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{{quote|'''Bob''': Hmm, there's a lesson in all this.<br />
'''Eglamore''': Okay. Let's hear it.<br />
'''Bob''': Never let sixty angry kids use a herd of laser cows to take over your house.|''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]''}}
 
{{quote|'''Yugi''': It's time for the big message...We've learned that Card Games are the answer to all life's problems. And the only thing I know for certain in this world is that there's a strange man living inside my head who tells me to do things.<br />
'''[[Super-Powered Evil Side|Yami]]''': You said it Yugi! Now burn everything, burn it to the ground!|''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]''}}
 
[[An Aesop]] is, increasingly, one of the most [[Subverted Trope|Subverted Tropes]] on television -- to the point where parodies of them are becoming almost as repetitive as the morals themselves (though to some they will ''always'' be better than an actual [[Aesop]]). [[Aesop|Aesops]] are too basic a tool to become a [[Discredited Trope]], so new comedies will likely keep on spoofing them.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* Speedy Cerviche of ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]'' offered up a great [[Spoof Aesop]] after a battle: "Whoever said 'Violence never solved anything' wasn't a Pizza Cat!"
* In ''[[Bobobo Bobobobo Bobobo]]'', the eponymous character spends a great deal of the fight against Halekulani (a money-obsessed villain) trying to convince him that friendship and normal life is more important than money. At the end, he starts saying what the most important thing in the world really is, and ''just'' as he knocks out Halekulani, admits that it's money, after all.
* ''[[Gintama (Manga)|Gintama]]'' combines this with [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]; each anime episode/manga chapter is usually something like "Stress can lead to baldness, but if you try not to be stressed then that will make you stressed, so there's nothing we can do."
* One episode of ''[[Pretty Sammy|Magical Project S]]'' opens with Sasami and Ginji driving off a cliffside road into the ocean and getting stranded on an island because the latter fell asleep at the wheel. When Ginji explains to Sasami what happened (in an intentionally labored way), they then enthusiastically jump up in excitement, having learned ''nothing'' as they continue their summer vacation.
* The ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' episode "Toys in the Attic" consists of each member of the Bebop's crew (well, except Ein, who is a dog) delivering an Aesop. Ed's aesop [[Word Salad|would probably count]] ("[[Too Smart for Strangers|If you see a stranger]], [[Subverted Trope|follow him]]"), but Spike's aesop is the primary culprit. The aesop is {{spoiler|don't leave food in your fridge}}, put in the context of {{spoiler|[[It Came From the Fridge|the contents of one of the ship's refrigerators having evolved into a horrible poisonous blob monster that attacks the crew.]]}} It avoids becoming a [[Space Whale Aesop]] because it's clear the writers weren't treating the subject matter seriously at all.
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** A later episode has "Feel good about your body. Unless you're ugly."
* [[Sonic X]], or at least the English dub, gives up this gem: 'Remember kids, don't use Formula 1 race cars to catch hedgehogs!"
* Any Aesop from ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei-sensei]]'' falls under this.
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' had many incredibly stupid aesops delivered at their [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle|"Sailor Says"]] segments at the end in the English dub, which are mocked in this way in ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]''.
 
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== Fanfiction ==
* [http://yonwords.livejournal.com/4728.html Crack Shots] [[Star Wars (Franchise)/Fanfic Recs|by yonwords]] is a story Wes Janson is telling to the [[X Wing Series|Wraiths]], after which he tells them that he just gave them valuable insight about their commander. They think he picked the story to illustrate that Wedge Antilles has survivor's guilt and holds himself aloof from people he thinks will die on him.
