "different from the others." And Souma, of course, unaccustomed to not getting sex from someone he wants, {{spoiler|proceeds to tie Masataka up and rape him repeatedly}}.
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (
** In [[Fullmetal Alchemist (
==
* Rogue of the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]''. Her mutant powers keep her from touching others or else they will be rendered comatose. Gambit, [[Casanova|relentless and successful womanizer]], finds himself stuck on the notion of a woman that even he can't have. (It helps that, like most of the women in the Marvel universe, she's gorgeous.)
== Fairy Tales ==
* In "[[East of the Sun
* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131104130719/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/swanmaiden/stories/lang.html The Nine Pea-Hens and the Golden Apples]", the hero opens the twelfth door his wife had forbidden.
* In "[[Little Red Riding Hood]]", the little girl leaves the path, which her mother had forbidden.
* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131027163722/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/firebird/stories/goldbird.html The Golden Bird]", the older sons disobey the fox [[Threshold Guardians|up front]], and after initial obedience, the youngest son disobeys him repeatedly.
* In "[
* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130621050640/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/mastermaid.html The Mastermaid]", a prince working for a giant is forbidden to go through a door. Fortunately, he disobeys and finds the Mastermaid, who tells him how to survive.
* In [[
* In [[The Brothers Grimm (
* In "[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/009.htm The Blue Mountains]" and "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131204111257/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/93raven.html The Raven]", the hero must stay awake to greet the heroine and fails.
* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131214001257/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/3ourladyschild.html Our Lady's Child]", the heroine looks through a forbidden door and is punished until she confesses.
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140405134935/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/6faithfuljohn.html Faithful John]" is forbidden by the old king to let the prince see a portrait, but when the prince becomes king, he overrides him.
* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20170618020621/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/goosegirl/index.html The Goose Girl]", the queen gives the princess a handkerchief with three drops of blood in it and orders her to take great care of it; the princess is careless and loses the handkerchief, which had protected her.
* "[[
* Though it is very prevalent in fairy
* Appears in the "[[
* In the story ''Strega Nona'', a young man named Anthony works for the kindly old titular character. She has a magic kettle that she uses to conjure pasta, and she tells him not to touch it. Naturally, he disobeys her.
== Films -- Animated ==
* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', the title character and his monkey Abu are warned to "touch nothing but the lamp" when going through the underground treasure caves. When Aladdin tells Abu to "[[Wait Here]]", Abu sees a giant gem and can't help himself; his greed overcomes him and he grabs it, unleashing a tidal wave of lava on them.
* ''[[Shrek]]'' has the nervous Donkey having to be goaded into crossing a rickety rope-and-plank bridge over a volcano. He says, before they set out, "Don't look down." Donkey actually manages not to, though he seems like he's about to try once or twice... and then he puts a foot wrong and ends up with his face poking through a gap in the planks. "SHREK! I'M LOOKIN' DOWN!"
* Scar from ''[[The Lion King]]'' uses this on Simba to lure him to the elephant graveyard.
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== Films -- Live-Action ==
* Any film that becomes hard to see immediately gets this appeal attached to it - whether it be a film rating that means people under a certain age can't see it (all 12-year-olds dream of sneaking into an R-rated movie), distribution or ownership rights issues preventing its release/rerelease, or content issues compelling the studios to voluntarily withhold it. A prime example of the latter would be Disney's 1947 ''[[Song of the South]]'', unavailable in the US for decades because of concerns about [[Values Dissonance|now-outdated racial stereotypes]] - this has, of course, led to many annoyed fans who want to see it.
* ''[[The Avengers (1998
* In one segment of the ''[[Tales
** This is very similar to the "Yuki-Onna" (snow witch) segment of the Japanese anthology ghost film ''[[Kwaidan]]''. Only difference is, the Yuki-Onna spares her husband's life on account of their kids.
