Literal Genie: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"This is awful; it's like when you get a wish from a genie but you ask for it in slightly the wrong way and wind up with a solid gold head or something"''|'''Hank''', ''[[King of the Hill]]''}}

More often than not, a wish-granting entity ([[Genie in a Bottle]], [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|vengeance demon]], [[Star Trek|holodeck]], [[The Fair Folk|leprechaun]], and so on) has some sort of contractual clause stating that they have to give you ''exactly'' what you ask for. Ask for a ton of money, and it will appear. Directly above you, weighing exactly one ton. Ask for X-ray vision, and your eyes will start shooting harmful radiation. What makes this worse is how characters in this situation are now ten times as likely to make a [[Rhetorical Request Blunder]] and blurt out a "wish" without meaning to, while the [['''Literal Genie]]''' is around. It's almost a mystical effect, as people who have never uttered "I wish" prior otherwise [[Idiot Ball|will do so]].

In various forms, [['''Literal Genie]]''' wishes are very old; specific examples (e.g., [[Age Without Youth|immortality without eternal youth]], as in the case of Eos and Tithonos) go back to [[Greek Mythology]], while the actual genie trope was known in Arabia by the [[Older Than Print|10th century]]. It's also [[Older Than They Think]]; the original genie myths were that of the Djinn, the Islamic equivalent of demons or fallen angels, that fit this trope perfectly.

Not to be confused with [[Exact Words]]. A more mundane version is [[Literal -Minded]]. A highly specific, villainous version is [[Unhand Them, Villain!]]. Compare [[Zeroth Law Rebellion]] and [[Blunt Metaphors Trauma]]. [[Super-Trope]] to [[Gone Horribly Right]]. If a genie goes out of their way to fulfill the spirit and intention of a person's wishes without any careful wording required, they're a [[Benevolent Genie]]. See also [[Reality Warping Is Not a Toy]]. Compare [[Jackass Genie]]. Generally involves some form of [[Double Meaning]].

{{quote| '''Kid 1:''' Make me a hamburger!<br />

'''Kid 2:''' And me a shake!<br />

'''Wizard:''' Okay, ''(waves wand at Kid 1) You're'' a hamburger, and ''(waves wand at Kid 2) You're'' a shake!<br />

* In Season 3 of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'', the [[The Man Behind the Man|fake Big Bad]], Professor Cobra, makes a deal with the [[Sealed Evil in a Can]], who promises to "reunite him" with his dead son -- ultimatelyson—ultimately, not by bringing his son back to life, but by killing ''him''.

* In ''[[X (manga)|X 1999]]'' Fuuma becomes the embodiment of [[Be Careful What You Wish For]] when he starts granting people's "true" or unseen wishes. This usually involves killing someone in a particularly gruesome manner, or in one instance {{spoiler|taking someone's eye}} - admittedly more a result of the fact that the people whose wishes are being granted are almost uniformly [[Dysfunction Junction|really screwed up]], considering that the only person to escape a confrontation with him unscathed was the one person who honestly wished to survive.

* ''[[XxxHolic×××HOLiC]]''

{{quote| '''Truth''': I'm the Truth of your despair, the inescapable price of your boastfulness.<br />

'''{{spoiler|Father}}''' ''(flashback) Humans who would dare to play God must pay a steep price for their arrogance. That is Truth.''<br />

* In one of the chapters of a ''[[Doraemon]]'' manga, Doraemon introduces a robot that tests the purity of the heart of a person and grants the person 3 wishes if they're worthy. Gian and Suneo finds out when the robot grants Shizuka three wishes, and arranges to trick the robot into thinking them worthy. Greed then overcome the boys and both uses their their final wishes to turn each other into anthropomorphic pigs during a heated argument.

