Nice Job Breaking It, Hero/Literature: Difference between revisions

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** Worst of all in ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix|Order of the Phoenix]]'', where Harry's {{spoiler|desperate attempt to rescue Sirius winds up drawing Sirius to his death, instead.}} The upside -- Voldemort being exposed as alive -- pales in comparison to the loss; ironically, since the entire book was about Harry's frustration with not being believed and attempts to make people believe him, only for Harry to not give a damn anymore when he was shown to be right.
** Worst of all in ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix|Order of the Phoenix]]'', where Harry's {{spoiler|desperate attempt to rescue Sirius winds up drawing Sirius to his death, instead.}} The upside -- Voldemort being exposed as alive -- pales in comparison to the loss; ironically, since the entire book was about Harry's frustration with not being believed and attempts to make people believe him, only for Harry to not give a damn anymore when he was shown to be right.
** And, to a lesser extent, in the same book, when they {{spoiler|manage to break every damn prophecy and all the Time Turners in the Ministry of Magic.}}
** And, to a lesser extent, in the same book, when they {{spoiler|manage to break every damn prophecy and all the Time Turners in the Ministry of Magic.}}
** Subverted in the ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]''. Harry {{spoiler|realizes he must let Voldemort kill him.}} As this was all part of the plan, and Harry suffered no more than a bruise, it all worked out.
** Subverted in the ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]''. Harry {{spoiler|realizes he must let Voldemort kill him.}} As this was all part of the plan, and Harry suffered no more than a bruise, it all worked out.
** For errors committed by Voldemort, see [[Nice Job Fixing It Villain]].
** For errors committed by Voldemort, see [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain]].
** In a more subtle example, the majority of the population tends to call the [[Big Bad]] by impersonal aliases, like You-Know-Who or The Dark Lord, while Dumbledor calls him by the name and encourages others to follow suit. This backfires in the last book, when Voldemort charms his own name, so that whoever utters it will be stripped of all wards and exposed to his minions.
** In a more subtle example, the majority of the population tends to call the [[Big Bad]] by impersonal aliases, like You-Know-Who or The Dark Lord, while Dumbledor calls him by the name and encourages others to follow suit. This backfires in the last book, when Voldemort charms his own name, so that whoever utters it will be stripped of all wards and exposed to his minions.
* In the SF novel ''Legacy of Heorot'', human colonists on an alien planet manage to eliminate the "grendels", a native, komodo-dragon like species, that threatened their existence. They find out too late that the grendels were the mature (female) form of these tasty (male) "fish" that are just about ''everywhere''. (Think frogs and tadpoles. Only the frogs are a lot bigger. And have big, pointy teeth. And decide that people taste good.) The mature grendels kept the population down through cannibalism. Now that there are no more mature grendels all of the immature grendels start to grow up and undergo metamorphosis, and they're ''hungry''. Even worse, all of them can move almost faster than the eye can see. Guess what they decide to snack on...
* In the SF novel ''Legacy of Heorot'', human colonists on an alien planet manage to eliminate the "grendels", a native, komodo-dragon like species, that threatened their existence. They find out too late that the grendels were the mature (female) form of these tasty (male) "fish" that are just about ''everywhere''. (Think frogs and tadpoles. Only the frogs are a lot bigger. And have big, pointy teeth. And decide that people taste good.) The mature grendels kept the population down through cannibalism. Now that there are no more mature grendels all of the immature grendels start to grow up and undergo metamorphosis, and they're ''hungry''. Even worse, all of them can move almost faster than the eye can see. Guess what they decide to snack on...
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** Adam and Eve manage to achieve this for the entire human race. Having been given the paradise of Eden in which to live they are told that there is one rule: they must not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. One talking snake later and... yeah, nice job.
** Adam and Eve manage to achieve this for the entire human race. Having been given the paradise of Eden in which to live they are told that there is one rule: they must not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. One talking snake later and... yeah, nice job.
** Joseph's eleven brothers plotted to kill him out of jealousy. The eldest son, Reuben, suggests that instead of killing him outright they throw him in a pit in the desert and leave him to die. Reuben leaves momentarily and Judah, another one of them, convinces the rest to lift Joseph out of the pit and sell him to slavery instead of letting him die. Then Reuben returns and majorly freaks out - he was trying to save Joseph all along, and planned to return later to the pit and rescue him. Nice job breaking it, Judah.
** Joseph's eleven brothers plotted to kill him out of jealousy. The eldest son, Reuben, suggests that instead of killing him outright they throw him in a pit in the desert and leave him to die. Reuben leaves momentarily and Judah, another one of them, convinces the rest to lift Joseph out of the pit and sell him to slavery instead of letting him die. Then Reuben returns and majorly freaks out - he was trying to save Joseph all along, and planned to return later to the pit and rescue him. Nice job breaking it, Judah.
* In the regular ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' series, [[Sacrificial Lamb|Elfangor]] tends to come across as noble and wonderful, a cross between [[The Obi Wan]] and [[The Minnesota Fats]], willing to break his people's laws, yes, but only to serve the greater good. In ''[[Prequel|The Andalite Chronicles]]'', however, we see that Visser Three's capture of Alloran is a direct result of Elfangor refusing to kill a mass amount of unhosted Yeerks. This capture also led to Visser Three's eventual promotion. While he originally gained prominence by being the Yeerks' authority on Andalites, his brutish ways and lack of subtlety wouldn't have let him progress much further. Thanks to Elfangor, who opened the door for him to do what no other Yeerk could, Visser One's agenda is the only thing keeping Visser Three from declaring an all-out space war on Earth!