{{quote| Wes shook his head. "No, I told that story so you'd all know better than to try to out-drink Wedge. It's a mistake I've watched countless people make." He paused and gave them one of his most serious looks. He was a little out of practice but doubted they'd notice. "[[Never Gets Drunk|Even the most mild-mannered Corellian holds his liquor better than the rest of us.]] Remember that."}}
 
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== Literature ==
* [[Douglas Adams]] did this masterfully in ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy|The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]]''. While trapped on Earth two million years before the 20th century, Ford pitches a makeshift Scrabble tile into a bush out of frustration. [[Butterfly of Doom|The toss frightens a rabbit in the bushes, which runs away and is devoured by the fox. The fox chokes on the rabbit's bones and dies. The river rises and washes away the fox, becoming contaminated.]] Later Ford falls in love with someone [[Brick Joke|who then dies suddenly due to drinking from the polluted river:]] "The lesson one should draw from this is to never throw the letter Q into a privet bush, but there are unfortunately times when it is unavoidable."
* [[Jane Austen]] loved this trope:
** At the end of ''[[Northanger Abbey (Literature)|Northanger Abbey]]'' where the hero of the piece has proposed very much against his father's wishes.
{{quote| "I leave it to the reader to determine whether it is the point of this story to promote filial disobedience or parental tyranny."}}
** ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'': What's the secret of living [[Happily Ever After]]? Breaking promises, telling secrets, and being deliberately contrary. The [[Official Couple]] [[Lampshade Hanging|point this out]] when they realize they ultimately got engaged because Elizabeth demanded her aunt reveal something Mr. Darcy asked her to keep secret and Lady Catherine added the [[Forbidden Fruit]] appeal.
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* ''Borgel'' by [[Daniel Pinkwater]] contains several folk tales which contain [[Spoof Aesop|Spoof Aesops]] of the third type (e.g., "Never bet on an eggplant").
** In the last page of [[Daniel Pinkwater]]'s ''Young Adult Novel'', several Wild Dada Ducks ask what the story's moral is, and one of them answers that it doesn't have a moral -- "it is a Dada story."
* This from [[Catch 22|Catch-22]]: Yossarian left his tent in Marrakech one night to fetch a candy bar, and was lured into the bushes by some unknown WAC, and wound up with a dose of the clap. Clevinger once suggested that this should have taught Yossarian the evil of sexual misconduct. "It teaches me the evil of candy," says Yossarian.
* [[Older Than Print]]: ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'': What valuable lesson in chivalry and virtue does Sir Gawain learn after failing his [[Secret Test of Character]]? "Never trust women." -- it really ''is'' a Spoof Aesop, not just a case of [[Values Dissonance]]. Gawain's short speech, in which he explains that, ever since Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit, women have been leading men into evil, was obviously a shameless attempt to excuse his own failure by blaming someone else.
* [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s humorous short story "Never Bet The Devil Your Head": [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin]]. It expands upon it with the intentionally ridiculous [[Space Whale Aesop]] that if you do, he might eventually come to collect.
* In Jonathan Stroud's ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'', one footnote goes off on a tangent about how after being [[Genie in Aa Bottle|trapped in a bottle]] for several decades, he was released by a fisherman. Bartimaeus emerged in suitably spectacular fashion as a lightning bolt throwing giant, and offered the fisherman a wish. Guy dropped dead on the spot of a heart attack. Bartimaeus then says "I know there's a moral in there somewhere, but for the life of me I just can't find it."
* Too many James Thurber stories to count.
* A footnote in Terry Pratchett's novel ''<s>Faust</s>Eric'' explains, "Interestingly enough, the gods of the [[Discworld|Disc]] have never bothered much about judging the souls of the dead, and so people only go to hell if they believe, in their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won't do if they don't know about it. [[Spoof Aesop|This explains why it is important to shoot missionaries on sight.]]"
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'''Angel''': We ''all'' knew that. <br />
'''Cordelia''': Okay, fine. I learned that I have two people I can count on absolutely in my life. And ''that's'' new. }}
* In ''[[DiffrentDiff'rent Strokes]]'', Arnold gets into a fight with the bullying son of the landlord's brother who is subbing for a short time. This leads to a loud confrontation where the brother confronts Mr. Drummond, threatens to evict the family and provokes Drummond to punch the blowhard out. This gives the landlord the excuse to exploit a lease violation that the brother found to raise the rent on the Drummonds, with a veiled threat of eviction to convince them to give in. The punchline is this: after the Drummonds cave in to this threat, the father tells the kids that this is the result of his act of violence. However, when asked if it was worth it, Mr. Drummond immediately remarks it was, for having the pleasure of shutting a bully up.
* ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel -Air]]'' had Will yell at his uncle's [[The Rival|political rival]], which leads him to have a heart attack. When his funeral comes around, all the mourners turn out to hate him, with most of them showing up to make sure he is actually dead. Will -- wracked by guilt -- yells at them all for it, saying they should respect the dead. It seems like this will end the scene on [[An Aesop]], but when they ask who he is, he answers "I'm the dude that killed him" to rapturous applause.
* As was mentioned in [[Berserk Button]], the [[Aesop]] of ''[[The King of Queens]]'' episode "Bun Dummy" is "Save the bun hairstyle for when you're an old lady, and if you're bold enough to wear it as a young lady, don't [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|act like it's the greatest thing that ever happened to you]]".
* The Bernadette Peters episode of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', Sam the Eagle started reading the famous story of "The Ant and the Grasshopper". However, when winter came in the story, Sam was shocked to learn that {{spoiler|the grasshopper drove his sports car to Florida, and the ant got stepped on.}}
* From a ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/96/96rtwilight.phtml parody] of the classic "Eye of the Beholder" segment of ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' (on the season 23 episode hosted by Pamela Anderson {named Pamela Lee at the time}) comes this demolition of [[Rod Serling|Rod Serling's]] usual closing narration:
{{quote| '''Serling:''' So, there you have it. Something that is beautiful to one is not beautiful to another. As this woman learned when she... well... she didn't really learn anything. And neither did we. Frankly, usually I try to have some kind of ironic twist or moral in these things, but... I got nothing this time, because that woman ''was'' hot! In [[The Twilight Zone]].}}
** Another one from a [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/99/99mfunhouse.phtml TV Funhouse] segment starring Tracy Morgan (later of ''[[30 Rock (TV)|Thirty Rock]]'' fame) as Mr. T, complete with mixed metaphors:
{{quote| '''Mr. T:''' Let that be a lesson to all the Gary Burghoffs, Joey Lawrences, Tina Yotherses, and George "Goober" Lindsays! If you believe in yourself, eat all your school, stay in milk, drink your teeth, don't do sleep, and get eight hours of drugs - you can get work!}}
* Even with its "No hugging, no learning" motto, an episode of ''[[Seinfeld]]'' does have a Spoof Aesop. In the episode "The Summer of George", George's plan to fulfill his personal goals during that summer (which he declared "The Summer of George", hence the title) go terribly awry. The Spoof Aesop here would seem to be "Never name a season after yourself; it will only end in tragedy".
* The ''[[Baywatch]]'' spoof ''[[Son of the Beach]]'' ended each episode with a [[Spoof Aesop]]; usually of the non-sequitur and [[Broken Aesop]] varieties.
* On ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', Dr. Bashir attempts to get [[Token Evil Teammate]] Garak to stop lying by telling him the story of the boy who cried wolf. Garak thinks about it for a minute, then hilariously concludes that the ''real'' moral of the story is "Never tell the same lie twice."
* The entire basis of ''[[Strangers Withwith Candy]]'' was producing "backwards" Aesops.
** "You never really lose your parents, unless of course they die. And then they're gone forever, and nothing can bring them back."
* [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] did these on his Saturday morning show, prompted by the E/I proposals.
** The fact that he literally learned the same lesson at least 7 times was made fun of in the DVD commentary. He never actually learned the lesson, either.
* From ''[[Top Gear]]: After the "$1,000 American Car" special, where they travel to the Southeastern United States and purchase a car for no more than $1,000 US in order to complete a few challenges (and after nearly crashing into a river due to bad brakes, [[Deep South|getting chased out of a gas station by an angry mob for having such slogans as "Man Love Rules!" and "NASCAR sucks!"]], and witnessing the devastation of Hurricane Katrina which inspires them to donate their vehicles to local families), they learn a valuable moral lesson: "Don't go to America!"
