Ironic Echo: Difference between revisions

 

'''There are four common situations where this is used:'''

* If Bob was trying to convince Alice of a way of thinking, Alice will quote it to signify that she now agrees with the idea. This [[Perspective Reversal|sometimes]] happens after Bob himself has [[Broken Pedestal|abandoned the idea]] (or has shown he [[Straw Hypocrite|never believed in it in the first place]]).

* Bob's line was meant to be something positive or inspirational, but when Alice parrots it back the [[Subtext]] makes it seem much darker and/or cynical than Bob meant it to be. The [[Inverted Trope|inverse]] is also common.

* In ''[[One Piece]]'', minor villain Bellamy condescendingly asks Luffy (who he believes to have a 30 million belli bounty, as compared to Bellamy's 50 million) "Do you even know how to throw a punch?" Luffy, who doesn't care much what an idiot like that says, doesn't reply until Bellamy ''really'' pisses him off by further insulting the friends he'd already beaten up. In a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] (of the entire series), as Bellamy rockets around on his springs while dramatically taunting him, Luffy calmly lifts up one fist and echoes "Do I know how to throw a punch?" He then takes the guy out ''[[Curb Stomp Battle|with one punch.]]''

** When Marshal D. "Blackbeard" Teach reveals the [[Power Nullifier]] aspect of his Devil Fruit powers, he states that all of the overconfident fruit users of the world will be powerless against him. He later tries this against {{spoiler|Whitebeard}}, and promptly gets a chunk gouged out his shoulder for his trouble. {{spoiler|Whitebeard}} then notes that Blackbeard is too reliant on ''his'' Devil Fruit Power.

** In the very first episode, right before killing a squadron of soldiers who have been slaughtering innocent people, Lelouch states his philosophy that "The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed"; the echo comes in the very last episode, where {{spoiler|he repeats the same line to justify his own death by [[Heroic Sacrifice]] after spending the entire series [[Utopia Justifies the Means|using increasingly underhanded tactics]] to [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|fight the Britannian Empire and establish peace]].}}

*** And one more: After recovering his memories at the start of the second season, Lelouch declares "I am Zero, the man who destroys worlds and creates worlds!" It's also {{spoiler|his last words, and emphasizes what precisely he expects will result from his death.}}

** When Sasuke departs the village and receives his first power-up, he's told that in order to gain the power he must die. Four years later when learning how to be a sage, Naruto is told he must die.

** In a very long-term echo, Naruto repeats and has flashbacks to Iruka defending and praising him in the first chapter when {{spoiler|Kurama, the Kyuubi}} finally pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]].

** It's even more ironic when you recall that {{spoiler|Miyo's}} motive for this whole tragic chain of events was ''to become a god''.

* In the first episode of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', Simon tries to take Kamina down to see the "huge face" he found while digging (the Lagann unit). At the climax of the first arc, their conversation is echoed between Simon and Rossiu when {{spoiler|the capital city of Teppelin [[Transforming Mecha|suddenly begins transforming in front of them]]}}:

* In one chapter of ''[[Medaka Box]]'', during a fight between Myouga and Nabeshima, Myouga attacks from behind and says, "I love attacking people from behind like this. This is an attack that those who do martial arts, [[Take That|especially judo]], never taste." As the fight goes on, Nabeshima pulls the same attack and uses the same phrase, "I love attacking people from behind like this," but changes the second half to "But this is proper judo, so anyone can taste it." (Also a case of [[Strange Minds Think Alike]], since Myouga was speaking in a language that Nabeshima didn't understand.)

* In ''[[Bleach]]'''s first episode, when Rukia restrained Ichigo with Kido after being called a "Stupid brat."

** Earlier in the series, Komamura protects his friend Tousen by taking a hit from an opponent Kenpachi. In chapter 367, {{spoiler|he protects a stranger Shinji by taking a hit from his ex-friend Tousen.}} Komamura even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this, remarking it's the opposite of what happened before.

** Previous to {{spoiler|his power-up}}, Ichigo was keeping a distance from Aizen, who mocked him. After {{spoiler|his power-up}}, Ichigo asked Aizen why he was keeping ''his'' distance.

* [[Rurouni Kenshin]]:

** At the beginning of the series, Kenshin says: "A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu the art of murder...But, I like Miss Kaoru’s [[Technical Pacifist|idealism]] better than its true nature." It's revealed that the first sentence is his mentor's philosophy, and he quotes it back to Kenshin to remind him that real life is a [[Crapsack World]].

