39,327
edits
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (update links) |
|||
Line 22:
== [[Film]] ==
* This trope is such a central part of the movie ''License to Drive'', not only is the exact phrase used, not only is it used by the main character, not only is the moment he says it featured prominently in the movie's trailer... but he addresses the question [[No Fourth Wall|directly to the audience!]]
* In ''[[Star Wars]]'':
{{quote|'''Commander #1:''' We've analyzed their attack, sir, and there is a danger. Should I have your ship standing by?
'''Grand Moff Tarkin:''' Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances. }}
** The Empire has to be sure not to let sensitive information leave the Death Star while rebels are running around on the ship. An unauthorized escape pod flies out, but no worries, there's no life forms aboard (in a galaxy filled with sentient robots), so WCPGW?
* Opening credits to ''[[Crazy Like a Fox]]'': "All I need is a ride. What could possibly happen?"
* From ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy 1999]]''. They find the ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead", and Evey decides to read from it. "No harm ever came from reading a book", she says. Cue the eponymous Mummy waking up and trying to kill everybody.
Line 42:
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by the ever [[Genre Savvy]] Peter Venkman in ''[[Ghostbusters]]'': [[Sarcasm Mode|"Why worry]]? Each one of us is carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back".
* In ''[[Zack and Miri Make a Porno]]'', Zack uses the fateful words "What Can Go Wrong?" the night before the crew was planning to shoot the real action for their movie. Since this happens only halfway in the movie, you don't need to be a genius to [[Tropes Will Ruin Your Life|know what to expect]] after that phrase.
* In ''[[Megamind]]'', the titular character [[Victory Is Boring|is bored]] after he defeats his nemisis, [[The Cape (trope)|Metroman]]. So he decides to create a new nemesis by giving someone else Metroman's superpowers. [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]] (IIRC, [[The Dragon|Min]][[The Lancer|ion]] asks this ironically. Well, instead of giving an altruistic person superpowers, he accidentally gives them to an average joe [[Stalker with a Crush|(at best)]]. He decides to go along with the plan anyway. Then, ''after'' said average joe {{spoiler|decides he would rather be a supervillain, Megamind pushes all of [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]] at once}}. [[Sarcasm Mode|Great plan]].
* In ''[[How to Train Your Dragon]]'':
{{quote|
Line 63:
** Ravanna the Demon-King was so hard to kill because of blessings he extorted from Brahma that prevented gods and demons and such-like from killing him. He disdained to get immunities from human or animals, because they were mere food. What could they possibly do?
* One of [[Spike Milligan]]'s silly poems for kids has the King of China declare "I've never felt finer!" — and then promptly keel over and die.
* W. D. Robert's children's mystery, entitled " what could go wrong?" the answer? Just about everything that could when you have three kids( one of whom is very accident prone) and send them off to visit their aunt- alone. oh, and don't forget the guys with guns.
* Inverted by [[Harry Potter|Ronald Weasley]]: "Have you ever heard of a plan where ''so many'' things could go wrong?"
** Ironically, almost everything involved in the plan goes ''right.''
* In ''[[Septimus Heap]]'', {{spoiler|Marcia's comments about Septimus's '''Darke Week''' opening up channels for the '''Darke''' to come out and Septimus's reassurance against it already foreshadow the outbreak of the '''Darke Domaine''' in ''Darke''.}}
* Subverted in ''[[Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets]]'' when Ron asks "Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?" and while things ''don't'' go exactly according to plan, it does go mostly right.
Line 125:
* Jimmy Fallon used this in a joke while hosting the 2010 Primetime Emmys:
{{quote|"[[NBC]] asking the host of [[Late Night]] to come to Los Angeles to host a different show, what could possibly go wrong?" Camera cuts to [[Conan O'Brien]] in the audience.}}
* On Doogie Howser, Doogies best friend is trying to convince him to go with him to check out an car after work. He warns Doogie not to try to get out of it with some gallbladder emergency. Doogie assures him it's an Wednesday and nothing ever happens on an Wednesday. Then he walks away from the TV where the news announcer says "The Verdict in the Rodney King Trial has just come in," and the Intro begins.
* Said word for word by Dean in the season 7 finale of ''[[Supernatural]]''.
