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{{trope}}
[[File:schmuck bait.jpg|frame|You know what they say: Build a better mousetrap...]]
{{quote|''"Spotting a trap and staying out of it are two entirely different things!"''
|Happōsai|[[Ranma ½]]}}
For every insidiously clever and well-disguised trap, there are those that... well, they're not only rather conspicuous, but obvious to boot. Things like the [[Big Red Button]] with the dire warning signs; the dark alley in [[Forbidden Zone|Vampire Town]]; the [[Chest Monster|conspicuously untouched]] treasure chest; or the roomful of frighteningly realistic [[Taken for Granite|statues]]. These are the sort of things you would have to be an idiot to go near - or a monkey descendant that takes after their fore-bearers. In other words, they're '''Schmuck Bait'''.
Making schmuck bait irresistible is a good trick. Often it takes advantage of the inherent appeal of [[Forbidden Fruit]], or a [[Curious as a Monkey]] character will ''ensure'' it gets taken, often in spite of [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!|warning cries]] from more [[Genre Savvy]] characters.
Note that this term is [http://www.janeespenson.com/archives/00000230.php used differently by screenwriters]. It most commonly refers to [[Like You Would Really Do It]], and can also simply refer to any sort of audience misdirection.
See also [[Genre Blindness]], [[Too Dumb to Live]], [[Idiot Ball]], [[Distress Ball]], [[What Does This Button Do?]], [[Press X to Die]], [[Reverse Psychology]], [[Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?]], [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!]], [[Tempting Fate]], and [[You Have Been Warned]]. If taking the bait doesn't hurt you, it's a [[Fake Trap]]. If taking it does something ''good'', it's [[Violation of Common Sense]]. If that something good is being able to progress, it's [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]] ([[Trap Is the Only Option]] for the non-video game version). If someone fell into a '''Schmuck Bait''' one day but understandably didn't noise about it, he may be subject to [[Oblivious Mockery|Oblivious Mockeries]]. Not to be mistaken for [[Snark Bait]], nor for something that actually baits [[Yiddish as a Second Language|your schmuck]].
[[Self-Demonstrating Article|Additional related tropes; press CTRL+W or ALT+F4 to display. And for Mac users, press command+Q.]]
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* To launch a new televison network in Belgium, TNT placed a button in a quiet square with a label that read: "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=316AzLYfAzw Push to add drama]."
== Anime and Manga ==
* In [[Rumiko Takahashi]]'s ''[[Mermaid Saga]]'', eating mermaid flesh is said to give you immortality, and it can... but {{spoiler|only about one in a thousand times.}} It almost always either kills you outright, or turns you into a gibbering homicidal monster.
* She does it again in a ''[[Ranma ½]]'' story, where Ranma (in girl-form) and Akane hit the tennis courts in relatively skimpy outfits (it's winter, so everyone else is bundled up) to lure out Happōsai. Akane mentions that the old man can't possibly be stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trap, but suddenly he appears, groping Ranma. As he's tied up, Happōsai complains that "Spotting a trap and staying out of it are two entirely different things!"
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SMt6fFtqzA This (NSFW)] reaction to ''[[Boku no Pico]]'' (also quite NSFW) was written to use as Schmuck Bait in order to get people to watch it. The reaction is specific enough to get across the point that ''Boku No Pico'' is really bad, but never says why. Thus, many who read it search up the name and, after watching it, proceed to [[Face Palm]].
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* When you're a character like Eury Evans from ''[[Immortal Rain]]'' and you run into a door with "The Wages of Sin" and "Keep Out!" emblazoned across the front, are you going to keep on walking? No, of course not. Then there wouldn't be any [[Collapsing Lair|explosions]].
* In the ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'' prequel episode, Okazaki and Sunohara make a party ball trap that drops a washtub on whoever opens it. The ball is opened by pulling on a tag that reads "someone please pull this, it will be interesting". Nagisa pulls the tag and gets knocked out by the washtub.
* In ''[[Kaze no Stigma]]'', a website
* In Episode 8 of ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'', Touma asks Stiyl to stick out his tongue. When he complies, Touma uppercuts him.
* ''[[Hanaukyo Maid Tai]]: La Vérité''
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== Arts ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130129082111/http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2009/09/the_rape_tunnel.html The Rape Tunnel], an art installation by Richard Whitehouse. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: If you enter this tunnel then the artist will attempt to rape you. It's a followup to his other piece, The Punch-You-in-the-Face Tunnel. {{spoiler|They were both [http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2009/09/artlurker_explains_rape_tunnel.php fabricated stories], and the actual Schmuck Bait was to see who would take the story seriously and how; in this regard, it was [[Troll|successful if not predictable in light of this entire page]].}}
* Also from the art world, there was a controversy some years ago about a Danish exhibition that featured ten blenders, each containing water and live goldfish, with an invitation to the viewer that they could press the button if they wanted to. At least seven fish were pureed.
== Comic Books ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120624015113/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=793 This comic page] contains what could be the ultimate in Schmuck Bait. It's [[It Makes Sense in Context|too bad]] it was [[All Just a Dream]]. Otherwise that would definitely be [[Lex Luthor]]'s [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. It's such an obvious trap that ''[[Lemony Narrator|even the narrator gives up on Superboy.]]'' For those who can't see the picture: it's a cage with a big sign that says "Luthor Trap to Catch Superboy" and one over the door that says "Enter here, please." He does. The bars are Kryptonite.
{{quote|'''Luthor:''' [[Crowning Moment of Funny|I captured Superboy through his sheer dumbness!]]}}
* An issue of ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' features Jean Grey accidentally setting up her own Schmuck Bait, and getting both Peter and herself caught in it when she congratulates him on not [[Oh God, Did She Just Hear That?|mentally picturing her naked]]. If you didn't get it, she just said the word sequence "Picture me naked" to a teenage boy. [[A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read|And she's one of the most powerful psychics in the universe.]] It then runs into an [[Overly Long Gag]] as Peter tries to stop thinking about Jean Gray naked.
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* ''[[Batman]]'': The Batmobile has an unlabeled large bright shiny red button in easy reach of the driver's side. When pressed, it floods the car with sleeping gas, the driver's side first and foremost. Why? [[Crazy Prepared|In case the Joker ever steals it]]. Because [[The Joker]] would never be able to resist pushing an unlabeled large bright shiny red button just to see what happens.
== Film ==
* ''[[Spirited Away]]''. Both played straight in the beginning with Chihiro's parents, and averted hard at the end, when she's told ''not'' to look back in a scene reminiscent to Orpheus. She almost does, but her willpower is strong enough not to look back.
* ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]'', Agnes Skinner: "Don't look where I'm pointing!" She was pointing at {{spoiler|Bart's penis.}}
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* In the film ''[[Little Nemo Adventures in Slumberland]]'', Nemo is given a big gold key that he is told to never ever, ever, ''ever'', use on the Really Big Ominous Door in the cellar. [[Too Dumb to Live|He uses it less than twenty minutes later]]. To be fair, Flip did bait him.
* ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'': "C'mon, boys. Won't you shake a poor sinner's hand?"
* [[The Stinger]] during the credits of ''[[Percy Jackson & the Olympians]]'' has Percy's [[Jerkass|slimeball stepfather]] finding his refrigerator locked and a note from Percy taped to it to the effect of "do not open under any circumstances". He immediately breaks the lock off {{spoiler|and finds himself face-to-face with [[Taken for Granite|Medusa's severed head]]}}.
* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Return of the Jedi]]''. Chewie and the piece of meat. Possibly one of the few instances where it was ''literally'' bait. Annoying for those who thought Chewie should've been too smart to fall for something so obvious. Maybe it was just too obvious and cliché that Chewie suspected it absolutely could NOT be a trap. [[Memetic Mutation|Admiral Ackbar]] would have known better.
* ''[[Mom and Dad Save The World]]'' has the Schmuck Bait of the "Light Grenade" which will vaporize anybody who picks it up. When the protagonist asks why anybody would do such a thing, he is shown the ingenious inscription, "Pick Me Up". Of course, this is a [[Planet of Hats|Planet of Schmucks]].
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* In ''[[Saw|Saw II]]'', Jigsaw leaves his victims a note specifically instructing them ''not'' to use the key found within on the door to the room. Someone does it anyway and ends up shot by a gun positioned in the peephole.
* In ''[[Con Air]]'', U.S. Marshal Larkin and a couple of prison guards search [[Big Bad]] Cyrus Grissom's cell. One of the items they find is a small package with a note taped to it reading, "Do Not Open." The [[Genre Savvy]] Larkin immediately leaves to call the bomb squad, cautioning the guards on the way out ''not to open the box''. He's barely ten feet away from the cell when one of the guards plops down on the cot and opens the box. Cue massive explosion.
* ''[[Jurassic Park|The Lost World: Jurassic Park]]'' gives us the famous line, [[Memetic Mutation|"DON'T GO INTO THE LONG GRASS!"]] Although this could simply be more of a [[Cassandra Truth]] than anything, this warning is still completely ignored.
* In ''[[Matilda (film)|Matilda]]'' a student steals a piece of cake from the principal's desk and is then forced to eat the rest of the cake in front of the school.
* ''[[Time Bandits]]'': "Mum, Dad, it's evil! Don't touch it!" Guess what Mum and Dad proceed to do?
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* There's a nice example of subtle Schmuck Bait action in ''[[The Lord of the Rings|The Return of the King]]'' film version. The Corsair ships arrive for the battle of Minas Tirith(sp?) and Aragorn and company jump down in front of the orcs instead of the pirate reinforcements they were expecting. After being surprised for a bit, the orcs regain their confidence and start smirking. “After all,” they are probably thinking, “It's a bunch of us against three of them, we can totally win.” Except they are forgetting the fact that these guys apparently took out an ''entire armada by themselves''... Cue utter horror and sheer terror when the [[Army of the Dead|Dead of Dunharrow]] charges at them.
** It also was evident a few scenes earlier, in the Extended Cut at least, when you are shown Aragorn and company confronting the Corsairs. It never crosses the Corsair's minds that these three might have a ''[[Army of the Dead|reason]]'' for being so confident... (Bonus points for the film crew as the Corsairs are all production crew dressed up and the corsair that goes down under Legolas's arrow is ''Peter Jackson'' himself!)
== Jokes ==
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** There is a sign that says "Complaint Department, push button for service", which is a button on a mouse trap.
** Another example says "Complaint Department, please take a number", where the number is on a grenade pin.
== Literature ==
* Robert Evans gives a [[Real Life]] example in his autobiography ''The Kid Stays in the Picture'' in which he was offered pharmaceutical grade cocaine during the early 1980's, which he described was "mythical" at the time. [[Trope Namer|He even]] ''[[Trope Namer|labels]]'' [[Trope Namer|it schmuck bait]], and castigates himself, "How could I be so ''fucking'' stupid?!"
{{quote|'''Robert Evans:''' A woman we knew was offering to sell us pharmaceutical cocaine at bargain prices. Pharmaceutical cocaine was mythical manufactured by only one company in America, Merck. So mythical was its allure, that it became the DEA's most effective bait to entrap schmuck buyers.}}
* In [[C. S.
* Used or referenced excessively in [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' series. Pretty much ''anything'' in Discworld that is labeled "Do Not Touch" will be meddled with.
** In the very first book, Rincewind gets stuck with the Eighth Spell of Creation because he went and opened the Octavo on a dare, when every student was perfectly aware that it was not to be touched.
** The wizards of the Unseen University are basically the people who put the Schmuck in Schmuck Bait. As a footnote explains: Any true wizard, faced with a sign like "Do not open this door. Really. We mean it. We're not kidding. Opening this door will mean the end of the universe," would automatically open the door in order to see what all the fuss was about.
** In ''[[
** Perhaps not coincidentally, in the novel ''[[
** Also in ''Thief of Time'', a narrated line points out, "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."
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
** There's also the circle of stones up on the moor in Lancre, mentioned in ''[[
** Also in ''Lords and Ladies'', when Magrat [[I Surrender, Suckers|surrenders]] to the Elves, she hands one a box telling him not to open it. He does, and answers the Discworld version of Schrodinger's cat (the states of the cat can be dead, alive, or alive and bloody furious) as "Greebo went off like a Claymore mine".
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
** ''[[
* In ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy (novel)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', Arthur Dent spots a big red button next to a sign that temptingly reads, "Please Do Not Press This Button". He presses the button, of course, only to have a warning message appear that says, "Please Do Not Press This Button Again".
* There's a failed attempt at Schmuck Bait in ''[[The Hounds of the Morrigan]]'' by Pat O'Shea. Some mooks charged with capturing the protagonist set up some road signs: "This road is the winner of the Safest Road in Ireland competition. This road is so safe that a boy can cycle down it with his eyes shut." The boy keeps his eyes open and easily avoids the feeble roadblock set up to trip him. Obviously the mooks didn't grasp the fundamental principle of Schmuck Bait—they should have told him ''not'' to shut his eyes.
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** In an earlier story, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the Big Bad {{spoiler|Joseph Curwen}} receives a letter from an associate giving him this little gem of advice: "I say to you againe, doe not call up Any that you can not put downe; by the Which I meane, Any that can in Turne call up Somewhat against you, whereby your Powerfullest Devices may not be of use. Ask of the Lesser, lest the Greater shal not wish to Answer, and shal commande more than you.". Guess what he tries to do later on.
* [[Briar Patching]] (as introduced by Joel Chandler Harris's ''Uncle Remus'' stories) is a particularly active form of Schmuck Bait.
* Arguable, but the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer has a page in it that has a large
* In [[Robert W. Chambers|Robert W Chambers]]' short story collection ''[[The King in Yellow]]'', almost anyone who reads the eponymous fictional play has had to intentionally seek it out and is therefore well aware of the fact that anyone who had already read it was quickly driven insane. ''So why do they still read it?''
* The opening of ''{{color|blue|House}} [[House of Leaves|of Leaves]]'' specifically tells the reader not to read the book.
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* Invoked in epically [[Genre Savvy]] fashion in ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'' ([[Very Loosely Based on a True Story|and possibly]] [[Real Life]]): [[The Strategist|Zhuge Liang]] does not have nearly enough men to defend the city he's in from his rival Sima Yi's massive advancing army. So he orders all the doors to be opened, all the soldiers to hide, and [[Crazy Awesome|sits on the top of the wall playing the zither]]. Sima Yi takes one look at this setup, declares it to be Schmuck Bait, and immediately retreats.
* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'': The Headmaster of Hogwarts would like to remind you that the corridor on the third floor is off-limits to absolutely everyone. As well as the Forbidden Forest.
* ''[[Arabian Nights]]'' contain the story of ''The Man who Never Laughed During the Rest of His Days''. Basically, a young man is charged with taking care of his rich but gloomy uncle and his friends, who spends all their time grieving over some terrible fate that has befallen them. The uncle tells his nephew that he will inherit all his riches as long as he never asks the grieving men about the reason behind their sorrow. On his uncle's deathbed, the young man's curiosity makes him break his promise and ask anyway. The uncle then tells him that if he wants to avoid a terrible fate, he mustn't ever open one of the doors in the building. After the uncle dies, the young man
* Littlefinger of ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' is Schmuck Bait personified, as no matter how many times [[Self-Proclaimed Liar|he informs other characters]] of being a liar, they still trust him.
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[1000 Ways to Die|One Thousand Ways to Die]]'' has several examples (for obvious reasons), one of which involves a deadbeat dad that picked up a jet fighter pilot seat for his new bachelor pad. [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!|There was a lever on it.]]
* ''[[The Daily Show]]''
** After a "Manamana" Muppets bit...
{{quote|'''Jon Stewart:''' By the way, if you google "muppets" and "scat", that may not be what you get. Go ahead, I'll wait.... ''Freaky'' pictures.}}
:: People actually did it. Even the [[Ear Worm|correct link]] is Schmuck Bait.
** A more recent one (from him) would be to google "santorum", because of discussing a lesser-known GOP candidate Rick Santorum. The kicker? The guest for that night, [[Keira Knightley]] actually googled it and felt
* The term "Schmuck Bait-y" was used in the [[Mutant Enemy]] bullpen and by [[Joss Whedon]] in DVD commentaries to describe settings that were dark and gloomy and seemed dangerous.
* ''[[Lost]]'''s island is covered in Schmuck Bait. In the early days of the series, the characters were constantly traipsing into the jungle even though they knew the "monster" was out there. In the episode "Walkabout", Jack and Sawyer go into the plane's fuselage to investigate ''growling''. David Fury, late of [[Mutant Enemy]], referred to this as "Schmuck Bait" on the DVD commentary.
* Dougal on ''[[Father Ted]]'' has had problems at least twice with do-not-push buttons, once (evidently) on a SeaLink ferry, and then in the cockpit of an airplane.
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** And "The Christmas Invasion":
{{quote|'''The Doctor:''' And how am I going to react when I see this: A great big threatening button. A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstance. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem, cause I really don't know who I am and I don't know where to stop. So when I see a great big threatening button which should never ever ever be pressed, then I just want to do this! ''(presses it)''}}
** From "The Time of Angels": "Come and see this!"{{context}}
** In "Amy's Choice", Rory falls for some verbal schmuck bait offered by the Dream Lord:
{{quote|'''Dream Lord:''' If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality. Healthy recovery in next to no time. Ask me what happens if you die in reality.
'''Rory:''' What happens if you die in reality?
'''Dream Lord:''' You die, stupid. That's why it's called reality. }}
** "The Pandorica Opens". The Doctor seeks out a device that is an advanced prison designed to contain the universe's most powerful and intelligent being, a being feared by the Daleks, Cyberman, Judoon, Silurians, and countless other hostile alien races he's fought against.
** In "The Five Doctors", it turns out that Rassilon, ancient founder of the Time Lords, knew a thing or two about Schmuck Bait.
** In ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S21/E03 Frontios|Frontios]]'', the Doctor lures the Gravis onto the TARDIS
** Let's face it, the entire ''Universe'' is Schmuck Bait when it comes to the Doctor.
* Inversion in ''[[Candid Camera]]'', when they put a bowl in a public place full of money with a sign that said "FREE MONEY". Nobody touched it, assuming it was Schmuck Bait.
* Another candid camera (though not that exact show) example: people were made to wait in a room alone for whatever reason, and in that room was a
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]''
** 1980's version, episode "Button, Button". A couple is given a box with a button on it. They're warned that if they push the button they'll receive $200,000, and a person they don't know will die. They finally push the button and receive the money. Then they're told that the box will be re-programmed and given to ''someone they don't know''.
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* A segment of ''Police Videos'' shows an operation where fake flyers were mailed to suspects saying they won a free cruise if they came to the location on the flyer. The place looked like a party room for all the prize winners but when they tried to leave they would arrest them.
* The ''[[Sweet Genius]]'' pantry contains a few prepared ingredients, such as pastry dough. Using any of them is likely to earn you a scolding for taking the easy path rather than making the pastry yourself.
== Music ==
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* The "dance remix" of [[Perfume (band)|Perfume]]'s [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Polyrhythm]] leaves in the song's [[Mind Screw|bridge.]]
== Oral Tradition, folklore, Myths and Legend ==
* The [[Older Than Feudalism|oldest trope]] in the [[Bible|Good Book]]: God puts a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden, then [[Forbidden Fruit|tells humanity not to eat its fruit]].
** If they don't know good from evil? The result is inevitable. (That's right, God invented Schmuck Bait.)
** Alternatively, Adam and Eve invented Schmuckitude. [[Take a Third Option|Alternatively alternatively]] it was both... and the [[Trope Namer]] for [[Adam and or Eve]], [[Forbidden Fruit]] and the [[Adam and Eve Plot]].
* Also, Lot's wife in [[The Bible]]. Salt, anyone?
* "[[Trojan Horse|Do not under any circumstances bring this horse into your city, because then us Greeks will never ever be able to conquer Troy.]]" The [[Trope Namer]] for the [[Cassandra Truth]] which everyone ignored. To be fair, the [[Only Sane Man]] who tried to warn them got messily killed by Poseidon. To be even fairer, he had already ticked off Poseidon, who just happened to choose that as the appropriate time to inflict his punishment. Incidentally, this is the origin of the phrase "Never trust Greeks bearing gifts."
* ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''. "Hey, we're a bunch of incredibly hungry sailors on an island inhabited by the juicy-looking cattle of the sun god! What's that, Odysseus? We can't eat them? C'mon, what could happen, it's not like we can piss off the gods even further..." They basically decided that whatever the gods were going to do would be better than starving to death while stuck on that island. (And they might not have been particularly wrong—drowning may or may not be a particularly nice way to die, but it's better than starving.)
* The tale of Pandora's box. All she had to do was not open the box, and everyone would be happy. But no, she just ''had'' to see what was inside. So she opens it. Some variants of the myth support this, while others support the concept that Pandora herself was the bait. The rather misogynistic writings of Hesiod claim that Pandora was created as a punishment for man, so that all her descendants, e.g., women, would torment humanity. All men had to do was not accept her as a gift and they would be free of the associated evils, but they ignored all the warnings about accepting gifts from the Olympians.