* In the regular ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'' series, [[Sacrificial Lamb|Elfangor]] tends to come across as noble and wonderful, a cross between [[The Obi-Wan]] and [[The Minnesota Fats]], willing to break his people's laws, yes, but only to serve the greater good. In ''[[Prequel|The Andalite Chronicles]]'', however, we see that Visser Three's capture of Alloran is a direct result of Elfangor refusing to kill a mass amount of unhosted Yeerks. This capture also led to Visser Three's eventual promotion. While he originally gained prominence by being the Yeerks' authority on Andalites, his brutish ways and lack of subtlety wouldn't have let him progress much further. Thanks to Elfangor, who opened the door for him to do what no other Yeerk could, Visser One's agenda is the only thing keeping Visser Three from declaring an all-out space war on Earth!
** To those who see Visser One as a [[Noble Demon]], she might be guilty of this as well. In the [[Alternate Reality]] where the kids never found Elfangor and the Yeerks ''did'' declare all-out war on Earth, the humans won [[We Have Reserves|through sheer numbers]].
** To those who see Visser One as a [[Noble Demon]], she might be guilty of this as well. In the [[Alternate Reality]] where the kids never found Elfangor and the Yeerks ''did'' declare all-out war on Earth, the humans won [[We Have Reserves|through sheer numbers]].
* In the original novels of ''[[The Ring]]'', the Asakawa delves into the mystery of the [[Artifact of Doom|Cursed Tape]] not only because it's a good story, but to save himself, his family, and his friend from the killing curse. In doing so, he chronicles his investigation in the Asakawa Report, which details every little incident of the quest. By the end of ''Spiral'', the second novel, {{spoiler|Sadako reveals that the curse has mutated and taken on the Asakawa Report as its new vector, as well as any of its adaptations --movies, television, radio, and any other form of media where the tale is recounted. Eventually, all of mankind will have been destroyed as she replicates within each individual, infected human}}. At least the Cursed Video was contained...
* In the original novels of ''[[The Ring]]'', the Asakawa delves into the mystery of the [[Artifact of Doom|Cursed Tape]] not only because it's a good story, but to save himself, his family, and his friend from the killing curse. In doing so, he chronicles his investigation in the Asakawa Report, which details every little incident of the quest. By the end of ''Spiral'', the second novel, {{spoiler|Sadako reveals that the curse has mutated and taken on the Asakawa Report as its new vector, as well as any of its adaptations --movies, television, radio, and any other form of media where the tale is recounted. Eventually, all of mankind will have been destroyed as she replicates within each individual, infected human}}. At least the Cursed Video was contained...
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* Played with as [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Myth Adventures|Myth Inc. In Action]]'', in which Guido and Nunzio enlist in the army to try to sabotage it from within. Every attempt they make to mess with its efficiency and operations, however, not only turns out to ''help'' the army, but gets them involuntarily promoted for their excellent leadership. Nice Job ''Not'' Breaking It, Hero!
* Played with as [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Myth Adventures|Myth Inc. In Action]]'', in which Guido and Nunzio enlist in the army to try to sabotage it from within. Every attempt they make to mess with its efficiency and operations, however, not only turns out to ''help'' the army, but gets them involuntarily promoted for their excellent leadership. Nice Job ''Not'' Breaking It, Hero!
* [[Jack Vance (Creator)|Jack Vance]]'s "The Miracle Workers" was set on a planet where human colonists made [[Hollywood Voodoo]] ''work'' to replace their aging technological weapons. When the planet's natives finally decided to attack the humans, one of the "jinxmen" noticed that dying natives spewed a purple foam. Deciding this foam must be associated in the aliens' minds with death, he used his powers to project the image of purple foam into the minds of a large group of natives. Another jinxman explained, "Then he learned that purple foam means not death--purple foam means fear for the safety of the community, purple foam means desperate rage." So he tried to intimidate them with an effect that turned them into [[Determinator|Determinators]]. Oops.
* [[Jack Vance (Creator)|Jack Vance]]'s "The Miracle Workers" was set on a planet where human colonists made [[Hollywood Voodoo]] ''work'' to replace their aging technological weapons. When the planet's natives finally decided to attack the humans, one of the "jinxmen" noticed that dying natives spewed a purple foam. Deciding this foam must be associated in the aliens' minds with death, he used his powers to project the image of purple foam into the minds of a large group of natives. Another jinxman explained, "Then he learned that purple foam means not death--purple foam means fear for the safety of the community, purple foam means desperate rage." So he tried to intimidate them with an effect that turned them into [[Determinator|Determinators]]. Oops.
* ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'' has several [[Nice Job Breaking It Hero]] moments:
* ''[[Septimus Heap (Literature)|Septimus Heap]]'' has several [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] moments:
** Marcia returning to the Castle in ''Magyk''.
** Marcia returning to the Castle in ''Magyk''.
** Jenna bringing Septimus to the Glass in ''Physik''.
** Jenna bringing Septimus to the Glass in ''Physik''.
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