** There's also an action ironic echo: the first time Kenshin and Aoshi face off, Kenshin defeats him by executing a [[Barehanded Blade Block]]. In the lead-up to the final showdown, Aoshi is disarmed by an opponent mirroring his sword style, but he pulls off a one-handed [[Barehanded Blade Block]] with a spiffy [[One-Liner]] obliquely referring to the previous event.

 

 

== Fan Works ==

** Another example with the same characters: when Esteem thinks that the villains have won, he gives Twilight a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] deriding her efforts and telling her that all she'll be remembered for is her failure. Shortly after, while Twilight is {{spoiler|giving him a [[Karmic Death]]}}, she gives him a similar speech, telling him that all ''he'll'' be remembered for is his treachery.

** {{spoiler|After Celestia is [[Brought Down to Normal]], she refuses to answer to Terra's mocking nickname "Sunshine". After she regains her power, her reaction to Terra's stunned stuttering of her name is to smugly state, "Call me Sunshine".}}

{{quote|'''Lilo:''' "Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind. Or forgotten.}}

* In ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', a character had once joked that if Robin marries Lady Marian, King Richard would have an outlaw as an inlaw. At the end of the movie, King Richard says the exact phrase during Robin and Marian's wedding.

{{quote|'''General Mandible:''' [Z has broken through to the surface where Mandible and his soldiers wait for them to be drowned] Let go! Don't you understand? It's for the good of the colony!

'''Z:''' What are you saying? We are the colony!

** When Shaun is lamenting in the pub after breaking up with Liz, all of Ed's statements about what to do are the entire rest of the movie.

* The last half-hour of ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' runs on 50% [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], 50% Ironic Echoes.

** "Mind your surroundings."

** "Don't be afraid."

** Everyone, even his loyal pupil believes he's going to finish the guy off. But at the last second instead of striking he honks the guy's nose and the guy passes out anyway.

*** The nose honk itself is also an echo, as Daniel does the same thing to Chozen at the end of the movie.

* In ''[[The Machinist]]'', Trever first says "I know who you are!" repeatedly and angrily when he thinks he has worked out the identity of Ivan, and then later in a terrified tone when he actually has worked out Ivan's identity ( {{spoiler|a sort-of personification of his guilt}}).

** And in the third: "best defense is a good offense", as well as Wolverine throwing Magneto's us vs. them rhetoric right back in his face {{spoiler|when he gets shot with the mutant cure}}.

** And in ''[[X-Men: First Class|X Men First Class]]'', Sebastian tells young Magneto to "move the coin by the time I count to three", and shoots his mom in front of him when he fails. Later, when Magneto has Sebastian helpless...

* ''[[Run Fatboy Run]]'': [[Hank Azaria]]'s character is piloting an R/C boat. When his girlfriend's son asks if he can try, he says, "No, but you can watch me do it." At the end, when Azaria is in the hospital, the kid adjusts the bed until he is nearly crushed. "Can I control the bed?" "No, but you can watch me do it."

* ''[[Trick 'r Treat|Trick R Treat]]'': Steven Wilkins wishes Mr. Kreeg a Happy Halloween, and the only answer he gets is "Screw you!" Later, Steven sees Kreeg through the window, banging on the glass and calling for help (it's not until the end of the movie that we find out why he needed it). Steven is uninterested in helping him. "Screw ''you''."

** Also in ''The Two Towers'', Theoden makes a comment that they (the ones at Helm's Deep) are alone. At the end, when all seems lost, Eomer shows up with reinforcements, saying that Theoden isn't alone.

* In the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'', [[The McCoy|McCoy]] says to Kirk at their introduction, "I may throw up on you", referring to his air sickness. Later, when he injects Kirk with a vaccine that makes him nauseous, Kirk repeats this line back.

'''Horace:''' My ''name''... ''[[The Monster Squad/Awesome|is Horace]]''. [[[Dramatic Gun Cock]]] }}

* ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'', and Sgt. Savage's greeting to Sergeant Major Plumley: "It's a beautiful morning, Sergeant Major!" (It's met with a less than friendly response.) Towards the end of the film, after Sergeant Savage has {{spoiler|Spent the last day and night pinned down behind enemy lines struggling to keep the men in his platoon alive}}, Sergeant Major Plumley looks at him and says "It's a beautiful morning, Sergeant Savage."