* [[
== Literature ==
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by [[Piers Anthony]] in the ''[[
* In ''[[Little Women]]'', right after Meg has decided to reject John Brook's proposal out of fear, Aunt March arrives, jumps the gun, and [[Parental Marriage Veto|orders her not to accept him]]. Meg's response: "[[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|I shall marry whom I please]], Aunt March, [[Screw the Money, I Have Rules|and you can leave your money to anyone you like!"]]
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''The Golden Age'', Phaethon is warned that he can recover from his [[Laser
* In [[
** In the same book, this trope is why Queen Jadis climbs the garden wall and ''steals'' apples of immortality which are offered freely to anyone who comes in by the gate and takes them for the sake of others. Digory, who learned his lesson after the incident with the bell, is not tempted by this warning; Jadis gives him pause only when she tells him the fruit could cure his mother's illness.
** In ''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'', Lucy, reading through a [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|spellbook]], comes on some forbidden spells. Aslan's intervention helps her resist the temptation to cast a spell that would make her the most beautiful woman in the world but cause misfortune to others, but as a direct result she immediately makes up her mind to cast another spell which will tell her what her friends think of her (and regrets it, since it shows her one of her friends bad-mouthing her to another girl).
* A favorite device of [[Edgar Allan Poe]] in many of his short horror stories involves a character/narrator who is overcome by the urge to kill someone for no other reason than because he knows it is wrong and he shouldn't. He is aware of this psychology, he has no reason to give in to these urges, but it drives him crazy until he does. Poe's own term for this phenomenon is [
* ''[[Harry Potter]] and the Order of the Phoenix'': Hermione delightedly explains that Professor Umbridge has done the one thing that will guarantee every student will read Harry's interview with Rita Skeeter: [[No Such Thing
** Ironically, in the first book, there is a corridor that is designated as forbidden, which the characters only end up in by accident. Apparently, everyone else took Dumbledore's warning of a "most painful death" seriously. The same goes for the actually named ''Forbidden Forest'', which the characters only wind up in because circumstances force them, and which most people avoid due to rumours of it being filled with horrible beasts (though the Weasley twins had apparently made attempts to enter it). However, the forest is entered again in nearly every book; Hagrid once held classes in there (though Hagrid is of the opinion that nothing in the forest would harm anyone with him because its denizens know him so well, and he seems to be right for the most part).
* Mentioned in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld|Thief of Time]]''. Susan wonders why someone would build a clock that stopped time and then realizes: "If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH', the paint wouldn't even have time to dry."
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** ''The Unseen University Challenge'' includes a passing mention of the not-entirely-complimentary nickname "Merkins" for Americans, with a footnote whose text is "do not look this word up in the dictionary" but the subtext is "the dictionary's over there, what are you waiting for?"
** [[Magnificent Bastard|The Patrician]] has been known to make Vimes take a case by forbidding him to investigate.
* Edward Cullen is like the "forbidden fruit" to Bella when she first meets him in ''[[Twilight (
* In many variants of the [[Chivalric Romance]] ''The Knight of the Swan'', the knight arrives to aid a lady, marries her or her daughter, but forbids anyone to ask what his name or origin is. When this is broken, he leaves.
* In the revised edition of ''[[The Dark Tower|The Gunslinger]]'' Walter O’Dim leaves a note stating that if a woman says the word "nineteen" to a man he has brought back from the dead, that he will tell her the secrets of the afterlife, [[Brown Note|and it will drive her mad.]] He signs the note with a smily and follows this with [[Magnificent Bastard|"P.S. Did I mention the word is NINETEEN?"]]
* Pointed out in [[Ambrose Bierce]]'s ''[[The
{{quote|
* Played absolutely straight in Book Ten of ''[[
* Played with in [[
* In "A POISON TREE" from ''[[Songs of
* Played unusually literally in Christina Rossetti's ''[[Goblin Market]]'', where magical fruit serves as a temptation to young women. (Yeah, it's probably a metaphor for something.)
