Selfless Wish: Difference between revisions

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For|Deconstructed]] in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. It's something of a theme in the series that there is ''no such thing as a selfless wish''. Everyone who makes a wish for someone else's happiness is also unconsciously hoping that it will also benefit themselves, even if only indirectly -- a fact which Mami ({{spoiler|wishes for herself to be saved, later she laments that she could have used the wish to save her parents as well}}), Sayaka ({{spoiler|wants to be loved by the [[Ill Boy]] she uses her wish for, a fact that Mami herself points out}}), Kyoko ({{spoiler|wants to save herself and her family from destitution}}), and Homura ({{spoiler|wants to be the one who rescues Madoka from death}}) all fall afoul of. Also, because [[Equivalent Exchange|hope and despair balance out to zero]], seeing the chance for that selfish expectation slipping away with the equivalent rising happiness already given to someone else sends a Magical Girl deeper into despair. {{spoiler|[[Decon Recon Switch|Then reconstructed at the end: Madoka's TRULY selfless wish becomes the most powerful force ever to exist, because she manages to learn from the examples of the other three, and knows exactly what she wants -- a better world for everyone, even if she has to be erased out of their memories to do so.]]}}

* Quite a few times on ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Sailor Moon uses the Silver Imperium Crystal to make selfless wishes. She wishes Fiore could understand love. She wishes Luna could be human for one night. Her first wish was that all her friends were alive again and that they could all just be normal schoolgirls. She had to take back the second part of that wish when she realized it wasn't completely selfless, since it left the world open to attacks by outer forces, so Luna had to undo Usagi's [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] and later the other girls's.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

*** It's because he was a good person who wanted the world to be better. The only way to make him the most spiteful, mean and self-centered man on earth without changing him is to make everyone ''else'' less spiteful, mean, and self-centered than a man who was willing to give up a wish to make the world a better place for everyone. That would make a much nicer world, meaning the Devil not only has to go back to hell, but also has to contend with a much purer planet Earth.

*** Or the Devil could grant his wish by [[Fridge Horror|killing everyone more spiteful, mean and self-centered than him.]]

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', there was a wishing well guarded by three extremely powerful masked archers. After Jack defeats them, and is about to wish to return home, the archers tell him that the well is cursed: they wished to become great warriors and the well forced them to become its guardians. Jack then wishes for the well to destroy itself and not endanger anyone again.

** In another episode Jack attempts to rescue a trapped fairy that can grant any one wish ''(Including sending him home).'' When he is unable to free her ''(and himself as well)'' he says "I wish we were free".

{{quote|'''Lisa''' I wish for world peace.

'''Homer''' Lisa! That was very selfish of you! }}

* A version of this also features as a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]]. A short called "Seven wishes" features a girl named Jenny being given a magic flower that grants seven wishes, and each wish takes up one of its seven petals. Throughout the short, she teases a kid named Victor who is sitting on a bench reading a book instead of running around and playing. After several small wish-related adventures, she finally is reduced to just one wish and taunts Victor one time. Victor gets tired of her teasing, finally closes his book, then pulls out a pair of crutches from under the bench and starts to walk home. Jenny then uses her last wish for Victor to be healthy again.