* In the movie ''Ushpizim'', there is "Like that?" "Only like that." Said first when the main character is telling his wife that he only wants to be with her. Later, {{spoiler|when she tells him that she's leaving so that he can find a wife who will give him children.}}

* ''[[Max Keeble's Big Move]]'' does three variations: First is when Principal Jindrake tells Keeble that he "excourages" horseplay and slacking off. Keeble later uses that exact word when realizing that the manner he decided to take care of the bullies was not the right way to do so. The second is where Keeble tells Jindrake that his suspicions of Jindrake being a criminal were actually "ground-full" and then telling him to look it up when he protested the word. Jindrake did the same thing earlier in the film with the Excourage part. The third and last part is between Jenna and Megan: During their first meeting, Jenna explains to Megan that Megan is actually sitting in her seat, complete with "[[Can't You Read the Sign?]]" on the chair, and then telling her to "shoo-shoo!" Megan then tells Jenna those exact same words when Max explains that he's seeing someone (Megan) when refusing Jenna's invitation.

{{quote|'''Kay:''' See you around, sport.

'''Jay:''' No. You won't. }}

* While not a straight example, in the 80's classic ''[[Road House]]'', in one scene, [[Corrupt Hick]] Brad Wesley has his goons destroy a car dealers lot as punishment for the dealer thinking about standing up to him and reminds him "This is my town. Don't you forget it." Near the end of the movie, after Dalton assaults Wesley's compound, Wesley is shot by several denizens who's property he destroyed; Frank Tilghman, the owner of the Double Deuce bar then says "This is our town. Don't you forget it," before firing the shot that kills him.

* ''[[Inception]]'' has Saito asking Cobb, who's dubious about the inception attempt, "Do you want to take a leap of faith, or become an old man filled with regret, waiting to die alone?" When Cobb has to describe limbo to Saito he says that he'll be lost so long that he'll become an old man. Saito: "Filled with regret." Cobb: "Waiting to die alone."

** In ''[[Discworld/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', Vimes is chasing down [[Ax Crazy]] serial murderer Carcer Dun on the roofs of the Unseen University. When he finally gets Carcer in his grip, the man complains, "You're hurting!" Vimes says no, he's not hurting, he's ''protecting'' Carcer, wouldn't want him to fall off. At the end, after Carcer has spent the entire book harrying Vimes and wearing that insipid "what-have-I-done?" grin all over the place, Vimes finally gets him again, and again comes, "You're hurting!" This time, Vimes acknowledges that yes, he is hurting, and he's still doing it by the book; what's more, he's going to make sure everything is done by the book so that Carcer gets a fair trial if it means he has to do every last step of it himself, because a fair trial means a quick execution, and tomorrow's sunrise will shine down all the brighter on Vimes' little son Sam if it's not being shared with Carcer.

** A variant occurs in ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud]]'', when the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] who's come to inspect the watch asks Vimes ''Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?'' or "Who watches the watchmen?", to which Vimes replies 'Me.' When asked who watches ''him'', his answer 'I do that too. All the time. Believe me.' A boast merely meant to say he doesn't want a paperpusher looking over his shoulder? {{spoiler|The [[Demonic Possession|Summoning Dark]] that tried to make Vimes kill several dwarfs finds out the hard way it's not, when it runs into the Guarding Dark, a watchman ''inside'' Vimes mind, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|who echoes the lines before kicking the Summoning Dark out.]]}}

** In ''[[Discworld/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe Jugulum]]'', the phrase "Everywhere I look, I see something holy" takes on two very different meanings: an [[Oh Crap]] moment by a [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampire]] whose desensitization training is [[Villainous Breakdown|backfiring horribly]], and a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] coming from a nerdy, ineffective [[Good Shepherd]] on his way to [[Badass Preacher]]-hood.

** Death again, in ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]''. Throughout the book, he has been filling in for a missing [[Captain Ersatz]] of Santa, but can't get the 'ho ho ho' to sound jolly rather than ominous. At the end, he confronts the Auditors of Reality, who had tried to kill said Santa-figure, and gives a ''very'' ominous {{smallcaps| Ho. Ho. HO.}} before obliterating them.

** Later on, "You forgot it's only a wooden sword."

* ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'': Guan Yu says to Cao Cao "I trust you have been well since we last parted?" Later Cao Cao says the same thing to {{spoiler|Guan Yu's severed head}}.