* There's also the story of Orpheus, who ''went to the underworld'' to retrieve his dead wife, but was warned not to look back at her before he got back to the world of the living. {{spoiler|He looked back. She died again.}} To be fair to Orpheus, {{spoiler|he ''did'' wait; he just didn't wait long enough. ''He'' was out of the underworld; ''she'' was not. Not completely, anyway.}} To be more fair, Hades made her follow him in complete silence. As far as he was concerned, Hades could've been a complete douche who was leading him on and making a complete fool of him. Think about it: the person who kidnapped your wife suddenly says, "Alright, she'll come with you, but you have to walk all the way back out of here and never look back. Don't worry, she's there, she's following you... You can't hear her, but it's alright, she is. Trust me." Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. And to be fair to Hades, he ''did'' like Orpheus and had a soft spot for tales of love lost, due to being alone for most of his existence before Persephone became his wife. He ''repeatedly'' warned Orpheus not to look back, being very insistent about it, and he's the only Olympian who seemed like he genuinely rooted for a mortal to win a challenge issued by them. Besides, there are rules to follow—if Hades just let anyone who asks cart off their dead loved ones, his place would become empty real quick. He '''had''' to make it tough so that only the most iron-willed, determined people could succeed.
* To get back at Cuchulainn for knocking her up and then marrying Emer instead, Aoife sent her son out into the world with two conditions: Challenge every warrior he meets, and never ever ever reveal his name. Naturally, when Cuchulainn gets challenged by some kid, cue the Curb-Stomp Battle. Then Cuchulainn notices a really familiar-looking ring...
* [[Bluebeard]]'s wives invariably fell victim to this trope.
* Psyche ''nearly'' averted this. When her husband {{spoiler|Cupid}} told her never to look upon his true form, she was perfectly fine with it until her sisters convinced her that he might be a hideous monster (despite that she had previously felt his body and had plenty chance to feel his face). At least she only had to deal with a [[Mama Bear]] that was already mad at her instead of the [[Deader Than Dead]] fate that usually befalls those who {{spoiler|look upon undisguised gods}}. And then, when she was sent to bring back the beauty of Persephone in a box, she ''peeked''. (Lucky he had decided to reconcile and came to save her.)
== New Media ==
* [[Wiki Walk|Links to wiki sites]]. [[Tropes Will Ruin Your Life|This one included]].
* ''[[Neopets]]'' has the [http://www.neopets.com/space/strangelever.phtml Lever of Doom]. The text reads "There's a strange lever sticking out of the space station wall, with a notice that reads, 'DO NOT PULL'. So you probably shouldn't pull the lever. You can if you want. But you shouldn't." The link reads "Pull the lever anyway". When you inevitably do?
* Any site that has a link featured on [http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com Webpages That Suck.] The name says it all.
* The UK [[Cartoon Network]] website had a large red button featured in the top banner that said "DO NOT PRESS". It was also introduced in the site's homepage intro "Just don't push the big red button". Cue an arrow pointing to it.
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* One of the random boxes in Warehouse 23 contains a laptop that, when picked up, types the message "Do you want to continue? Y/N" Choosing "yes" just makes the screen go black until you futz with it again. Choosing "no" results in... your heart stopping. Well, you did say you didn't want to continue...
* For one day Twitter was cannibalized by a "Don't Click" hack that, upon clicking a button, sent a Tweet to your followers with the link to the button and a "Don't Click" warning. ([http://dsandler.org/wp/archives/2009/02/12/dontclick Read all about it.])
* From [[Uncyclopedia]]: [
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HutsJufp0po This YouTube link is a not Rick Roll.] The bait here being that you avoid the link because you're told it's not a rick roll...
** Conversely [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ this video is one.] (Am I [[Briar Patching]] you or not?)
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* Those who believe in the [[Magical Computer]] are prone to this kind of error: [http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Do-not-run-this-script,-ever!.aspx Do not run this script, ever!] Shorter semi-example: [http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The_Forbidden_Parameter.aspx The Forbidden Parameter].
** "Do not edit this Configuration file by Hand!" or for Warcraft3-Savefiles something akin of "Hackers, do not play around with this file."
* Encyclopedia Dramatica, '''THE''' most offensive encyclopedia on the web, has a page to apologize to anyone that is offended by its material. You would have to be '''an idiot beyond all measure''' to actually look at that page.
**
** The "Kittens" page is much worse. Why? Because ''the entire Pain Series is the background'', and it locks you on the page for ten seconds.
* A practical joke that had a switch conveniently labeled [http://catb.org/jargon/html/magic-story.html "Magic/More Magic"] would "magically" crash the computer it was attached to if it was switched from "More Magic" to "Magic". It wasn't ''supposed'' to do anything—the switch was completely inoperative. And yet, every time it was set to "Magic"... Maybe it won't crash the computer ''this'' time.
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* [[Wikipedia|That Other Wiki]] has made it official policy [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:DDMP|not to delete the front page]]. [[wikipedia:Wikipedia:Village stocks#Maxim for the .22what does this button do.3F.22 award|The incident]] that is why they have this policy is a prime example.
== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''
** Calvin attempts to lure Susie to a spot where he can hit her with a water balloon, but she doesn't notice him dropping (planting) his letter with an obvious secret code until he loudly exclaims to Hobbes that, "I hope Susie doesn't read our secret letter, because then ''all our plans would be ruined''." At which point it backfires spectacularly.
** She also gets him passing notes in class. She tells him to pass on the note, but not to read it first. The note, naturally, says: "Calvin you stinkhead: I told you not to read this. Susie."
** A more successful version uses a series of "Important message, this way" signs, culminating in "Important message : Look out!" and a tossed water balloon.
* ''[[Dilbert]]''
** In one strip, Dilbert tells the [[Pointy-Haired Boss]] not to touch the "prototype", or he'll be shocked. Naturally, the boss's thought bubble reads "Must touch", and he touches the thing, and gates zapped with a ridiculously huge surge of electricity. In the third panel, Dilbert tells the boss not to touch it a second time, and the boss, who is severely charred by the first shock, thinks [[Too Dumb to Live|"Must... touch... second... time."]]
** Wally makes use of this trait in later comic, when Asok accidentally erased the entire customer database. He gives the boss Asok's laptop, and says that this is an unstable prototype and should not be touched. When the boss immediately does, Wally blames the boss for just now erasing the database.
* In one strip of the newspaper comic ''[[Frazz]]'', we find out that the eponymous janitor has installed a box basically designed to make the kids ask, "What's that for?" so that he can tell them to leave it alone. The box actually ''doesn't'' do anything, except to distract them from the fire alarm.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120130150837/http://www.broadside.net/M09051119.htm This] ''Greenside'' cartoon. A marine stands in the middle of a room full of signs in bright colours with enormous lettering telling him not to press the button. He is pressing a large red button. Two scientists just outside the room are looking in through a window and the first is telling the second "I told you so."
* In a ''[[Prickly City]]'' Sunday cartoon, Winslow sees a button with a "Do not push" sign. After some careful idleness, he pushes it in the penultimate panel. In the ultimate one, he complains, "If you break the rules you deserve a boom."
==
* Every single time [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]] asks somebody a question, he cuts them off before they can give him an answer.
{{quote|'''The Rock:''' How dare you little jabroni come on The Rock's show and not even have the class to introduce yourself? What is your name?
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'''The Rock:''' IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS! }}
** "It doesn't matter" is something of a [[Catch Phrase]] for The Rock, to go along with his many, many others.
== Puppet Shows ==
* In a scene from ''[[Spitting Image]]'', a retarded [[Ronald Reagan]] (the President's brain is missing) has two identical buttons right next to his bed. One reads "Nurse", the other one reads "Nuke". Guess which one he hits when his brain goes missing.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBh7Vd2hkUw&lc=Ugx0qWrdjkcBTWoXgap4AaABAg.9Q3T5-Nja-q9b2SGU6QHi4 This old short] from ''[[Sesame Street]]''. The newspaper seller is announcing the headline, "Four People Fooled" - when Ernie believes him and buys a paper, the headline becomes "''Five'' People Fooled".