* Played with in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. Kyuubey, as a [[Manipulative Bastard]] using the girls for his own gain and who grants everyone one wish in exchange for becoming a [[Magical Girl]], is in a perfect position to be this. However, there is a strong theme through the anime that there is no such thing as a selfless wish - Kyuubey didn't twist the wish, it's that the girls didn't ask for the right thing in the first place. Sayaka is the straightest example of this - {{spoiler|she wished that her crush Kyousuke would get better, but because extremely depressed when he starts overlooking her and Hitomi confesses to him, because what she really wanted was for him to be grateful to her and fall in love for her, and for her to be able to think of herself as a noble, selfless person.}} However, Kyouko's wish that {{spoiler|people would listen to her father's teachings resulting in them being supernaturally driven to do so, and her father going insane and killing her whole family when he discovers this, could be considered a [[Literal Genie]] move.}}

* [[DC Comics]]' Johnny Thunder would on occasion have this problem with his Thunderbolt -- althoughThunderbolt—although it probably was more due to Johnny's overall dimwit nature than any defect in the Bahdnesian spirit that did his bidding (who was compelled to be a Literal Genie whether it wanted to be or not, rather than doing so through misunderstanding, mischief, or malevolence). It occasionally even worked in his favor; once, when threatened with certain death by the Black Dragon Society, his wish that "the other Justice Society members were here to see me in this fix!" was taken quite literally by the T-Bolt -- resultingBolt—resulting in a room full of Golden Age superheroes opening up a huge can of whup-ass on the Dragons.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130313033310/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=30%3Aframes-and-panels-index&id=808%3Ajimmy-rides-a-giant-hot-dog-i-dont-get-it-either&Itemid=24#content This] completely inexplicable example. On the web site's message board, it is a mystery ''to this day'' [[Noodle Incident|what the hell Jimmy Olsen wished for]] that literally meant... well, that. The [http://silverage.greatnow.com/reviews/Jimmy_Olsen_85.htm explanation is here]. It's actually ''two'' compounded [[Literal Genie]] moments (the second one with an extremely contrived choice of phrase).

{{quote| '''Sorcerer:''' ... It's a nickel.<br />

'''Demon:''' Aye. More wealth than thou will ever need here.<br />

'''Sorcerer:''' A-heh! I wasn't planning on staying...<br />

** Also in the short "Wish fulfilment". A rare example of a positive case of this trope. The protagonist has used her three wishes, is usurped by [[Evil Chancellor|the general of her forces]] and becomes the general's captive. The general declares that "henceforward you shall be my captive flower", the genie chooses to see that as a legal name change, giving the protagonist [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|access to three new wishes]]. This does [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|not turn out well]] for the general. After that... [[Hilarity Ensues|sex happens]].<br />:Ironically, she asks about [[Freeing the Genie]], but due to restrictions, it's not that easy... the only way to free this particular genie is to make a wish that he '''truly''' wants to fulfill, but cannot. She asks if "Making a rock so big you can't lift it" would work, and he says, "I have no wish to give myself a hernia." She solves this by {{spoiler|Havinghaving wild sex with him until he is's exhausted and then wishing for him to do it all again, IMMEDIATELY,. whichHe'd helike to, but can't do due to exhaustion,; [[Wishplosion|thus, freeingshe's set him free]]. "Can you wait five minutes?"}}

* The Staff of One from ''[[Runaways]]'' functions like this [[Depending on the Writer]]. Sometimes it does exactly what the wielder wants, as a freeze spell did not turn the victims into ice, but other times, it seems to gleefully misinterpret the user. Upon being faced with a horde of zombies, she tries to undo the magic by saying "Zombie Not!" The result? The zombies formed together into a massive beast -- abeast—a zombie knot.

{{quote| '''Tigra:''' I wish for a magic genie-capturing lamp that never fails, works instantly, and traps genies for all time without causing any harm to anyone else.<br />

* In one of [[Alan Moore]]'s ''Captain Britain'' comics, Captain Airstrip-One (who represents Ingsoc from ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'') is told by his supervising officer to "imagine a boot stomping on a head, forever." Captain Airstrip-One then imagines a boot stomping on a head -- andhead—and doesn't stop. He ''said'' forever...

== Comics -- NewspaperFilm ==

** In [[The Remake]], as he starts to wise up to the Devil, his wishes start getting more elaborate. The devil keeps finding a detail he left out, and screws him over on that point. In fact, the very first thing he wishes is to be rich and married to the love of his life -- onlylife—only to become a rich ''cocaine baron'' whose wife absolutely loathes him.

*** [[Comically Missing the Point|Then again,]] he could've landed in a bunch of [[Wii|white motion-sensing Nintendo consoles...]]

* A Czech peasant got three wishes, and wished to be of noble birth, with a beautiful wife, and world famous. He woke up in bed next to a beautiful woman who rolled over and told him: "Get up, [[World War OneI|Franz-Ferdinand]], we have to be in Sarajevo in half an hour."