Line 144:
** It's also the name of the pilot episode, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|appropriately enough.]]
* ''[[Dead Space (video game)|Dead Space]]''; breaking down entire planets for their mineral resources, hmm, not too bad, already pretty dangerous, but it's mundane dangerous, what are the odds of finding some [[The Virus|VERY unwanted cargo]] when you start mining the place? {{spoiler|Though you eventually discover it's closer to [[Gone Horribly Right]].}}
** Given how much [[Hollywood Science|Hollywood Biology]] you need to justify a species surviving having its planet torn apart...About a [[Million-to-One Chance]].
* Dr. Muto says this before turning on his everlasting power source, which five seconds after being turned on blows up the entire planet, except for his house.
* ''[[Half-Life]]''. [[For Science!|Black Mesa]]. "The possibility of a Resonance Cascade scenario is extremely unlikely". Guess what happens.
Line 164:
* The haiku that describes the Black Cat familiar in ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' is "What a cute kitty!/What could possibly go wrong,/with her at your side?" It is one of the two most actively harmful familiars in the game, reducing experience gains, depleting MP, destroying randomly dropped items, and occasionally preventing the use of skills and items in combat.
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', an Alliance quest in Vashj'ir has you go kill some demonic octopi that are mind-controlling some of the gilblins and take their heads. The NPC who gives you the quest then suggests you put one of them on your own head, quoting this trope. It turns out the demonic octopus wasn't quite dead...
== [[Web Comics]] ==
Line 170:
* [http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2008/08/04/182-go-wrong This strip] of ''[[Anders Loves Maria]]''.
* [http://www.kevinandkell.com/1997/kk1013.html This strip] of the [[Web Comic]] ''[[Kevin and Kell]]''.
* ''[[8-Bit Theater
{{quote|'''Red Mage:''' And now that I've described the plan in full, [[Tempting Fate|nothing can possibly go wrong]].}}
** There's also [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2006/06/03/episode-703-what-could-go-wrong/ Episode 703: What Could Go Wrong?], which indulges in some heavy [[Tempting Fate]].
Line 204:
* Subverted/parodied on ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]''. When Timmy gets his daily life turned into a reality TV show, [[Executive Meddling]] forces him to adopt the trope title as his [[Catch Phrase]]. Then, when Timmy invokes the phrase while referring to his mom's cooking, [[Genre Savvy|she thinks Timmy is insulting her.]]
** Most of the time it's played straight, however. That became his catch phrase because he actually ''does'' say the trope title often. It's almost a [[Once Per Episode]] thing for Timmy.
** Its used so often that when things inevitably go bad when Timmy wishes to be in an old cartoon, Cosmo complains that no one had a chance to say what could possibly go wrong yet.
* Said literally by Genie in ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]] and the King of Thieves'', just before the titular King of Thieves reveals his plan to crash and rob Aladdin's and Jasmine's wedding.
* This is literally the title of the pilot (and only) episode of the cartoon based on [[Bubsy]]. It's also his catchphrase during said show.
* This becomes Spanky Ham's catchphrase on ''[[Drawn Together]]''.
* In the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Free Hat", the boys form a club to save movies from their directors. When they get an appearance on ''Nightline'', Cartman says he will speak because he's the spokesman. When Kyle tells him not to screw up, he says the trope. Besides immediately relinquishing the job to Tweek when Ted Koppel asks why they advocate toddler murder ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]), the appearance also gives [[Steven Spielberg]] the idea to remake ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''.
* ''esternAnimation/RegularShow'' has quite a few examples, especially ''Appreciation Day'', which has a manager's book in which only the truth can be written. Rigby and Mordecai write tall tales in it.
* Cera says this in the second ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' movie.
Line 218:
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Let's simulate a power blackout in our nuclear power plant to field-test the new emergency cooling system we installed. Oh, but wait, that's not enough - we also need to disable all the safety precautions, and then end the experiment with an emergency measure that was never meant to be used routinely. [[wikipedia:Chernobyl disaster|What could possibly go wrong?]]
* [http://www.cracked.com/article_16583_5-scientific-experiments-most-likely-end-world.html The 5 Scientific Experiments Most Likely to End the World], courtesy Cracked, invokes the trope by name.
** [http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-most-mind-blowing-places-science-has-discovered-life/ This more recent article] has this for #5 among others, where a life form ''grows'' instead of dying when subjected to extreme gravity:
| |||