== Tabletop Games ==
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** In one of the depreciated computer crash campaigns, it's described that the computer was infected with some ancient evil. After the players manage to trap it, it is stored in a box labelled "Do Not Open". The schmucks in Alpha Complex open it, and unleash the ancient evil (again).
** In another official adventure, one of the Troubleshooters' secondary assignments is to test an experimental "Traitor Killer". {{spoiler|When you pull the trigger, it explodes. ''This is intentional''; the assumption is that the traitor on the team will volunteer to test it so that it won't be used against him.}}
* In [[Poker]], massively overbetting with unbeatable hand sometimes causes people to call you, because, "Surely, if he really had a hand, he would bet less so as to get paid."
* ''[[Munchkin (game)|Munchkin]]'' is guilty of this trope in nine different shades; Space Munchkin's "TRAP! The Most Fiendish Trap of All!!" actively illustrates this with a [[Big Red Button]].
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''
** The flavor text for the card Fat Ass from the parody set ''Unhinged'' has the flavor text, "Our lawyers say no matter how funny it would be, we can't encourage players to eat the cards. Hear that? Whatever you do, ''don't'' eat the delicious cards."
** In an official website article, the author makes a point about the nature of Magic's goblins by offering readers several large red buttons to push. Pushing them (sometimes after several pushes) causes the text and graphics to become scrambled. Except the last button. ''That'' one gives a censored preview card for the new expansion.
** Whenever your opponent plays something you've never seen before, it's a normal reaction to grab the card for a second to look at it and figure out what it does...Unhinged made this instinctive act come back to bite the player with [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74319 Vile Bile.]
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' card game: The illustration of [http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Reckless_Greed Reckless Greed] shows a greedy man reaching for a treasure chest that is clearly over a trapdoor and [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|and filled with snakes]].
=== Gamebooks ===
* Pick-a-path books are veritable minefields of Schmuck Bait. Choose the wrong options, and you're hosed.
* ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' too. The trouble with those though is that often times they trick you with options that ''seem'' like obvious Schmuck Bait which turn out fine and options that appear harmless leave you to a horrid fate. In one book, for example, you need to choose between whether you should run back into a burning building after a friend or escape. If you return then you live and get a relatively happy ending ({{spoiler|complete with rescuing the friend's ancestor from slavery; it's a long story}}). If you escape from the building then you wind up being mistaken for a thief while trying to put out the fire, are publicly humiliated by being forced to wear a sign that says you're a thief, and then get shot and killed for inadvertently sitting and resting on the steps of a bank (which the police think you're looting).
* Some of the later books in the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' series elevate Schmuck Bait to an art form. For example, in ''Return to Firetop Mountain'' you might be able to catch two of the [[Big Bad]]'s spies (which requires dodging a couple of baits first, BTW). You kill them, and one has a bit of paper hidden in his boot. Woot! Secret info as your reward for being clever enough to reach that point, right? [[Memetic Mutation|WROOOOOOONG]]! It's a cursed scroll.
* In the interactive ''[[Zork]]'' novels there's usually a trap that asks if you found a certain item that doesn't exist. If you say "yes" the book calls you out for cheating and doesn't give you the option of going back and trying again that it usually does.
* Same thing in the first book of ''La Saga du Prêtre Jean'' with the nonexistent key to a door that can't be opened.
* The interactive 1st Edition ''[[Dungeons & Dragons|(A)D&D]]'' game book ''Survival of the Fittest'' has a beautiful schmuck-bait trap. The entry at the bottom of each page is a ruse; no other entry led to them from any accessible part of the game. Some were straightforward, like "If you have gotten here you have gone to the wrong number, because there is no 14J. Subtract 1 from your Intelligence, and go to 1A." However, one of these inaccessible entries was particularly cruel: "You have stumbled across a Ring of Three Wishes! To use it in your campaign, just show your Dungeon Master this and the steps you took through this book to get here, then abide by his/her restrictions for the wishes." Given the [[Magnificent Bastard|prerequisites]] for being a DM, it may actually be doing you a favor.
== Urban Legends ==
* A lot of myths claimed that [http://www.snopes.com/risque/school/bracelet.asp gel or rubber bracelets] for teens are a sexual signal and the guy who can break one from a girl would get her compelled to have sex with him. Other myths claim if the guy can take the pull tab intact from a girl's can of beer or soft drink she will kiss him, and if he can remove the lid from the can she will have sex with him. Cue the poor guy try to break with bare hands the rubber which is designed specifically to not break easily... or remove with bare fingers the lid from an aluminium beer can.<ref>unless you have grip pliers for fingers and screwdrivers for nails, you would just break your nails and make a fool of yourself</ref>
== Video Games ==
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** ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' and its expansions tend to leave small piles of ammo, health and power apparently in the open on the opposite end of seemingly empty rooms or vents, except when you go to get them the floor will collapse or something and leave you suddenly surrounded by headcrabs or somesuch. The first time you can probably be forgiven for falling for it, but afterwards not so much especially since you can grab the items safely from a distance with your gravity gun.
** In time, you come to realize that the corpses you tend to find nearby are from the many people that sacrificed themselves setting those caches, and the things that killed them are likely expecting your arrival too.
* ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'':
** If you see the Witch and manage not to instantly interrupt her, and everyone else tells you ''not'' to shoot her... listen to them. This becomes particularly annoying in ''[[Left 4 Dead 2]]'', where you get an achievement for NOT startling any of the 10-20 Witches in the sugar mill of the Hard Rain campaign. It's uncertain what's worse about actually obtaining the achievement: the tension and difficulty of the actual task, the constant reminders about not shooting the Witches from the AI, or the AI [[Artificial Stupidity|taking the Schmuck Bait themselves and shooting a Witch that could easily have been avoided, forcing the rest of the group to save them]].
** The sequel also has jukeboxes in some area, allowing players to put on music when zombie killing. The problem is, said music also attracts zombie hordes. In ''The Passing'' DLC, there is a particular stereo at a wedding which causes the witch that always spawns there to get spooked and immediately attack the survivor that activated it, in addition to a horde being summoned.
** The "Dead Air" campaign takes place in an airport. In one part of that airport is a metal detector that you can walk through in plain sight. Walking through it causes an alarm to go off, alerting a horde of Infected. It becomes a [[But Thou Must!]] in the sequel, due to changes in the map that force you to walk through the detector anyway.
* Many [[Sierra]] [[Adventure Game|adventure games]], particularly ''[[Space Quest]]''.
** Pressing the "Don't Touch" button in the escape pod of ''
** One computer terminal in ''
** Also in ''
** The SCS Eureka's self-destruct mechanism in ''
** In ''[[King's Quest VI Heir Today Gone Tomorrow]]'', the Genie attempts to get you to kill yourself through a succession of
* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' has the sprays, which can be used to lay traps for enemy players; apply a spray, hide nearby, and ambush them when they stop to look at it.
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOR3snVKW0E One griefer] used [[Distracted by the Sexy|images of scantily-clad ladies.]]
** Clever Heavies can use their [[Satiating Sandwich|Sandviches]] as Schmuck Bait. Throw the Sandvich someplace where an enemy is likely to notice it, wait for the schmuck to take the bait, then pump 'em full of minigun lead. Works especially well with the Tomislav.