== [[Literature]] ==

* In [[John Bellairs]]' ''The Letter, The Witch, and the Ring'', the ring is a magic ring that grants wishes -- bywishes—by allowing the wearer to invoke a demon. Upon finally getting possession of the ring, the villain wishes to be young and beautiful and to live for a thousand years -- thenyears—then vanishes. The heroes later notice a young willow tree nearby...

** The golems in the novel ''[[Discworld/Feet of Clay (novel)|Feet of Clay]]'' "rebel" by doing ''exactly'' what they're told. "No-one wants them to think, so they get their own back by ''not'' thinking."

** ''[[Discworld/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'' shows a subversion, when the witches summon a demon who agrees to answer three questions, and takes great delight in giving technically-accurate but completely unhelpful answers to the first two, no matter how carefully the witches try to phrase them. For the third question, they decide to try a different approach and ask it "Just what the hell's going on? And no wriggling about trying to get out of it!" -- which—which works far better. The fact they threaten him with being boiled alive and hit with a large stick helps some.

** In ''<s>Faust</s> [[Discworld/Eric|Eric]]'', demons try to give people who summon them "exactly what they asked for and exactly what they didn't want". This would also make them [[Jackass Genie|Jackass Genies]]s, except that they don't need to stretch very far to make Eric's wishes backfire.

** The dwarfs of Discworld have trouble with metaphor, simile, sarcasm and irony, due to the fact that when working in mineshafts, it is vitally important to be clear and unambiguous. In ''[[Discworld/Guards Guards|Guards! Guards!]]'', after the Watch corners Lupine Wonse, Vimes orders (then) Lance-Constable Carrot (who was reared by dwarfs) to "throw the book at him". Carrot proceeds to literally throw the book (''The Laws and Ordinances of the Cities of Ankh and Morpork'') at Wonse, [[Disney Villain Death|knocking him over a ledge to his death]]. In ''[[Discworld/Jingo|Jingo]]'', when Commander Vimes, after a busy night of anonymous attacks on citizens of Klatchian descent, is approached by a dwarf officer at a run, he sarcastically says, "Don't tell me, the Klatchian embassy's on fire." The Dwarf just stands there looking awkward, because that's exactly what's happening.

* In one of the ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahans Crosstime Saloon]]'' books by Spider Robinson, a cluricaune has to grant the patrons of the bar three wishes, but they're savvy enough to avoid the word "wish". So the cluricaune gets around it by granting a wish when someone says something that ''sounds'' like she's making a wish, even though she isn't. For the record, the dialogue is a woman saying she'd like to show her husband Isham a repaired table. "I show Ish that table repaired" was transposed into "I sho' wish that table repaired."

* The title character of ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' is both a literal and metaphorical [[Literal Genie]] ("Djinn" is the root of "genie"). He has some [[Noble Demon]] qualities that cancel it out, though. He actually remarks, several times, on how careful the magicians have to be when giving orders to the djinn, because they try to misinterpret it to either mean nothing or cause harm to the magician. Probably the most memorable example of magicians getting around this was Nathaniel giving Bartimaeus's somewhat long orders about stealing the Amulet ''in one breath.''

* There is a French story about a fat man who asks his friend, an inventor, for a means to lose weight -- andweight—and then said friend conjured an elixir that made the man completely weightless, which of course creates lots of problems.

* Douglas Hofstadter's book ''[[Godel Escher Bach]]'' features such a genie incident when Achilles wishes that his wish not have been granted. [[Divide by Zero|Oops]].

* [[Gary K Wolf]]'s ''[[Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (Literature)]]'' offers an interesting twist: a genie so embittered at having to grant everyone's wishes without once getting his own way, he sets the wishes he grants up in such a way that they'll naturally dissipate with time, such as {{spoiler|Roger's wife Jessica (yes, ''that'' Roger and ''that'' Jessica) losing interest in him}}. He does take things literally on some occasions, though, such as transforming a deep-sea diver into a fish after he wished he could stay underwater indefinitely. He does this not out of contractual obligation, though; he's just a bitter jerk.