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* [[Dinosaurs]] once ended a [[Very Special Episode]] on drugs with one of the characters addressing the audience, telling them that drugs were the leading cause of crappy anti-drug episodes of your favorite TV shows. To paraphrase the end of it, "Put an end to PSA's, don't do drugs."
* The ''[[Father Ted]]'' episode 'The Old Grey Whistle Theft' centres around the events that transpire when [[The Ditz|Dougal]] falls in with a bad influence. [[Status Quo Is God|After everything is resolved]], Ted and Dougal discuss what had happened:
{{quote| '''Ted:''' Dougal, don't put too much faith in people who are 'cool'. Most of the time, they're just on the fast track to a life of crime. Father Lennon will probably end up like that corrupt cardinal in ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]] 3''.<br />
'''Dougal:''' Oh, you're right there, Ted.<br />
'''Ted:''' So, have you learned something from your experience?<br />
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{{quote| '''Ted''': Look, the project is now dead. Because we all took the low road. So, I was right. We should always stay on the high road. Lesson learned. The end. And you two are worse than me.<br />
'''Veronica''': Actually, I think the lesson here is, when we're on the low road, we really need to coordinate better. }}
* ''[[Community (TV)|Community]]'' ever few episodes will do this.
{{quote| '''Britta:''' Maybe you're one of those rare people with nothing underneath the surface. Maybe if you put stain remover on a turd, you don't get a diamond - you just get a turd with less direction in life.}}
* One episode of ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'', following various fake dismemberments, has the moral that you shouldn't use a one-armed man to scare someone. This aesop comes into the ridiculously over-specific category, although for the show it's actually good advice.
* ''[[Andy Richter Controls the Universe (TV)|Andy Richter Controls the Universe]]'': Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Kill that man with a rock, and you can have all his fish, AND his wife.
* [[Blossom]] has a [[Show Within a Show]] example. One episode has Blossom, Joey and Six showing the short movies they made for a school project. According to their teacher, "it's an automatic A as long as it teaches a lesson". Joey's movie is a [[So Bad It's Good]] Science Fiction [[Cliché Storm]] with no overarching message whatsoever - and then, once the movie's over, he has superimposed "Don't Drink and Drive" onto the final image.
{{quote| '''Blossom:''' I think it's cheating. The moral of some low-budget scifi ripoff movie is "Don't drink and drive"?<br />
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* ''[[Castle]]'' gives us this gem, when his daughter considers trying out for cheerleading.
{{quote| ''"Well, we both learned a valuable lesson today. You learned you can expand your horizons and grow. I learned that if that involves short skirts and boys I'm not gonna like it."''}}
* The closing songs of the second series of [[Black AdderBlackadder]] sometimes fell into this category
{{quote| Take heed the moral of this tale.<br />
Be not a borrower or a lender<br />
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* [[Zeroth Law of Trope Examples|Shakespeare]]
** ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' ends with a song that teases a moral, but merely ends with ''A long while ago/The world was begun/But that's all one/Our play is done.''
** ''[[Othello]]'' is adapted from an Italian story in which Desdemona delivers a [[Writer Onon Board]] speech saying Venetian/Italian women can't trust Turks or Moors or foreigners in general. Shakespeare leaves the plot largely unchanged but replaces this with a more appropriate speech by the ''villain'' saying a Moor such as Othello was silly to trust (an Italian?) man (himself) over his own wife, a Venetian... we can only guess at the contemporary audience reaction. But to audiences in slaving states of the Antebellum United States in particular, and to some extent Anglophone audiences in general in the 19th and 20th centuries, [[Values Dissonance|the idea that a negro or oriental should be cautious of trusting a European was (quite) laughable.]]