** Not to mention Spies who can disguise themselves as high-priority targets from their own team (
* The [[
* ''[[Commander Keen]] 2'', subtitled "the Earth explodes", has an alien mothership orbiting Earth, with numerous death rays that will cause it to, you know, explode. Each of those comes with a convenient switch that allows the player to activate them. Oops.
* There are numerous video games where, when reaching the final boss, said boss
* The very short [[Interactive Fiction]] game ''[[Pick Up the Phone Booth And Die]]'' is one of the purest examples of Schmuck Bait ever created. And yes, if you pick up the phone booth, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|you die]]. (There is a way to win, by the way.) There is also the frozen pole in the IF game ''So Far''. For any [[Genre Savvy]] player, the invitation to [[Tongue on the Flagpole|lick the pole]] is Schmuck Bait. But the game triple-dog-dares you to lick it anyway....
* In ''[[The Neverhood]]'', the only way to die partway through the game and get the "Game Over" screen is to jump into a pit, which is clearly labelled with signs that say ''not'' to jump there...
* After you are released from the Human Juicing Machines in ''[[Prey]]'', you come to a switch beneath an observation window overlooking the same machine. Pushing the switch causes the machine to resume its juicing of the other captives, and it cannot be deactivated again. Way to go, Hero.
* In the second ''[[Thief (series)|Thief]]'' game you may come across a button labeled, "Do not push this button." {{spoiler|Press it, and two angry giant spiders spawn directly behind you. You were expecting maybe a prize, genius?}} Actually a fairly reasonable trap to put someplace where you're expecting a thief. People who live there know better than to touch the button. An unauthorized visitor wouldn't be able to resist.
* Downplayed with the shotgun in the original ''[[Resident Evil]]''. It's one of the most potent weapons in the game, but taking it arms the notorious "Jill Sandwich" ceiling trap. It can, however, be safely taken replacing it with the broken shotgun. Of course, that causes you to skip the scene with line entirely, which is [[Actually Pretty Funny]] in hindsight.
* ''[[Myst (series)|Myst]]''
** Say, what's this? Some old book? Hmm, what kind of language is—holy crap! A tiny movie screen?! Is that an island? Looks a bit dusty, lemme see if I can wipe some off...
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* At least one ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' hack pulled a move that makes the infamous Kaizo Trap seem easy. At the start of a certain level, there was a message block saying not to hit the midway point. a little later, you see a seemingly inaccessible 3up moon with no way out. and then you see the midway point. if you hit the midway point and died later in that level, you'd spawn next to where the 3up moon was, and the message block there chastised you for not following directions.
* The original ''[[System Shock]]'' sets you up rather evilly around halfway through. SHODAN plans to wipe out life on Earth with a massive barrage of laser fire from an orbital station, and naturally it's your job to stop her. Unfortunately, you stumble across an inadequately labeled laser-control switch, and... well, let's just hope you saved recently.
* ''[[Guild Wars]]'' has several treasure chests, heaps of gold and suspicious wall panels scattered throughout the Nightfall lands labelled "Do not touch". When you touch them, you will get a precious item and gold,
* Pretty much every ''[[Roguelike]]'' has tons of unlabelled potions and fountains and things that you just know have fabulous magical effects... of some sort.
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]''
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** ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' has several friendly monsters that [[Fairy Battle|ask you for an item]], which they will give you tons of AP for it and their battle theme is different to show they're friendly. However, there's a monster called the Gimme Cat that tries to trick you by demanding a Diamond and if you give it one, it runs off with it and you leave with nothing. However, since the normal battle theme plays, that should tell you "do not listen to this monster". Be careful fighting it because it attacks with the powerful Comet spell.
** In ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', after you defeat a Mark in Bhujerba the Moguri who gave you the quest will ask you to go to the shop where she works to get her diary, and tells you not to read it. {{spoiler|[[Inverted Trope|Inverted]], since you whether you read it or not doesn't matter, but what you tell her when she asks you if you did.}}
** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'': So you've just reached Pulse, now you can finally go anywhere you want! Hey, look at those gigantic tortoise-things! Surely they give massive CP! No need to worry, we just defeated a freaking [[Physical God|Fal'ce]], of course we're Badass enough to handle this thing...
** And similarly in the sequel you gain access to the Archylte steps very early on, in which, under sunny conditions a Long Gui spawns. You can fight him more or less right out of the gate. You won't last ten seconds.
* At one point in ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', you'll get a chance to go to Ozzie's fort in 600 A.D. After defeating powered-up versions of Flea and Slash, you'll be led into a room where Ozzie's operating an obvious [[Death Trap]], where a guillotine is guarding a delicious-looking treasure. Attempting to grab it while the machine's running will cause damage to your party. Instead, you'll need to go up the stairs to chase after Ozzie, at which point a greedy imp will attempt to open the treasure box, only to get chopped to bits by the guillotine. You can grab the contents after chasing away Ozzie, but there's not much of use in there anyway (just a Hi-Potion). {{spoiler|There's a corridor on the lower right where Ozzie has hidden most of Magus' most powerful equipment. Curiously, he leaves this portion of the room unguarded.}}
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** "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this... [[Have a Nice Death|You jumped into a sword! You retard!]]"
** Also, "This is the safest room in the game, only Q can kill you."
* In ''The Lost Crown: A Ghosthunting Adventure'', the Schmuck Bait turns out to be
* In ''[[Cave Story]]'', the first time the pit of instant death appears in the game is adjacent to a sign saying: "Watch out! Deathtrap to your left! One touch means instant death!"
* ''[[Dynamite Headdy]]'' has a stage late in the game with a couple blocks marked "Don't shoot!".
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* ''[[Portal 2]]'' has quite a few examples. To wit:
** The "missing" Emancipation Grill, which GLaDOS specifically tells you not to bring anything through. Sure enough, she just wants to [[Yank the Dog's Chain]].
** GLaDOS attempts to lure you to her "final test", which is conveniently already solved and has an open doorway ostensibly leading to the outside. Even Wheatly (a robot deliberately programmed to be an idiot) reacts to this by saying [[Who Would Be Stupid Enough...?|"How stupid does she think we are?"]] Falling for it earns you an [[Violation of Common Sense|achievement]]... and a reload.
** A door marked "GLaDOS Emergency Shutdown and [[The Cake Is a Lie|Cake Dispensary]] -- Keep Unlocked". She savagely [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this one, despite it being a case of [[Trap Is the Only Option]].
** Several of {{spoiler|Wheatley's}} [[Death Trap]]s, or as he refers to one of them, a "[[Better to Die Than Be Killed|Death Option]]", He goes so far as to express pleasant surprise if you actually fall for them, and one earns you an [[Violation of Common Sense|achievement]].
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** Also, a rogue class quest makes you go to the clan's secret base and objective is "Survive the trial". When you find the secret entrance and wander through the cave, there's a lonely treasure chest that looks normal...but if you click on it, a much more higher level elite enemy will come and kill you with one strike. The kick? You must NOT click the chest, but calmly go through the cave. It's even lampshaded by the NPC you'll return the quest to: "Couldn't keep your hands away from the chest, could you? Don't worry, almost no one can."