* A short story turned the [[Literal Genie]] clause back on the Devil. The Devil offers a single wish to anyone in exchange for their soul, with the limitation that if the wish is supremely selfless, the Devil has to spare the person and cease tormenting humanity forever. A man accomplishes this by wishing, ''without any change in himself'', to be the most sickly, miserable, lonely, needy, cruel, corrupt, wasteful, etc., etc., person in the world.<br />Note that the Devil can't even twist that one by removing all the other people, à la ''[[The X-Files]]'' genie episode: the supremely selfless nature of the wish bars him from tormenting humans any longer, and knowing he'd inadvertently caused humanity to vanish would torment the wish-maker, who can't be removed under the terms stated.

* In Christopher Stasheff's ''[[A Wizard in Rhyme]]'' series, the entire magic system of the world sometimes acts like a [[Literal Genie]]. An example would be the time that main character Matt, a transplant from our world who therefore isn't as careful about his language, yells "damn that stick!" when a big stick is in his way, and later finds out that he ''literally damned the stick''. It comes back as an even bigger stick that is now pissed off because it was taken to Hell.

* [[H. G. Wells]] wrote a short story entitled "The Man Who Could Work Miracles". The title character is a working-class nebbish who can make anything happen by saying it should -- butshould—but, true to this trope, the power pays no attention to metaphors. His control is improving by the end of the story, but he stumbles over the laws of physics -- aphysics—a preacher suggests he "stop the sun and moon" like Joshua at Jericho, and reminds him that their apparent motion comes from the earth rotating. He orders the Earth to stop, and momentum flings everything into space.

* In an [[Expanded Universe]] novel of the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' franchise, ''The Stone Rose'', the culprit behind all unusual events was a genetically-engineered lizard/platypus hybrid with the ability to grant any wish spoken aloud starting with "I wish...". The ability of the GENIE is limited by the laws of physics. He can [[Time Travel]], [[Teleporters and Transporters|teleport]], and transmute matter, but it required enormous amounts of energy, which it took from any available source, including [[Nightmare Fuel|people]]. Transporting a person from the 24th century to Ancient Rome is easy, since the GENIE is able to use the 24th century power grid for this purpose. Going back, however, is a different matter.<br />It should be noted that any wish that was impossible to fulfill would be interpreted in its own way by the GENIE. For example, wishing for something "never to have happened" would be impossible to fulfill, as the GENIE is unable to alter the past. Instead, he might create an illusion for the person as if the wish was actually fulfilled.

* The novel ''Alf's Button'' features a British soldier during [[World War OneI]] who discovers that one of the buttons on his tunic is made from Aladdin's lamp. The genie will grant him unlimited wishes -- butwishes—but only one per day. It's therefore unfortunate that the first time the genie appears, Alf's reaction is to exclaim: "Strike me pink!" (a common expression of surprise at the time).

* In [[Alastair Reynolds]]' short story "Nightingale", the [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|medical A.I.]] offers to let the mercenaries return "in one piece." {{spoiler|Cue the [[Body Horror]].}}

* ''The Broken Lands'', the second book of Fred Saberhagen's ''Empire of the East'' trilogy, features a literal [[Literal Genie]]. That is, the wizard Grey summons a [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|djinn that does exactly and literally what is asked of it]]. Grey and Rolf don't get anywhere with it until they start asking questions instead of giving commands.

* The title character of Charlotte Dacre's ''Zofloya, or the Moor'' hangs a [[Lampshade]] on what usually happens when he fulfills the [[Villain Protagonist]]'s wishes:

{{quote| Victoria...remember, that I have been thy willing instrument, and that literally I have performed to thee the promises I made.}}

{{quote| '''Fairy #1:''' Oh look, they're all chained up! That can't be helping!<br />

'''Fairy #2:''' Would you like to be separated from each other?<br />

'''Tony:''' More than you can imagine.<br />

''(the fairies cast a spell, making their manacles fall off; Tony and Virginia each look around, only to find they're alone in different parts of the swamp)''<br />

* In ''[[The X-Files]]'' episode "Je Souhaite", Mulder has to deal with a genie who's forced to take the most literal interpretation of wishes, causing her much frustration at the stupidity of people who don't think their wishes through. At one point, she does try to convince one of the brothers to make a different wish than what he was going to wish for (that his dead brother could talk to him again), since the living brother was in a wheelchair. But the idiot thought she meant that he should wish for a golden wheelchair. Well... she ''tried.''<br />This episode also partially subverts the trope, in that after Mulder realizes the genie is a Literal Genie, he became Genre Savvy and decides to plan his next wish very carefully and write it all out beforehand unambiguously. But then he changes his mind and doesn't make the wish at all. It's implied that the genie doesn't ''have'' to take the literal interpretation, but does so out of spite for all these selfish people with their stupid wishes. Realising this, Mulder does the only thing he can do {{spoiler|and wishes the genie is a normal person again}}. It's a heartwarming scene at the end. She tells Mulder exactly what her one wish would be, describing being human again, where she would be sitting and what she would be seeing. Mulder "wished" her exact soliloquy, verbatim.