* The ending of [[PDQ Bach]]'s ''Oedipus Tex'':
{{quote| Well the moral of the story is, of course:<br />
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== Video Games ==
* From ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate 2]]'':
{{quote| '''Jan Jansen:''' Well, there's a lesson in there somewhere, I suppose. Never whip a sick ogre? Never tell someone twice your size to pick something up? Never boss someone around unless you can run faster than they can? Aha! If you're going to hire ogres, give them sick days and benefits or they will kill you. Yes... that about sums it up, I think.}}
** Which is actually a rather useful [[Aesop]], all things considered.
*** Actually all of them are rather useful. Especially the third one.
* In ''[[Earthworm Jim (Videovideo Gamegame)|Earthworm Jim]] 3D'', Jim just spent the entire game exploring his four worm brains repairing his sanity, defeating the villains affecting his mind, collecting marbles to rebuild his IQ, and defeat his suppressed feminine side trying to take over his mind and body. Jim's reflection on the whole ordeal:
{{quote| '''Jim:''' I can't believe it's over. I had no idea it would be so strange! ...But I think I learned something from all this. Nothing can destroy the Super-Suited worm hero! I am invincible!"}}
* Some of Otacon's misinterpreted proverbs in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'', such as how the concept of original sin means Snake has to take no responsibility for stealing and killing, and how the lack of profit in the fashion industry for pre-ripped jeans shows that no-one should subvert the natural order of things.
* In ''[[Psychonauts (Video Game)|Psychonauts]]'', Razputin accidentally sets loose the censors in Sasha Nein's brain during Psychic Blast training, and after Raz is forced to seal them away again, the following exchange occurs:
{{quote| '''Sasha Nein''': Young man, I hope you've learned a lesson here today.<br />
'''Razputin''': Yes I have. That shooting things is fun and useful! }}
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'''Elaine:''' A what?<br />
'''Guybrush:''' I don't know, I'm not sure why I said that. }}
** ''[[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge]]'' has another one, after Guybrush is tasked to find the answer to the riddle "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, what color is the tree?". After finally finding an answer ("all of them") we get this exchange:
{{quote| '''Herman:''' Now, what has this experience taught you?<br />
'''Guybrush:''' That philosophy isn't worth my time.<br />
'''Herman:''' I'm very impressed! It takes most people years to reach this point. [[When You Snatch the Pebble|You have learned all that you can from me. Go forth into the world with confidence.]] }}
* The recent [[Nintendo Week]] had this: "Video games are fun! [[Anti Poop Socking|And don't forget]] [[Forgets to Eat|to eat food.]]"
* A trailer for [[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]] had GLaDOS deliver the Aesop: "If at first you don't succeed, you fail."
* In [[Kingdom of Loathing]], low-quality booze gives one very few adventures, and some even does Stench/ Sleaze damage, and takes one forever to get drunk off of. Only go for the good stuff.
* When you complete all of [[Brutal Legend]]'s Overslaughter side-quests, the Hunter leaves with: "Whenever you kill something, a part of you dies. A tiny, pathetic little part of you that you didn't need anyway." (paraphrased)
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* From ''[[Stickman and Cube]]'': "Don't think too much or you'll disappear into nothingness. Especially if you're a cube."
** From the same comic: [http://www.drunkduck.com/Stickman_and_Cube/index.php?p=256280 "Never invade Stickman and Cube, or the author will drop an infinity-tonne weight on you."]
* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'': At the end of [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=22&issue=1 every] [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=45&issue=2 issue], Dr. McNinja [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=48&issue=3 struggles] [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=52&issue=5 to] [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=34&issue=9 find] [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=56&issue=10 an] [http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=56&issue=11 Aesop] except the 5th. [http://drmcninja.com/mcdonalds.html Or the 1st ever.]
* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', chapter 15, Antimony and Kat see that Red has become estranged from her friend, Blue; they blame her acerbic personality, but [[Minor Flaw, Major Breakup|Red blames her hair]]. Annie and Kat humor her by taking her to get a haircut, but they also tell Red that it will take more than new hair to win her friend back. Then {{spoiler|the new haircut ''does'' win Blue back. So the real lesson is that [[The Fair Folk|fairies are capricious and weird]].Or alternatively, "No one is too happy to wang (throw) tomatoes".}}
** Also one presented in [[The Rant]] for [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=224 this strip]:
{{quote| Tom Siddell: Kids! Guys in forests are always willing to help!}}
** Another one in [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=632 this strip:] "Never let sixty angry kids use a herd of laser cows to take over your house."
* ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'': Read or the owl will eat you.
* ''Commissioned'' teaches us an important lesson about donuts and arm pimples here: [http://www.commissionedcomic.com/strips/2008/index.php?date=2008-10-15\].
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0612.html This] [[Order of the Stick]] strip. "See what we learned today, Mr. Scruffy. Solve a mans problems with violence, help him for a day. '''Teach''' a man to solve his problems with violence, you help him for the rest of his life."
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* [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=36113 This arc] of [[Skin Horse]] ends with the team discussing what they learned on the mission. The first two are reasonable Aesops, though your typical Saturday morning cartoon show might have used "power" instead of "violence" for Unity's. Tip, however, learned that "sex is even better if you get the woman's name first!", prompting newcomer Nick to say "I learned not to let the [[Wholesome Crossdresser|lady-dude]] tell us his lesson".
* [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1890#comic This] ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' spoofs the [[Broken Aesop]] of the ugly duckling (he was laughed at when he was ugly, but now he's beautiful so it was bad) by replacing "beautiful" with "knows how to program".
* ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'': "[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003819 This] is exactly why babies should not be allowed to dual-wield flintlock pistols."
* One ''[[Ozy and Millie (Webcomic)|Ozy and Millie]]'' sequence ends with Millie learning the lesson that "pirates are good at math".
* Sandra from ''[[Sandra and Woo (Webcomic)|Sandra and Woo]]'' theorizes where loot from a robbery may be hidden, goes searching there with Larisa, Cloud and Woo. After finding nothing, they go home with several (more or less serious) aesops. A few minutes later, Cloud's mother finds the loot, inches away from where the kids were looking.
* [http://nedroid.com/2009/07/the-seven-trials-more-like-the-seven-stupid-trials-am-i-right-folks/ The Seven Trials], by [[Nedroid]].
* [[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]: "[http://xkcd.com/984/ If you want something done right, learning from the Nazis isn't enough, you have to actually put them in charge.]"
* "[http://mind-numbinglyboringwebcomic.smackjeeves.com/comics/1437975/scissors/ Don't rip hotdogs (or people, the Aesop is not entirely clear) out of fridges and then open them with scissors.]"
 
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'''Caboose''': ... I meant why are we up here in the sun when we could be standing down there in the shade?<br />
'''Church''': Oh! ... Yeah, okay. Let's go stand in the shade. }}
* [[That Guy With theThe Glasses]], in the TGWTG Team Brawl, has this Aesop at the end:
{{quote| '''[[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|The Angry Video Game Nerd]]''': We shouldn't hate each other!<br />
'''[[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]]''': We should team up to hate other things! }}
* [http://www.accursedfarms.com/Video.php?Video_ID=9 Civil Protection] would like to remind you that we're kind of fucked, so you'd better hope aliens from outer space conquer us and massacre four fifths of our population.
** "Hell, we almost had it coming!"
* From [[The Nostalgia Chick (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Chick]]: "Remember, you can't spell [[Black Comedy Rape|rape without rap]]." [[Dude, Not Funny|It wasn't really her shining moment]].
* At the end of ''[[Spatula Madness]]'' (from the creator of ''[[Charlie the Unicorn]]''), after a series of [[Random Events Plot|bizarre adventures]], Edward says:
{{quote| "You know, I learned something that day. Yeah, I may have it rough sometimes. I may lose an arm or even an eye or even lose all hope. We all have our bad times, I'm no exception. But regardless of how bumpy the road becomes and regardless of how many limbs I lose or how bleak the future looks, I can always be thankful that hey, at least I'm not [[Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys|French.]]"}}
* A gem from [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: theThe Abridged Series]] right after Yami has a guy eaten by giant man-eating worms.