* Invoked in WEB Griffin's ''The Corps'' series. Mrs. Sage specifically does ''not'' badmouth her daughter's Marine suitor, despite feeling that he's entirely wrong for her, because she knows full well that her daughter is a stubborn and contrary young woman.
{{quote|'''Mrs. Sage''': I am following that hoary old adage that the best way to rid yourself of your daughter's unsuitable suitor is to praise him to the skies.}}
** Then subverted when it turns out that her daughter knew exactly what her mother was doing and why. The two characters in question end up married.
* The [[Content Warnings|TV content rating system]] introduced in the US in 1996 had the same
▲== Live Action Television ==
▲* The [[Content Warnings|TV content rating system]] introduced in the US in 1996 had the same affect to TV that the "Parental Advisory" stickers listed below had to music. They only let kids know which TV shows were not recommended for them, and therefore, the shows that were totally awesome.
** ''[[FoxTrot]]'' lampshaded this in a 1997 strip with Jason flipping through the channels and continuing to change each time he came across something labeled TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-G, and TV-PG, until he yells, "Is there nothing for a kid to watch when his parents aren't home?" Then he comes across a program rated TV-MA, and says, "Finally."
** Then in 1997, it seems the [[Moral Guardians]] had clearly not learned their lesson and expanded on this mistake when they pushed for even more detailed content warnings. In addition to the rating of the show displayed in the upper corner, they had to have letters indicating the content of the show such as L for language, S for Sexual situations, and V for violence. This only helped kids even further with identifying the shows they wanted to watch.
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** Before the start of the series, Dougal evidently once faced the same problem on the bridge of a SeaLink ferry.
* ''[[Full House]]'': D.J. Tanner went through the Pandora's Box-scenario with a gym bag belonging to her Uncle Jesse.
* The kids of ''[[Salute Your Shorts]]'' get back at a spoiled brat who's made their lives miserable by telling her she's now free to "trash whatever you want to trash, destroy whatever you want to destroy..." ''except'' press "that little red button over there," which promptly sets off a well-organized [[Booby Trap
* The Rev. Eric Camden of ''[[
** Yeah, but that could also be because he's ''hungry''.
* ''[[Malcolm in
** The next scene the two are hauled by a security guard. While Malcolm openly blames Reese, he admits that "It was pretty bitching" making this a bit of a subversion. While they did end up disciplined for their antic, considering the lives of the cast, this case seems to be more an acceptable consequence.
* The programme ''Derren Brown: Trick Or Treat'' had fun with this. One episode involved a member of the public being challenged the go five minutes without pressing the [[Big Red Button]] that would kill a kitten. After five minutes of bleeping [[
* Season three of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' introduces Hiro by him watching a video will of his father telling him he just inherited a safe, and never to open the safe, or the world may end. The very next thing Hiro does is open it.
** Kaito apparently expected nothing less of his son, seeing that {{spoiler|the safe contains another video saying 'I told you not to open it!'}}
* In the ''[[
** ''Doctor Who'' runs on this trope. Ever since the very first episode, neither the Doctor nor his companions have been able to resist sticking their noses where they ''know'' they don't belong. Have you got that feeling that you shouldn't be poking around somewhere? Poke away! Mysterious deserted city that everyone wants to get away from? Must investigate! Impossibly ringing phone that a mysterious stranger tells you not to answer? "Hello?"
* An episode of ''[[Will and Grace]]'' featured Jack finding a mysterious locked room in Karen apartment that even Roasario is afraid to enter. Jack relented after Karen literally wrestled him away, only to fall into the room on accident. {{spoiler|The room is a nursery that Karen set up after a pregnancy scare; the fact that she kept it at all is a major [[Pet the Dog]] moment.}}
* ''[[
* Symbolically invoked in
* In the ''[[Married...