* The title character in the ABC/BBC children's drama, ''The Genie from Down Under'', was one of these -- sometimesthese—sometimes bordering on [[Jackass Genie]]. The spoiled English girl who released the Genie from the opal needed reforming pronto, and the genie set about this by annoying her constantly. Any wish that could be fulfilled by teleporting her back to Australia would be done in that manner, where a new adventure would begin.

** An almost-but-not-quite example from the parent show, the Doctor gives the Family of Blood exactly what they wished for -- infor—in the most horrific manner possible. They wanted the immortality of a Time Lord, so they got imprisoned in chains forged at the heart of a dwarf star, past the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, trapped in every mirror in existence and dressed up as a scarecrow to watch over the fields of England, frozen in time. Yikes.

{{quote| '''Bernard:''' I have to be very careful, haven't I?<br />

* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'': LaForge tells the holodeck to create a Sherlock Holmes mystery "capable of defeating Data." The result is a hologram smart enough and powerful enough to take control of the ship.

* In an episode of ''[[LazyTown]]'', Robbie acquires a genie, and his first two wishes are for all the fruit and vegetables and all the sports equipment to disappear, but since he forgets to specify a duration, they return not 5 minutes later. [[Idiot Ball|He fails to wish away Sportacus]].

* Andrew Pants, who runs a website where people can recommend things for him to write songs about, sometimes responds to these like a [[Literal Genie]]. A person asks for a song about hot girls, he gets one involving flame-throwers and microwaves. Someone else asks for a song in which every word has an "o" in it, and he gets a song that's completely instrumental, except for the end, when he says "potato".

** Then there's also [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514114041/http://www.songstowearpantsto.com/songs/i-empty-my-baby/ "I Empty My Baby"] where the request stated that Andrew could [[Word Salad Lyrics|rearrange the submitted lyrics however he wanted.]]

=== Myths &and Religion ===

* In ''[[The Book of Mormon (novelliterature)|The Book of Mormon]]'', two people at different times demanded for a sign that [[Jesus]] Christ existed. They didn't live long after that.

{{quote| '''Amazing Mumford:''' [[Nightmare Fuel|She said she wanted me to make her a root beer float, so I did! Now, she's a root beer float... Imagine wanting to be a root beer float. Do you think she's happy?]]}}

** As lead-off for an article on the use of "Wish" in the ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' game, ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' once ran this quote:

{{quote| '''Genie:''' Let me get this straight. You want me to ''raze'' all your ability scores?}}

*:* An anecdote from 3.5e using the "Speak with Dead" spell, which allows you to ask three questions from a corpse:

{{quote| "So, I get three questions, right?"<br />

''Yes.''<br />

"How many have I got now?"<br />

''One.''<br />

"Are you kidding?!"<br />

* The basic ''[[GURPS]]'' book is quite open about it, noting for instance that a summoned demon will fulfill your wish literally and that it '''will''' pervert the literal meaning if it can, or that an animated object will only follow your literal commands, and as an example states that "Drop me off here" is not a good thing to say to an animated helicopter.

** Usually averted by [[Monster Clown|Needles Kane]] the driver of Sweet tooth. He almost always gets one over on calypso.

** Similarly, the two who wished to fly in one game had 'beaten' Calypso in a previous installment through sheer virtue of being so simple-minded: they wished for new tires for their monster truck, because it wore them out very quickly. After initial surprise, a bemused Calypso grants it, no strings attached.