** Players in Battlegrounds will often set up some schmuck bait with the following "/e has reported you AFK. Type /afk to clear this status." Typing /afk marks you as "Away from Keyboard" and if you're in a Battleground, it removes you. The results of this with [[Munchkins]] are [[Hilarity Ensues|predictable]].
** Another battleground prank is for a mage to open a portal, and say to click on it to help summon free food and water. And everyone who isn't paying attention gets dumped out to a city and given a "deserter" debuff that prevents them from rejoining for 15 minutes. [[Awkward Zombie
** A weird example, as it first appeared in ''[[Warcraft]] III'', but you get a flashback of it in World of Warcraft as well: Frostmourne is floating above a dais that has an inscription that reads "Whosoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit." Arthas decides that it's [[Worth It]] - and of course [[Trap Is the Only Option]] to defeat the current enemy.
* ''[[Oddworld]]: Abe's Oddysee'' has fireflies that give hints if you stand still and chant for a while. One of those hints is: "Watch...out...for...that...bat"—whereupon the [[Goddamn Bats]] would swoop down on you and kill you.
** The very end of the game has a countdown until [[Deadly Gas]] floods the factory and, should the player rescue the last worker, they will be given the one-use ability to avoid capture through granting the ability to murder the evil C.E.O.s and the capturing guards almost instantly. Doing so, however, leaves the player alone in the board room with the [[Time Bomb|still counting down gas timer]] and a lever labelled "'''GAS SHUTOFF'''", which
* In ''[[Fallout 3]]'', it is possible to find a Garden of Eden Creation Kit (The G.E.C.K.) -- and you may activate it. Attempting to do so will warn out that it will destroy everything in a several mile radius for raw materials—whereupon you may confirm that you'd like to activate it. Do note, however, that that radius includes {{spoiler|The main Super Mutant base, the [[Big Bad]]'s main base, and Little Lamplight. The player dies at the end of the main quest, anyway.}} Since Super Mutants are usually swarming the G.E.C.K., using it is a last-ditch method of [[Taking You with Me]].
* ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]''
** The final chamber of Vault 11. It's locked by a terminal which can only be accessed through a password, which itself is at the far end of the explorable space in the Vault. Everything you've read up to this point tells you this chamber is bad news, as in the "not compatible with continued living" kind, but chances are you're going to go there anyway simply because you ''have'' to know what the fuss is about. The game awards you with a decent amount of XP for doing so, since it's an unmarked quest.
** There's also one in the "Dead Money" expansion, set up for plot purposes. You are explicitly told (before you have an opportunity to do so) that if you
* ''[[The Path]]'' only gives you two instructions: Go to grandmother's house, and [[Stay on the Path]]. Guess what you do.
* Interesting
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]''
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past]]'', a sign says not to throw anything into a nearby circle of stones. This game allows you to pick up and throw signs. Need I continue? {{spoiler|The ''first'' time you do this, you actually get rewarded for it; in fact, you need the item you get to complete the game. Do it again, though, and the creature that lives in the circle of stones throws an active bomb or a fireball at you.}}
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|Majora's Mask]]'', the fight with Goht only happens because you decided to shoot a ''Fire Arrow'' at the giant mechanical demon entombed in a block of ice. As usual, [[But Thou Must!|to continue with the game]] you have to
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword|Skyward Sword]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this via a treasure chest that appears while helping [[My Species Doth Protest Too Much|Batreaux.]] Batreaux will warn you, ''desperately,'' that this treasure chest is ''not'' to be opened, and goes on at length about the horrible [[Standard Status Effects|Cursed Medal]] that lurks inside. You can repeatedly tell him you want to open the chest anyway. If you ''do'' open it, he admits that the curse is pretty easy to circumvent, and that the human tendency towards doggedly persistent curiosity is one of those things he finds so darn endearing about them.
* The aliens in the game ''[http://www.stfj.net/art/2009/loselose/ Lose/Lose]'' each represent a random file on the user's computer. Your ship represents the Lose/Lose executable. When a given alien is killed in-game, that file is deleted. When you die, Lose/Lose is deleted. The game's high score list contains scores in the thousands. And yes, this game really does delete random files from your computer, so consider yourself warned. It's such powerful schmuck bait that Symantec started [http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/osxloosemaque-it-s-not-just-game-anymore detecting it as a Trojan]. According to the creator, it explores what it means to kill in a video game, how valuable data is to us compared to real possessions, and the implications of trusting important information to technology that is growing increasingly difficult to understand. [[True Art]], in other words.
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* In the second to last level in ''[[Tomb Raider]] III'', after crossing over a pit of fire, there's a Large Med Kit sitting in plain sight in a narrow hallway. Seeing how difficult the game is in general and how stingy finding health kits are (unless you actively been looking in secret areas for them), most players will happily try to take the item. However, stepping on the tile where the item rests on causes a spiked log to roll down from above and crush you if you don't react fast enough. Even if you do avoid it, the trap sits on top of the item, rendering it inaccessible.
* Chapter 2 of ''[[Kid Icarus: Uprising]]'' presents a section of its ground-based level that has a treasure chest, just sitting out there in the open, waiting to be plundered. Not. That chest's a trap, and Magnus even tells Pit how the facet of an actual treasure chest with actual treasure presented in plain sight is outright ludicrous.
* ''[[Demon's Souls]]'' as well as its [[Spiritual Successor]]s ''[[Dark Souls]]'' and ''[[Bloodborne]]'' are fond of leaving treasures, often on corpses, that just happen to have enemies waiting to ambush a player who goes directly for it. ''Just'' enough treasure is left like this and ''genuinely'' unguarded to make it keep working.
* ''[[Nioh]]'' and its sequel also copy the above [[Follow the Leader|as they do with a lot of ''Souls'' mechanics]].
=== Visual Novels ===
* In ''[[Disgaea Infinite]]'', one path allows you to possess a Geo Symbol. If you do this, you get destroyed, triggering one of the [[Bad Ending]]s.
* ''[[Corpse Party]]'': In Chapter 2, you are warned not to read the Victim's Memoirs to their conclusion. You may think "Tch! In Chapter 1 I was warned not to read that newspaper, but I had to in order to reach Chapter 1's True End. Let's take a look." Enjoy {{spoiler|having Yoshiki realize that he's killed Ayumi [[I'm a Humanitarian|and resorted to cannibalism]]}}.
== Web Comics ==
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{{quote|'''Traveling Merchant:''' Tell me, wombat -- if I gave you a box and told you that it must not be opened, ever, under any circumstances, what would you do?
'''Digger:''' Hmmm... Encase it in concrete, probably. Actually, I'd encase it in lead first, if the box materials could take the heat, then in concrete. Then I'd put it in the foundations of a useful public works project. Something they wouldn't be digging up again in a hurry. Grain storage, or mole dung composting... I'd have to check and see what was available... how big a box are we talking about, anyway? }}
* ''[[
** [http://xkcd.com/242/ Proof that the difference between genius and idiocy is only a very fine line indeed, laid out in easily-erased ink].
** A
** And there's also [http://xkcd.com/608 this one].
** [http://xkcd.com/609/ The ultimate example.] Hint: Click the comic.
** [[Comedic Sociopathy|Black Hat Guy]] even [http://xkcd.com/804/ leaves a warning note]!
* ''[[8-
* Discussed in the ''[[Queen of Wands]]'' commentary to the [http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20060110.html horrible, putrid, awful], [http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20060111.html bad milk] strips.