* ''[[Lizzie
* ''[[Underbelly]]'' faced this problem on it's release, as the court cases for Victor Brincatt and Thomas Hentshel (the people behind the murder of Jason Moran at his kid's Auskick clinic) and other cases in the Melbourne Gangland War were proceeding at the time. Out of fear that the jury would be influence by the show it was banned in Victoria, with one notable exception being episode five. Freak weather conditions in Tasmania bounced the signal to Victoria, allowing people in the state to get their first glimpse of the show.
== Music ==
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== Religion and Mythology ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] - the original Forbidden Fruit in the [[The Bible
** There was a short story about the subversion of this example, in which Adam and Eve eat the fruit, are confronted by God, and openly admit to doing so: it's ''their'' garden now, and God ''gave'' them the wit to make choices for themselves, so why shouldn't they exercise it? If he wants unquestioning lackeys, God will just have to destroy them both and make some replacements. Seeing that this pair of humans would rather stand up for their principles than cower or lie, God embraces them both, pleased that he's ''finally'' gotten it right.
** [[Sadly Mythtaken|The exact species of fruit wasn't mentioned.]] Much like [[Four Is Death]], [[Stealth Pun|it's portrayed as an apple because the Latin word for apple, malus, also means "evil".]]
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== Tabletop Games ==
* 4e D&D's H1 module, ''Keep on the Shadowfell'', has a door with a sign that says "Danger! Stay away!" and then scratched below "REALLY!" Guess how many adventuring parties DON'T go through that door? {{spoiler|Inside is a room that holds a very vicious blue slime monster (that has TPKed many a party attempting said module.)}}
* Pretty much every Tabletop RPG Dungeon Crawl ever. As in:
{{quote|
'''Adventuring Party:''' Thanks, old man. Next stop: Evil Ruins! }}
** Also any game where someone tells you "We used to use that path, but only [[Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?|a fool or a hero]] would go there now." Off we go, then.
* In ''[[Paranoia]]'', the Commies initially [[Windmill Political|didn't exist]] - they'd disappeared long before Alpha Complex was built, but The Computer mistook civil defense files from 1957 as being up to date. Then some citizens got so fed up with The Computer that they decided to become the thing It hated most, even knowing nothing else about it.
** And devote themselves to the ideals of [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Groucho Marx and John Lennon]].
* In ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40
* In a ''[[Magic:
* ''[[Everway]]'' supplement "Spherewalker Sourcebook", story "The Serpent of Ice". A magician who lives behind a waterfall tells a tribe of hunters that they can take all of the water they want from below the waterfall, but not to take any from the spring that feeds the waterfall. The chief of the tribe and her son decide to take water from the spring anyway, and the water turns into a serpent that kills the son.
* ''[[Risk]]: Legacy'' is a campaign-oriented version of the classic board game, with a series of envelopes that you're supposed to open over a series of fifteen games; they contain various items that affect the layout of the board, the abilities of the various factions, and other things that change how future games are played. There's one sealed envelope at the bottom of the box that simply reads "DO NOT OPEN. EVER". {{spoiler|The contents of this envelope vary between different copies of the game, and may or may not have far-reaching consequences for your campaign.}}
== Video Games ==
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* Hoborg's crown in ''[[The Neverhood]]'' becomes this.
* ''[[The Path]]''. Like you're really going to stay on it.
* ''[[Dawn of War]]''. [[Can't Argue
* During an amusing conversation in ''[[Dragon Age Origins]]'', Leliana talks about being in the cloister surrounded by chaste young women. She says that being forbidden fruit "[[Bi the Way|added to their mystique]]."
** The really amusing part comes from the Warden's "Is your fruit forbidden?", to which Leliana responds "[[Accidental Innuendo|My...fruit?]] I can't believe I'm having this conversation."
* In ''[[
* ''[[Echo Bazaar]]'' has quite a few storylets with the words "this will severely damage your character. Don't do it" or something like it on them. Many of them are [[Violation of Common Sense|Violations of Common Sense]]. The wiki (filled out by the players) has precise descriptions of what happens if you do them.