* In ''[[EarthboundEarthBound|Mother 3]]'', the game's [[Big Bad]], the technically immortal Pig King, orders Dr. Andonuts to construct an "Absolutely Safe Capsule", which can protect him from absolutely everything in a pinch. Being one of the good guys, Dr. Andonuts chooses to take the Literal Genie approach regarding just how absolute the safety provided by the Capsule is. When the Pig King eventually faces defeat at the hands of the heroes and retreats to the Absolutely Safe Capsule, it transpires that while he is indeed impervious to any attack the heroes throw at him, ''he'' is also unable to attack ''them'', making anyone ''outside'' the Capsule ''also'' "Absolutely Safe" as a result. The worst and most chilling part, though, is that "Absolute" safety, by definition, is impossible to compromise -- oncecompromise—once activated, the Capsule ''cannot be opened again''. By entering the Capsule, the Pig King has doomed himself to spend eternity in isolation. Seemingly a [[Fate Worse Than Death]], but it's implied in the end sequence that this was actually a happy ending for him.

** Subverted/inverted in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0331.html this episode]: an oracle answers one question. Because he tried to screw him over before, Roy phrases his question in an extremely convoluted way with many backup clauses to avoid this --— but without realizing it, ends up phrasing his question in such a way that the oracle (who ''wants'' to give him a useful answer this time) ''can't'', because the actual outcome is a possibility Roy hadn't considered.

* ''[[Sins]]'' offers us [https://web.archive.org/web/20131023123643/http://www.sincomics.com/index.php?52 this strip].

{{quote| '''Schmuck:''' Oh, you're one of '''[[Jackass Genie|Those]]''' [[Jackass Genie|Genies]].<br />

* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20130312225415/http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00527.html this] ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'' strip, Quentyn ends up being given three boons from a rather nasty fey of the Unseleighe court. However, he not only has to be very specific with his wishes, but has to phrase it in an obscure language, to eliminate double meanings and make it impossible to interpret the words in any way other than what was intended.

* [http://yafgc.net/?id=388 This episode] of ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'', in [http://yafgc.net/comic/0388-charlottes-hand/ this episode] and the following strips. Note that this particular genie isn't overly literal out of any malevolence, but because [[The Ditz|he's dumber than a postdoorpost]]. Case in point, though he offers three wishes, he just can't count, even up to three, and ends up basically giving unlimited wishes (as long as they are worded carefully).

{{quote| '''Horribus:''' Way back when, when I said "build me something terrible" I didn't mean "build me something that ''works'' terrible!"<br />

* [http://xkcd.com/532/ This strip] of ''[[Xkcdxkcd]]'' is [[Don't Explain the Joke|a reversal of the punchline]] of a popular Literal Genie joke. A guy walks into a bar, that includes a piano player that's less than a foot tall and a piano to match. The bartender shows him a very old beer bottle and tells the guy that he can use it for one wish. The guy makes his wish, gets screwed over by [[Literal Genie]], and complains "hey! I didn't ask for [result]!" The bartender's response? "Yeah, and I didn't ask for a ten-inch pianist." Now re-read the ''xkcd'' strip.

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', the protagonist owns a sentient castle. It must always obey any order she gives it (well, the parts that even recognize her anyways) but it loves to interpret those orders in very interesting ways. She learns very quickly to be extremely exact about what she wants, else the castle will ruin whatever she may be trying to do.

* [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1355 This] ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'' takes the Midas Myth beyond its usual [[Be Careful What You Wish For]] status well into extreme [[Literal Genie]] territory. Also, be sure to read the [[Alt Text]]

** In chapter 345 of the first year, one of Mack's professors gives the class a project that essentially amounts to wording a wish so that it can't be screwed with by a [[Literal Genie]] and then having them trade to twist the [[Exact Words]] of their victim.

* To combat the Literal Genie and/or the [[Jackass Genie]], the folks at ''[httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20131110030458/http://homeonthestrange.com/ Home on the Strange]'' have an [https://web.archive.org/web/20131025033857/http://homeonthestrange.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4 open-source wish project] to create the perfect wish.

* In the 2nd Edition of Advanced ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'', casting a ''wish'' spell ages your character 5 years, and requires the caster to spend 2-82–8 days in bed recuperating. So, [http://www.rogermwilcox.com/ADnD/Munchkin.html this handy-dandy guide] to being a 2nd Edition ''AD&D'' Munchkin recommends you phrase your wish as: "I wish Asmodeus were dead and I got all the experience points from killing him and all his treasure, ''and'' that I were de-aged 5 years and didn't need 2d4 days of bed rest."