{{quote| '''Yami''' "Let that be a lesson to you young man, bullying is not very nice, so I don't want you to doing it ever again. Got that?" <br />
'''Worm''' *Belch* }}
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* The ''[[Tipping Forties]]'' like to end each episode with each player sharing what they've 'learned' from that day's [[Let's Play]].
* [http://www.cracked.com/article/187_6-people-who-got-away-with-living-implausible-lie/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage This Cracked list about impersonators] points out that at least two of them were able to achieve fame, fortune and very little punishment after dropping out of school and pretending to be someone else. #1 died of diabetes, so the writer decides that that's the moral: impersonate someone, and you get diabetes.
* ''[[Eighties Dan (Web Video)|Eighties Dan]]'' Christmas special:
{{quote| "Whether we think about Santa this season, or Jesus, whether we're religious, or we just like presents, we can all agree on one thing. And that's that killing Nazis is fun."}}
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'' the original short.
{{quote| ''[[It Makes Sense in Context|Abraham Lincoln]]'': It doesn't matter. What does matter is you need to believe in yourself!<br />
''Finn'': NEVER! }}
 
** In one episode, Finn tries to make everyone happy by fixing all their problems for them, but discovers it's impossible, because there's too many problems to fix and solving one always means making a different one worse. Then Jake asks, "What do YOU want, Finn?" and of course the viewer expects Finn to have an aesop and realize that he can't please everybody all the time. There's a pause, then Finn proceeds to fix everyone's problems and make everyone happy anyway.
* In ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'', Stan's realization of his dream, becoming his boss Avery Bullock's [[Number Two]], results in his unreasonably imposing on, and neglecting, Francine. Every time she tells him he must finally say "no" to Bullock, Stan immediately breaks his promise. When he finally "gets" the "stand up for yourself" [[Aesop]], it's at the worst possible moment, when Bullock is shot and tells him to call for help. Stan ignores him and walks away even after Francine assures him it's okay to say "yes" this one time.
* In ''[[American Dragon Jake Long]]'', at the end of the episode "Siren Says," the main characters try to figure out an [[Aesop]] but can't. For instance, they start out thinking that it's that [[Stock Aesops|old chestnut]] "don't be prejudiced for the beautiful and against the less attractive"...except that lesson would be [[Broken Aesop|rather inappropriate]] since the beautiful girl was innocent, and the less attractive girl was [[Horny Devils|the evil Siren]] that was framing the beautiful one. Jake briefly considers that agreeing to date the less attractive girl in the first place would have prevented her from attacking him in the first place...but then he'd be dating a clingy, psychotic Siren who could go off at any minute.
** They eventually decide the lesson is {{spoiler|don't trust children's paper fortunetelling toys, and always wait an hour after eating before going swimming.}}
* Many episodes of ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' ended with the Warners getting a random lesson for the day from the "[http://home.eunet.no/~rfyri/Animaniacs/moral.html Wheel of Morality]". In a great gag, one of the spots reads "Bankrupt", making it both a parody of "Wheel of Fortune" and of the phrase "morally bankrupt". There's also a prize space, which they actually hit at one point.
** Lessons "we should learn" from the Wheel of Morality include "Never ask what hot dogs are made of," "If you don't have something nice to say, you're probably at the Ice Capades," and "If at first you don't succeed, blame it on your parents."
** An example ''not'' coming from the Wheel of Morality bits came from the show's ''[[Power Rangers]]'' parody "Super Strong Warner Siblings", with Yakko, Wakko, and Dot as pseudo-Power Rangers fighting off bug monsters and the like. At the end of the short, the Warners show up to deliver the moral of the story...