* In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', its revealed that the Male Commander Shepard is this to Tali, despite that she's a Quarian Admiral's daughter, meant to safeguard her people's future, but due to the bio-chemical barriers between Quarians and Humans, she could actually ''die'' from being with Shepard;
{{quote|
==
* One panel in webcomic ''[[
* Subverted in ''[[Oglaf]]'', in which the main character is pestered by a magic door to open it. [[Sealed Evil in
* ''[[Bob and George]]'': [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/040127c Don't touch anything].
* ''[[Bird Boy]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20110210064527/http://bird-boy.com/volume-1-page-8 gets told he can't hunt and does not listen.]
* In one ''[[Nukees]]'' strip, Gav decides he absolutely ''has'' to see what's on the other side of a door when he notices there are roughly a dozen different warning signs on it.
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [
== Web Original ==
* ''[http://gearworld.livejournal.com/ Gearworld]'', a Livejournal blog of a fictional travelogue, contains this example, which is [[Genre Savvy|outright begging people not to fall into this trope]]:
{{quote|"PLEASE DO NOT STRIKE GONG
While we fully understand that you are curious as to what happens when the gong is struck, we must strongly advise against it. The results are most unpleasant and dramatically fatal. Human nature being what it is, we realize that this warning may not stop you, and may in fact only drive you to strike it, but since we are unable to destroy the gong, and the lock was evidently insufficient to keep you out, we can only hope that you will take our advice. There are neither riches nor knowledge here, but only an ugly death.
Respectfully,
The Monks of Perdition
(In Memory of Brother Wu)" }}
== Western Animation ==
* Dee Dee in ''[[
* ''[[
* Subverted in ''[[Garfield and Friends|Garfield's Nine Lives]]'' where a girl and cat live in a idyllic garden, with one condition, that a glass case must never be opened. The characters, who don't seem to have a serious thought in their heads, are tempted to violate that rule. However, while the story plays up their temptation to maximum suspense, at the climax, they leave the case alone and stay in the garden forever.
* Subverted in a ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|Simpsons]]'' Halloween episode; when Homer sees the school thermostat with the note "Do not touch -- Willie" on it, he reads it as "Do not touch Willie", regards it as good advice, and promptly turns up the heat.
** A more straightforward example is the Halloween episode where Homer [[Deal
** There's also the time when Bart is at the Wiggum household and he and Ralph get into the chief's closet which contains all his police gear, including weapons. The chief catches them and admonishes Ralph with "Why are you so fascinated with Daddy's [[Schmuck Bait|Forbidden Closet of Mystery]]?"
** Then there's the Simpsons trying to get rid of a faulty trampoline, figuring that nobody will want it. Bart convinces Homer to chain it to a pole, and Snake promptly shows up and steals it.
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* Who can forget the History Eraser Button from ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'', probably the most famous example of a [[Big Red Button]] you're not supposed to press that gets pressed anyway.
* ''[[Clerks the Animated Series]]'': When breaking into Leonardo Leonardo's skyscraper, Dante and Randall come across a door on the roof with skulls hanging off it and 'MAZE OF DEATH' written in blood on the door. Naturally, Randall wants to go through this door, even though Dante protests and points out the perfectly ordinary door leading to the same place ''right next to it''. We don't see the horrors that they experience when they choose door number one, but given that it apparently includes a minotaur ''and'' [[Cool and Unusual Punishment|a Billy Crystal / Robin Williams movie]], door number two seems to have been the better bet.
* "The Secret Box" episode of ''[[
* In an episode of ''[[Futurama]]'', Professor Farnsworth creates a box with {{spoiler|another universe}} inside and orders Leela to guard it. Of course, this "forces" Bender and Fry to immediately make every effort to steal the box. Leela distracts them with a decoy filled with booze and tangled Christmas tree lights, but then finally succumbs to temptation herself and looks in the real box.
* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Cartmanland", Cartman accidentally succeeds in triggering this trope when he buys a money-losing theme park and plans to use it exclusively for his own use. However, denying everyone else entry creates ravenous public demand, which is copied by other businesses.
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* We all know what happens when you invoke [[Candle Jack]], but none of us can ever resi
* Spoiler tags. Especially if it's a series you care about. You know you want to find out {{spoiler|nooooo! They killed your favorite character!!}}
* This is probably the main reason the [[Wondrous Ladies' Room]] trope exists, and why so many things have fun subverting it or mocking it.
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** It was Frederick II of Prussia that did it first, doing the guard stunt in 1744. Parmentier discovered potatoes by being a prisoner of Prussia during the Seven Year War. Parmentier wasn't able to pull off his stunt until 1786.
* The ''Ripley's Believe It Or Not'' museum in Atlantic City, New Jersey has a display piece which is nothing more than a large steamer trunk and a sign which says "Open at your own risk." {{spoiler|The trunk doesn't actually have anything inside that's worth seeing, but lifting the lid activates a hidden mechanism. The person opening the trunk is abruptly hit, via a barely noticeable hole in the floor, with a sharp blast of very cold air. It's an experiment in human curiosity.}}
* The US Department of Energy is currently [https://web.archive.org/web/20130623005734/http://www.arch.ksu.edu/seamon/Brill.htm designing a facility in New Mexico to contain hazardous nuclear waste for 10,000 years.] One of the design challenges is avoiding tempting future treasure-hunters who might mistake the warnings and defenses as proof that something ''valuable'' is stored within.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20120720173327/http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth101/wipp.html The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.]
* When the Netherlands decriminalized marijuana teenage use dropped from 11% to 8%. Guess we know who was just trying to be a rebel.
* The "Do Not Eat" packet in beef jerky. You just KNOW it's gotta give you super powers or something...
** Spoiler: {{spoiler|It totally does. Go eat some now.}}
** Lampshaded in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtHmV5Pu6CE&feature=channel_page This Video] where a character goes on a long discourse about whether or not he can eat it.
* Ditto the "silica gel: do not eat" in clothes boxes. It's a [
** The weird part is, it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to eat it... without that label.
** What happens if you eat silica gel? Best answer ever [http://wondermark.com/394/ here.]
* The likeliest reason why they have warning labels like "Do not attempt to stop chainsaw with genitals"
* The [
* The Index of Prohibited Books created by the Roman Catholic Church during the Renaissance. Something on this list will be almost guaranteed to be a bestseller. Most of them are pretty boring though, prohibited for some obscure technicality.
* In the 18th century, physicians for Britain's Royal Navy discovered that sailors could avoid suffering from scurvy on long sea voyages if they ate sauerkraut, which is rich in vitamin C. It was easy enough to order naval officers to eat sauerkraut, but the sailors refused to eat this unfamiliar food with its sharp acidic taste. Admiral Nelson solved this problem by storing the sauerkraut in barrels marked "For Officers' Mess Only", knowing that the sailors would steal and eat food that was exclusively for officers.
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* There is a particularly large fountain on the campus of Florida State University that has a sign saying 'Please Keep Out of Fountain'. It had become tradition for students to throw their friends in the fountain on their birthday, right up until the powers that be decided to do away with the 'keep out of the fountain' rule since no one listened anyway. The birthday dunkings stopped, until a student group petitioned the school to make it against the rules again.
== Don't open this folder! ==
* See? Not so easy is it?
** We'll forgive you if you hit "Open/Close All Folders" without looking.
*** You can see what's inside from the edit page; [[Rules Lawyer|technically that's not opening it]].
* It hasn't been a folder since the fork, you know. It ''can't'' be opened.
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[[Category:Romance Novel Plots]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
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