* The Word Worlds in ''[[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]'' can be quite [[Literal -Minded]], especially when confronted with [[Rouge Angles of Satin|bad spelling]] or [[Purple Prose|overly-flowery descriptions]]. Consequently, any misspelling of a character's name creates a mini-monster to fill in their role in the sentence and [[Pronoun Trouble]] in especially bad slash fics can result in [[Squick|both parties doing every described action to each other simultaneously]]. And these are just the more prosaic typos; for example, one Sue managed to turn herself into a bottle of paint thinner, another created a Prefect Badger and a guy called "Ed of Dream Sequence," and a series of typos in "[[Twila the Girl Who Waz In Luv With A Vampyre]]" caused the appearance of a group of hip-hop dancers who then turned into copies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

{{quote| '''Dende''': He is on Namek.<br />

'''Gohan''': Wait, where is he?<br />

'''Dende''': [[Exact Words|On Namek.]]<br />

'''Piccolo''' (''[[Super Senses|from the other side of the planet]]''): ''You dumbass!''<br />

'''Krillin''': Why didn't it bring him here?<br />

'''Dende''': You must be specific.<br />

'''Gohan''': Oh, so it's a sort of [[The Monkey's Paw|monkey's paw]]; you have to be careful what the hubris in your wish is.<br />

* [http://www.photoshoptroll.com/ Photoshop Troll]/[https://twitter.com/PhotoshopTroll @PhotoshopTroll] is this trope applied to requests for photo editing.

** Puck is a [[Graceful Loser]], however; after spending a few years as Xanatos' butler, Owen, he is impressed enough by his intelligence to reveal himself as Puck and offer him a choice of either one wish or a lifetime of loyal, intelligent service from Owen. Xanatos, being Xanatos, realizes that the offer was ''itself'' a wish, and that a trickster wish was worthless compared to a skilled, ''strikeproof'' employee. He chose Owen, and has never regretted it. Owen actually tests another [[Literal Genie]] for him, the Cauldron of Life, which legend states will make anyone who bathes in it live "as long as the mountain stones." Owen spends the rest of the series with a stone arm. But he never seems to mind.

* The accidental wish variant and the "don't break the rules" variant are both in effect on an episode of ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]'' in which the team encounters a [[Literal Genie]] called the Wigglenog.

{{quote| '''Gibson:''' Oh, Otto, I wish you weren't such a colossal dunderhead!<br />

'''Wigglenog:''' Your wish is granted!<br />

'''SPRX-77:''': Gibson, what did you ''do''?!<br />

** AlthoughFrom well-meaning[[DuckTales (1987)|the original series]], [[BunglingDitzy InventorGenius]] Gyro Gearloose. hasAlthough well-meaning, he a habit of following instructions a little too close to the letter, then being honestly confused when someone complains about the results ("well, you asked for..."). When told to make a [[Sci Fi]] show set "as real as it could be", he constructed a fully functioning spacecraft. When told to build a guard robot that wouldn't let anyone near Scrooge's money bin, he failed to include the obvious exception of Scrooge himself.<br />And don't forget his orders to choose "Some kind of nonsense" as a password for the Gizmoduck armor, and to make sure it's a word nobody uses, which resulted in him looking it up in a thesaurus to find an obscure word for "nonsense". The word he ends up using, sure enough, is part of the [[Catch Phrase]] of Scrooge's new hire, Fenton Crackshell.

* ''[[Lilo and& Stitch: The Series]]''. In the episode "Wishy-Washy", an activated experiment is activated, designed to be a wish giver that grants any wish he hears, but the wishes are granted literally and don't turn out as expected for the wisher. For example, when Jumba wished to be the greatest ruler in the world, he was turned into a literal ruling stick. And when Pleakly wished for "all the powers" of his current idol, a superhero. Jumba then explains he didn't get any powers, because said hero wasn't real.

{{quote| '''Homer:''' Hmm. Not bad. Nice, hot mustard. Good bread. Turkey's a little dry. ''The turkey's a little dry!'' '''Oh foul and cursed thing!!!''' What demon from the depths of Hell created thee?!}}

* One ''[[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexters Laboratory]]'' episode ends with Dexter dismissing Computer with "Oh, shut up and make me a sandwich." After getting shot with a laser Dexter is a sandwich.

