Plague of Good Fortune: Difference between revisions

# The character fears that if good things keep happening, then eventually something awful will happen to restore the karmic balance.

# All this good luck damages the character's philosophy of the world being a miserable place. Yes, some characters value that philosophy more than the results of the good fortune.

 

A common way for one of these plots to end is for the good luck to end in a [[Humiliation Conga|parade of bad luck]], which has the ironic effect of making the character much happier unless the bad luck happens too late to matter.

The polar opposite of [[Kafka Komedy]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[My Balls]]'', each person has three peaks of luck in romantic endeavours. The protagonist has all three peaks combined into a period of extreme "luck" during the same month that his having sex would cause the destruction of the world.

* The ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'' episode "Happy Family Planning" has an odd version of this; its central characters repeatedly attempt suicide, only to fail every time. They eventually {{spoiler|discover they actually ''did'' die in one of their attempts and just didn't realize it.}}

* Whenever Tsunade in ''[[Naruto]]'' gets lucky at gambling, it's a bad omen. And she's quite aware of this.

** Needless to say, the ONE time she tries to use this to her advantage, by betting everything she had that one of her allies would die... [[Tear Jerker|She wins.]]

* [[The Cat Returns]]: As a reward for saving the prince, Haru is showered with gifts by the Cat Kingdom. They are all gifts from a cat's point of view, like catnip, dead mice, or {{spoiler|being turned into a cat.}}

 

** And then there's ''Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen''. Poor Stuffy Pete. You should ''know better'' than to wander into Greenwich Village in late November and expect not to be force-fed by the deranged inheritors of old money!

* Literary example: [[Genre Savvy|Rincewind]] in Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' books, who "knows" that this applies to him (and it [[Cosmic Plaything|often does]]).

** While Sam Vimes thinks in one novel that the string of good luck he's had come his way the last few years (marriage to a good woman, massive wealth, a revitalized City Watch, a son) can't possibly last, and sooner or later the bill's gonna come due. {{spoiler|It hasn't. Yet.}}

*** Of course, he had forty years or so of bad luck to make up for by the time things started to go his way.

*** Well, let's face it- some people just don't know the difference between Karma setting them up for a fall and Karma balancing the scales.

* This actually does happen to [[The Deptford Mice|The Deptford Histories]] star Thomas Stubbs a.k.a. Thomas Triton. In the words of the fortune teller Simoon;

* [[Ciaphas Cain]] (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!) may qualify too. He frequently tries to keep himself safe and sound above all else, but this usually through good (or, on his part, bad) luck makes him look even more heroic and boosts his reputation even further, putting him in even more dangerous situations. Needless to say, that is the absolute opposite of what he is stiving for.

* Teela Brown from ''Ringworld'' has been selectively bred for luck. Unfortunately, she hasn't been bred to bring luck to those around her. Her expedition crashes and is nearly stranded because '''she'll''' be happier there. The other characters spend the sequels carefully staying thousands of miles away from her.

* In ''[[Can You Forgive Her]]''? Anthony Trollope takes a very rich, very upper class, and young and spirited wife Glencora Palliser to a casino on the European mainland. A woman, and especially one of her elevated class, are expected to never actually gamble. She timidly bets a small amount and wins. Her husband, older and more staid, upbraids her for taking money that they didn't need and that wasn't theirs.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* In ''[[I Love Lucy]]'' when they are touring Europe and in Monte Carlo, Lucy and Ethyl are forbidden from going to the casino to gamble. They sneak down to the casino, but are too scared to gamble. On their way out, Lucy finds a chip on the floor, and picks it up and tries to 'return' it by putting on a table - the roulette table. Of course, it wins and she has more chips now. The croupier, speaking French, tries to give them to her, but she pushes them away, and they win again. By the end of the night, she has a suitcase full of chips. Hilarity ensues.

* The episode of ''[[Friends]]'' where Phoebe's bank accidentally credits her account five hundred dollars, and her attempts to rectify the situation eventually land her with seven grand.

* Or the near-identical events which happened to Martin in ''[[Frasier]]''.

* Hurley on ''[[Lost]]'' wins the lottery and gets richer and richer, but one calamity after another afflicts those around him.

* Wild coincidences rule the life of Chance Harper of ''[[Strange Luck]]''.

** This curse is put on its head in one episode where Al gets a whole slew of luck, and he fears he's going to die.

*** It didn't go quite that far, but was almost as bad. [[Yank the Dog's Chain|Al ended up arrested by the police after winning a number of stolen cars in a poker game, heavily in debt after his daughter's motorcycle stunt wrecked his son's college dormitory, and getting struck by lightning as the cops were hauling him away by the one cloud in the sky, which just happened to be hanging over his house.]]

** This could in fact be a real danger and weapon for in-universe Wicca. Magic tends to balance and use of the magic for selfish purposes will cause an eventual backlash. Bless somebody with good luck using magic and eventually the scales will balance violently.

* John Becker's wonderful <s>day</s> '''Christmas''' in ''[[Becker]]''.

** (Un?)fortunately, his good day is completely undone in the last minute of the episode, making this also an example of the previous category.

*** [[Genre Savvy|He was completely aware]] of this trope throughout the episode, however, and, in a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]], he was actually happy to see the other boot drop.

* A well known episode of ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' had a burglar seemingly sent to Heaven where he wins every game he plays. Heck even simply breaking the balls at pool just has them automaticlly going into the holes. {{spoiler|Eventually he grows bored and begs his "guardian angel" that he doesn't belong in Heaven and want to go to the "other place". Only to be to be told that this [[Ironic Hell|"is the other place."]]}}

* An episode of ''[[Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide]]'' had the titular character being nominated for class president. As he doesn't want to be, he ends up trying to do various things that make him look like a troublemaker, but they all backfire, one example being he tries to graffiti the lockers in front of a bunch of people but the paint ends up the same color as the locker, making everyone think he's trying to clean the school up.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Wait a sec... he [[Memetic Mutation|failed at failing?]]

* The episode of ''Daria'' named either "Fail!" or "The 'F' Word" had Mr O'Neill, the English teacher, give an assignment where the students were supposed to fail. A variation of the failing at failing.

* The B-plot of the [[King of the Hill]] episode "The Peggy Horror Picture Show" has Bobby and Joseph try and prank various folks around Arlen, but wind up making things better for them. In order:

** Drawing a line on a quarter with a marker, and having Dale, who was nervous about a coup at the gun club give himself a quarter massage, which leaves lines all over his face. When he arrives, his buddies assume its war paint, and immediately elect him president.

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Plots]]