* ''[[Cyanide & Happiness]]'' has a pretty good example in their animation "The Sign", where police beat anyone who reads a sign that says "Do Not Read".
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'''PT410X''': Wait, you BELIEVED me??? AAAAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA }}
* ''Nerd Rage'' presents: [http://www.nerdragecomic.com/index.php?date=2013-08-30 Animal Crossing version].
* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' had a note on obvious traps in a rant box [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1791.html here].
* In episode 507 of the ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' online 4-koma "Operation: More Love Love! Web Edition" ([https://safebooru.donmai.us/posts/6628998?q=pool%3A7425 Safebooru link]), Team Rabbit's tank gains a mysterious new switch during maintenance. Of course, somebody ''needs'' to push it to find out what it does.
== Web Original ==
* [
* Derrick Comedy: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdfMu77sYH4 "Don't Jerk Off to This"].
* Oh, I hope nobody plays
* ''[[asdfmovie]]'' gives us the [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Pointless Button]]. It does absolutely nothing when pressed.
** "Hey, it says 'gullible' on the ceiling." [[Subverted Trope|"Oh, so it do-]] [[Double Subversion|Aw, crap, you stole my lungs."]]
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* ''[[Skippy's List]]'' has examples:
{{quote|189. Do not dare SERE graduates to eat bugs. They will always do it.}}
* One of the [[Pokémon/Memes|Pokemon Shaming]] pictures says that [https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/8255453440/hAC9D06F4/ Gardevoir looked
* In the "Yellow" Trailer for ''[[RWBY]]'', Yang offers to "kiss and make up" with
== Western Animation ==
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* ''[[Regular Show]]'':
{{quote|"In the name of all that is holy, ''don't'' connect the red wire to the blue wire. Thanks."}}
* In the old ''[[Popeye (cartoon)|Popeye]]'' propaganda cartoon "Spinach Fer Britain", this is how the hero deals with the U-boat crew. When they rush out to fight him, he exclaims "Heil Hitler!" and the Nazi crew, being stupid and blindly loyal to their leader, stop to salute, letting Popeye belt them all into a minefield.
== Real Life ==
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* Any Wet Paint sign.
{{quote|''Tell a man there are 978,301,246,569,987 stars in the sky, and he will believe you. Show him a "Wet Paint" sign, and he will check and get his finger stained.''|'''[[wikipedia:Julian Tuwim|Julian Tuwim]]'''}}
** In the NYC subways, you will often see [http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4058/4667210859_d89bcf6770_z.jpg this sign] after the paint has dried, but nobody has taken away the sign. To be fair, all wet paint signs eventually become false statements.
* Apparently, some tech departments will periodically send out emails with viruses attached, informing everyone at large not to open attachments like that. If someone does, a conveniently-attached tracer lets the department tell managers which of their employees cannot follow directions.
* Using the [http://jalopnik.com/5061221/gt+r-owner-busts-tranny-using-launch-control-nissan-claims-issue-not-covered-under-warranty Launch Control] on a [[Cool Car|Nissan GT-R]] will void the warranty.
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** And in reverse, the [[Play Station 3]] warns on the back that it will only accept one exact power voltage, usually the voltage where the [[Play Station 3]] was originally sold in. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110909025547/http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_posts.php?thread_id=68988 People who imported their PS3 found that it's a sham, a PS3 actually has a world-multi power supply board]. Sony was most likely trying to '''discourage''' people from importing their consoles.
* rm -rf / for novice Unix users. Especially don't run it as root.
** Explaining the joke: rm is "remove". The -r is "recursive". -f means "don't ask me if I'm sure." The single slash denotes the entire filesystem, kinda like C:\ for a Windows machine, but even more. If you run it as a regular user, it'll delete everything you have access to. If you run it as the superuser, (root, user 1, the administrative user) then it'll delete everything. At which point the computer will stop working. Most modern Unix variants will prevent you from running it, since it has no legitimate use.<ref>If you want to wipe the disk and reinstall, then you'll use fdisk or dd. If you want to delete everything because the feds are knocking, then you use a secure deletion tool like GNU shred, rather than something that just marks blocks as dirty. There is no reason ever to use rm -rf / for anything other than quickly trashing a system.</ref> At least one OS (SGI IRIX) rm -rf / run as root does not actually remove ''everything'', because it stops working at some point in the process after removing enough stuff to make the machine effectively unusable for normal purposes. (We were nominally a reseller, had sold the machine, and needed to wipe it and reinstall the OS anyway, so we figured it was a great opportunity to find out what exactly would happen.)
** One of these commands will wipe out Bill's porn collection. rm -rf / home/bill/porn The other will wipe out the entire system. rm -rf /home/bill/porn If you can't tell which is which, then the Command Line Interface may not be for you. This particular mistake [https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/commit/a047be85247755cdbe0acce6f1dafc8beb84f2ac actually happened], leading to the only known github commit to generate an internet meme.
* Lecturers at some Universities to catch students.
** Luis von Ahn at Carnegie Mellon sets at least one assignment per year with a Google-bomb phrase in the questions, leading to a website with the answer and the correct solutions, which logged the IP addresses of people who entered the website. As students were told not to use the internet to do such questions (and such phrases did not exist), he would then happily accuse students who visited the website as cheaters.
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** And never try to get the widget out of a can of Guinness. That perfectly spheroid, enticing ping-pong ball. Don't. Just ''don't''. The can tells you not to.
* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] by police all over the US with [[wikipedia:Bait car|bait cars]], which are set out on the street and "abandoned", while an officer watches from a safe distance. All the car's functions are remote-controlled, allowing the police to shut off the engine and force-lock the doors in order to trap the thief. Oh, and there's a camera hidden in the dashboard, so they have proof that you stole it. Also qualifies as a [[Honey Trap]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140111122949/http://wearscience.com/design/button/ This shirt] neatly summarises the phenomenon.
* [http://wins.failblog.org/2010/10/31/culture-jamming-graffiti-i-dare-you-to-turn-one-on/ These] ominously-labelled switches.
* Sign on Newcastle Tramway: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/1118807/ TOUCHING WIRES CAUSES INSTANT DEATH.][[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|$200 FINE.]]
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** Speed cameras in many countries have warning signs placed a few hundred yards before them warning the motorists of their presence. Traffic police departments absolutely love this trope.
* Pang Juan, a general of Wei in China's Warring States period, came across writing scratched on a tree: however, it was too dark to read. Accordingly, he had a torch lit, revealing the writing to be "Pang Juan dies under this tree". The lighting of the torch was the signal for an ambush, set by Pang's rival Sun Bin, to attack. Pang Juan would commit suicide under that same tree.
* In Metro Manila in the Philippines, there is a sign set-up in the middle of a two-lane main thoroughfare which reads (in the vernacular) "Do not cross. Someone has already died here. Use the overpass." This is a warning to all potential jaywalkers to use appropriate overpasses and pedestrian crossings.
* In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, The Japanese Navy planned for their (decoy) Northern Force to get the attention of the US Navy's covering forces and draw them away so that their Center and Southern Forces could attack the American Landing Zones at Leyte Island. William F. Halsey, commander of the USN 3rd Fleet, fell for the ruse by speeding after them with all of his ships, leaving a handful of Destroyers and Escort Carriers at the mercy of an attack by Center Force which occurred near Samar Island.
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[[Category:Social Engineering]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]
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