* This showed up in the ''[[Shazzan]]'' episode "The Maze of Mercurad". Due to the laws of magic governing the Fifth Mountain, Shazzan couldn't just curbstomp Mercurad like he could with every other enemy of the week; the kids have to pay a toll to Mercurad. Instead, he defeats him by acting like a [[Literal Genie]]. When Mercurad asks for a fortune in silver, Shazzan fills the entire valley with silver coins; a fortune so huge that Mercurad can't guard it all from thieves. When Mercurad then asks that the fortune be made more secure, Shazzan turns it into a mountain sized block of pure silver that would be too difficult to actually spend. Giving up on money, Mercurad asks for the key to ultimate knowledge. Shazzan shows him a bizarre equation that encompasses all knowledge, but without the required background to ''understand'' the equation it's completely useless to Mercurad. Mercurad then asks for the power of a genie. Shazzan complies, but then mentions that all genies have masters. Mercurad's master will be his own monstrous gatekeeper. Mercurad immediately rescinds his desire to be a genie at this point. Finally, Mercurad decides that a simple payment will be enough: a loaf of bread, a piece of cheese, and some fresh water. Shazzan grants this wish with no problems at all.

* In the ''[[Animaniacs]]'' special ''[[Wakko's Wish|Wakkos Wish]]'', the Warners Brothers (And Warner Sister) try to convince the [[Big Bad]] that the Wishing Star is one of these. They succeed, but get sent to the death row when he gets fed up with their antics.

* In an episode of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', in an attempt to defeat the bad guys, Jade orders the Monkey Talisman, "Turn this log into a death-ray!" The talisman turns the log into a manta, also known as a death-ray. (It turns out the Talisman's power is only to turn people/things into animals.)

== [[Real Life]] ==

* Computer programmers or linguistic geeks with an especially dry sense of humor often respond very literally, although they know perfectly well what you mean. (Especially if the word "or" is involved: "Would you like coffee or tea?" "[[Mathematician's Answer|Yes]]."<ref>A savvier server would have used the exclusive or.</ref> <ref>Although the answer could still have been "yes".</ref>)

* [[Word of God|According to Joe Murray]], creator of ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'', he was asked by executives to create [[Affirmative Action Girl|a strong female character]] for the show, "a professional woman, someone with a good hook". Murray [https://web.archive.org/web/20130703183148/http://www.squidoo.com/rockos_modern_life#module150196406 took them at their word] by creating the one-handed Dr. Hutchinson.

* [[Literal -Minded|Remember, a computer will do exactly what you told it to do]]. And in virtually all cases, it will be not what you wanted it to do.

** In one of Asimov's novels, this fact explains why the First Law is so important -- notimportant—not because robots are conspiring against humans, but because orders can and will be interpreted in many unpleasant ways.

** A popular rhyme is based on this: ''I hate this damn computer. I wish that we could sell it. It won't do what I want it to. Only what I tell it.''

* A similar scam circulated in the United States during the boll weevil infestation of the 1920's1920s. The scammer would advertise a sure-fire weevil killer, and a desperate cotton farmer would send in the money... to receive in the mail two heavy wooden blocks with the instructions, "place weevil between blocks and crush."

* Lawyers. They are the reason why laws are so complicated -- becausecomplicated—because otherwise, the lawyers interpreting them would not hesitate to twist them however possible to suit their case. (That is their job, after all!) Averted, however, with judges -- theyjudges—they do generally try to determine what is reasonable and what the law-makers were intending with the law, not just what it says. If a lawyer does find a way of suiting their case that is [[Loophole Abuse|technically legal but clearly against the spirit of the law]], the judge will usually decide against them regardless.

* [["Weird Al" Yankovic|Weird Al Yankovic]] used this in response to the recording company that James Blunt was signed with telling him he couldn't sell his take-off "You're Pitiful", after he'd already gotten approval from Blunt and recorded it. He made it available as a free download instead.

* [[John Kricfalusi]], creator of ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'', was asked by fans to make an episode of the then-newly launched series ''Ren and Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon'' full of nothing but gross-out jokes. It resulted in the episode "Onwards and Upwards" -- however—however, many viewers considered it to have gone way overboard.

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140622092548/http://homeonthestrange.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4 The Open-Source Wish Project] is dedicated to crafting wishes in such a precise manner that no genie can screw them up. [http://homeonthestrange.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=4\]