* This occurs repeatedly, and often somewhat wittily, in ''Full Tilt'' by Neal Shusterman. For instance, the main character tells a traitorous friend that "I wouldn't climb over the backs of my friends to save myself." -- {{spoiler|and in flashback, as a school bus teetered on the edge of a cliff, he literally climbed over their backs to reach the door.}}

* In [[Jim Butcher]]'s ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' novel ''Death Masks'', Ortega explains he drinks beer, though he doesn't need to, because life is more than survival. Then he offers to call off [[Combat by Champion|the duel]] [[Not So Different|if Harry becomes a vampire]]. Harry fishes, establishing that he preys on [[Children Are Innocent]], and refuses; he explains that life is more than survival.

** At the start of one episode, Spike and Angel are having a vicious, violent argument... over who'd win in a fight between cavemen and astronauts. {{spoiler|The episode's climax has the team's scientist and [[Adorkable]] girl, Fred, dying so her body can be used as a shell for a primordial entity. "The cavemen win. Of course the cavemen win."}}

** In one episode Lindsey and Angel both shoot biting remarks at one another on how the situation is all a matter of "how you look at the glass".

** Another example is Doppelganger!Willow's "Bored now" line, which is echoed by Willow when {{spoiler|she undergoes a [[Face Heel Turn]] after Tara's death-- the line is spoken to Warren, Tara's killer, right before she ''flays him alive''}}.

*** And then, in comics, {{spoiler|Willow is captured and a resurrected Warren asks her: "Are you bored '''now'''?"}}

** Also, "You never would... you coward!" echoes a previous episode, "The Doctor's Daughter" when the Doctor tells {{spoiler|the man who shot and apparently killed Jenny}} "I. Never. Would."

**** Another example from ''The End of Time'': The line the Doctor delivers when trying to convince the Master to join him on his travels ("You don't need to own the universe, just see it!") echoes the reply the Doctor gave the Master when the latter asked the Doctor to join ''him'' and his megalomanic plans.

*** From that same episode, Goddard does this to Van Staten. His standard procedure to dismissing someone is having their memory wiped and dumping them on the side of the road in a city starting with the first letter of their last name. Her exact words...

{{quote|'''Goddard:''' Take him, wipe his memory.

** In "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday", Yvonne whispers "I did my duty for queen and country" when she is dragged off to be upgraded by Cybermen. The upgrade goes a bit wrong, and she appears later in Cyberman form killing other Cybermen in a [[You Shall Not Pass]] moment.

{{quote|'''Cyber-Yvonne:''' I did my duty. For queen. And country. I did my duty. For queen and country...}}

** Type 2 example: in "Unrealised Reality", the [[Time Master]] Einstein introduces himself to Crichton by saying "Time" five or six times. Crichton mockingly responds with a [[Crowning Moment of Funny|game of "finish the sentence" before trying and failing to kill him]]. When they next meet in [[The Movie|"Peacekeeper Wars"]], Crichton's taken the advice Einstein gave him that episode to heart, and when they play the wordgame again, he acknowledges the possible [[The End of the World as We Know It|wormhole-induced disaster]] that he was warned of:

{{quote|'''Einstein:''' Time.

** In the episode "Liars Guns And Money Part 1", Crichton leaves Scorpius to die in the Shadow Depository, while singing ''The Star-Spangled Banner'' as a form of [[Psychic Static]]. Two episodes later, Scorpius briefly hums a verse of the song before entering the Diagnosan's surgery, taking the neurochip and leaving Crichton [[And I Must Scream|paralyzed and incoherent.]]

* ''[[My So-Called Life]]'', "Life of Brian": Jordan tells Angela he doesn't believe in fate; "whatever happens, happens." She says she respects that. Later at the dance, Brian tells Angela he doesn't believe in fate; "Whatever happens, happens." She calls it the stupidest thing she ever heard.

* ''[[Firefly]]''

** In the episode "War Stories", an early scene has Kaylee proclaiming "No power in the 'verse can stop me!" after playfully wrestling an apple from River. Much later in the episode, River says the same line to a shocked Kaylee after coldly killing three men that Kaylee was unable to shoot at. The same episode also has a much looser ironic echo, in that two separate characters (Book and Niska) ruminate over the works of Shan Yu.

* ''[[Scrubs]]''

** Doctor Cox is trying to find a pediatrician for Jack, and teases one potential doctor for talking to his patients through puppets (calling them dolls). "It's not a doll, it's a collectible!" is echoed when Cox is holding his favorite puppet hostage, and the pediatrician begs him to let the puppet go. "It's just a doll!" "No, David, ''it's a collectible''."

** For most of the past season, the protagonists have been realizing just how unethical their job is and learned that it may soon lead to [[The End of the World as We Know It]]. In the second-to-last episode of the series, the Doll's passphrase system is inverted {{spoiler|between the protagonist and [[The Chessmaster]] responsible for it all, formerly [[Big Bad Friend|her own handler]], just before he is given an order to ''blow himself up''}}.

** The "Do you trust me?/With my life..." passphrase between Doll and handler gets inverted in the second episode, when {{spoiler|the handler is wounded and it's up to the Active to save them both.}}

* In ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]'', when stolid constable Terry Hoskins questions his [[Dirty Cop]] boss DI Slater, Slater snaps "It's not your job to think". Later, when he's on the point of being arrested, and offers Hoskins a cut, he ask Hoskins to think about it. Hoskins replies "It's not my job to think".

* In one episode of ''[[Drop the Dead Donkey]]'', [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] Gus lambasts the security guard for not asking to see his identity card. The guard protests "But you're the guvner! I know your face!", to which Gus snarls "It doesn't say 'Identity cards must be shown, unless it's the guvner and I know his face'!" Inevitably, by the end of the episode, Gus has lost his card, and the guard won't let him in.

*** And then again at the end of the episode. At the start, the villain, an insurance agent, has a smug rant about how you can't let personal feelings get in the way of business and how he has a responsibility to his shareholders. After the heist, Nate Ford [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|shouts the exact same rant]] back at the insurance agent while simultaneously disarming him and bankrupting him.

* ''[[Castle]]'': In following a lead in the case, Richard Castle has gotten himself involved in an illegal high-stakes 'no limits' poker game with a group of [[The Mafiya|Russian mobsters]]. During the climactic hand, the lead mobster goes all in and taunts Castle by saying 'what's money to a millionaire, huh?'. Unfortunately for him, Castle wins the hand; as he collects his winnings he cheerfully comments 'what's money to a mobster, huh?' Not surprisingly, the mobster is less amused when his words are thrown back in his face.

* In ''[[Yes Minister|Yes, Prime Minister]]'', Sir Humphrey makes a big show of chewing Bernard out for allowing the Prime Minister's constituency agent into Number Ten without a proper pass, despite Bernard's assurance that the constituency agent is known and recognised by the police and staff; he orders Bernard to ensure that all who enter Number Ten via the front door must either have a proper pass, an appointment or must be otherwise cleared. Humphrey's pomposity comes back to bite him later in the episode when he's paranoid about his job because he's gradually being denied entry to Number Ten; he attempts to enter via the front door, but the policeman guarding the door stops him from entering because he has no appointment, no Number Ten pass and Bernard cannot be found to clear him.

* In the [[HBO]] [[Miniseries]] ''[[John Adams (TV series)|John Adams]]'', for most of the series Adams is told by members of the Continental Congress and the first Congress of the United States to "Sit Down" and stop talking. After he's elected the second President of the United States, his wife Abigail is sweeping up the debris in the executive residence and Adams is sitting in a chair. Abigail tells him, "Stand Up".

* In the ''[[Burn Notice]]'' episode "No Good Deed", quoth Eve, the villain of the episode, "Remember that part about me letting you live if you helped me rip off my buyer? [[I Lied]]." Quoth Westen back at her a minute later, after Fiona's rescue is a success and Eve is on the ground and disarmed, "You remember the part about ''me'' helping ''you'' getting away with the money and the drive? ''I'' lied."

* Quoth [[The Mark]], owner of a largescale [[All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks|nasty loan shark]] business , in the ''[[Hustle]]'' episode "Old Sparks Come New", "Only a ''moron'' lets hard-earned cash slip between their fingers. They deserve everything they got." And later on, "A contract's a contract; it's either legal or it isn't." After conning her out of 500 grand, the team comes back to gloat, and quotes both of those statements back at her.

{{quote|'''Gerard''': Her body is mine!

'''Kimble''': Wait! Where am ''I'' supposed to go!?

* In the finale of ''[[Human Target]]'', a rogue CIA agent who'd tried to have Chance and his team killed found out about Guerrero's son while searching for leverage. Later, after Guerrero's beaten him up and handcuffed him to the steering wheel of a car he's rigged to explode, the agent justifies his actions with "Look, it was nothing personal, it was just business." As Guerrero walks away from the car, he mutters "Nothing personal, [[Catch Phrase|dude]]. Just business." a moment before the agent starts the ignition and blows up.

* In the season 4 premiere of ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'', at a meeting between SAMCRO and [[The Mafiya]], Mafiya leader Putlova inquires about Jax's recovery from the prison shivving he had ordered in retaliation for SAMCRO's double-cross last season. Jax's response is "Fine. Just business, right?" Jax repeats the "Just business" part at the end of the episode after stabbing Putlova to death.

 

== Music ==

* There's a [[Barenaked Ladies]] song called "The Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel". The line "you're the last thing on my mind" goes from meaning "I'm not thinking about you" at the beginning of the song to meaning "I die thinking about you" when it's repeated at the end.

* In the [[Tim McGraw]] song "Don't Take The Girl", the line "Please, don't take the girl" that ends each verse changes meaning over the course of the song.

** Elphaba, in ''The Wizard and I'' desires a "celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with me." Later, the Wizard says that she'll have a "celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with you." This proves true when the Munchkins celebrate her death.

** The first scene and the last scene. They're exactly the same scene, but the first is told from the Munchkins' point of view and the second is told from Glinda's point of view, with the appropriate changes in emphasis and tone. In the latter, the Munchkins continue to chant "No One Mourns the Wicked" while Glinda laments.

* Common in older theatrical writing, particularly in the Victorian period. [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''The Yeomen of the Guard'' has a lot of this, the most obvious being the repeat of "I have a Song to Sing-O", first as Jack and Elsie working together to entertain a crowd as street performers, and then at Elsie's wedding to Fairfax, as him trying to win her back, and her rejecting him, as gently as she can, with the only change in lyrics making it worse, by indicating the rest of the story the song tells, where the jester gets the woman back, will ''not'' follow. However, that's only the most obvious; lines bounce around characters and situations throughout the work, reflecting ironically on the changing circumstances.

* Used in ''[[Les Misérables (theatre)|Les Misérables]]'', which uses identical melodies rather than lyrics for many of its songs. For example, "Valjean's Soliloquy" is a triumphant tune that culminates in him resolving to turn his life around . . .while "Javert's Soliloquy" is a mournful, distressed one that culminates in his suicide.

* In ''[[Dungeon Siege]] II'', your player character sounds skeptical about the Dark Wizards, saying that it "sounds like something told to restrain wandering children" ([[Lampshade Hanging|ignoring the fact that your character worked for Valdis at one point]]). In ''Broken World'', the [[Ultimate Evil|Overmage of the Cinbri]] says something quite similar.

* In a subquest of ''[[Jade Empire]]'', you meet a woman who, in the past, watched as her boyfriend knocked another child into a river and stopped her from saving him from drowning by saying, "If we help him, he'll only tell the others what we've done. We have to let him go." You can take her to the ex-boyfriend, whom she means to kill. He offers you silver to help him; if you refuse, you echo his words.

** To a lesser extent, something similar happens in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]]'': Tetra has a habit of winking with one eye when she's up to something. "Up to something" usually meaning that she's helping Link in a way that ends up being not to comfortable for him, since she does not care to much about his well-being. In the end of the game, however, Tetra {{spoiler|winks once again, before returning his sword to him, which he lost in the duel with Ganondorf. Once again, she is up to something and once again, it's not going to be a pleasant experience for Link , the difference being that she now ''does'' genuinely care about him. It's just that Tetra and Link have no other choice than to go with what they're about to do if they want to survive.}}

** An optional one occurs in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|Skyward Sword]]'': After the second temple, Link {{spoiler|finds myself being derided by Impa for being late, as Zelda would have fallen prey to Ghirahim had she not come herself.}} After the third temple, when {{spoiler|Ghirahim attacks Zelda and Impa, Link has the option to say "Am I late?" when he steps in to buy them time to escape.}}

'''Gantu ''(recording)''''': I'm not listening! Na na-na na-na-na. }}

** Blasting the recorder didn't do much to mollify him, either.

* ''[[Spider-Man: The Animated Series]]'': The [[Daredevil]] story gives us a three-fer. In [[Flash Back]] we see Kingpin going to prison for his father's crimes, with his father saying "Sacrifices must be made". Later in the flashback Kingpin says the same thing when disposing of his father, as the last link to his old identity. And at the end, he says it ''again'' when he lets his own son take the rap for his crimes.

* ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'':