{{quote| '''Yakko:''' Hey, kids! Remember: Playing with giant bugs ''isn't'' cool! If someone wants you to play with a giant bug, just say "No, thanks!"}}
* One episode of ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Animation)|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'' had Frylock spending the entire episode saying too much TV was bad for you. In the end, however, he purchases a brand new television set for the house, which leads to this exchange:
{{quote| '''Meatwad:''' I thought you said TV was bad for you.<br />
<br />
Line 339:
** ATHF also gave us:
{{quote| '''Meatwad:''' "Well really the morale is that technology... and that that yellow padded chair in the living room is mine I, I called it from now on." }}
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': In the first-season episode "The Waterbending Scroll," Katara shoplifts a valuable scroll of waterbending techniques from pirates, which brings down both the pirates and the Fire Nation on their heads. At the end of the episode, Sokka reveals that he had the presumed-lost scroll, and demands, "First, what did you learn?" Katara says, contritely, "Stealing is wrong." Then, snatching the scroll from Sokka, she adds, "Unless it's from pirates!" (This was Katara's original justification for stealing -- that the scroll was stolen by the pirates in the first place, and [[Pay Evil Unto Evil|theft from a thief isn't really theft]].)
** Of course, this event is suitably skewered during "The Ember Island Players" which primarily consists of a comedic fanfic-esque take on the Gaang's adventures
{{quote| '''Actor!Sokka:''' Katara, why did you steal that waterbending scroll?<br />
Line 347:
{{quote| Aang: It's just like the legend said: we let love lead the way.<br />
Sokka: Really? We let huge ferocious beasts lead our way. }}
* ''[[The Brak Show (Animation)|The Brak Show]]'' was fond of nonsensical morals delivered by the title character.
** Brak's spoof Aesops don't hold a candle to his father's:
{{quote| '''Brak's Dad:''' "Brak, remember that even though a man may have more hairs on his head that there are stars in the sky, that does not mean that he can plan a successful party that movie stars will attend and enjoy... responsibly."}}
Line 401:
* On most episodes of ''[[Moral Orel]]'', Orel is given a [[Spoof Aesop]], but sometimes the Aesops are only Spoofs in comparison to the wrongdoings that go unaesoped. For example, [[An Aesop]] about not playing favorites with your friends in an episode where Orel blindly follows his delinquent friend into vandalizing cars and beating up little kids, or the episode where Orel is chided for his crack addition because crack is a gateway to ([[Dramatic Gasp|* gasp* ]]) [[Jive Turkey|SLANG]].
** Note that Orel became addicted to crack based on Clay's advice in the first place. The poor kid just can't win.
* In one episode of ''[[My Life Asas a Teenage Robot]]'', Brad, having accidentally hijacked a flying saucer, baiting the military, and nearly getting himself and Tuck killed, delivers one to Jenny:
{{quote| '''Brad:''' I think we've both learned something here today: you learned to never interfere with a driver at the wheel, and I learned...to forgive.}}
* In a ''Ned's Newt'' episode, Ned (a kid) and his Newt build a gigantic corporation by acquisitions and then let it collapse in on itself when they tire of it. As Ned enters his house:
Line 428:
** In the South Park episode where Stan and Cartman break a dam and the ensuing Hurricane Katrina inspired chaos leads the town to blame it all on various things, from global warming, to terrorists to Crab people. At the end of the episode Stan has had enough and states "I broke the dam!" Everyone takes this metaphorically though, in that they ''all'' broke the dam, and all begin repeating [[I Am Spartacus|"I broke the dam!"]] to Stan's annoyance.
* Done in every episode of the short-lived cartoon ''Spacecats''. In an unfortunate [[Irony]], the first such lesson was [[Logic Bomb|"Don't watch cartoons. They will rot your brain."]] The cartoon aired on NBC the year the network decided to replace its Saturday morning cartoon lineup with an expanded morning news show.
* In the [[Trapped in TV Land]] episode of ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'' (Control Freak gets into the television and starts hypnotizing the viewers, so they have to go in there and stop him), at the end of the episode we're treated to this exchange not unlike ''[[The Simpsons]]''', above:
{{quote| '''Robin:''' So, I guess it is bad to watch too much TV.<br />
'''Starfire:''' But, we were only victorious because Beast Boy watches too much the television.<br />
Line 438:
* A classic example from ''[[The Tick]]'':
{{quote| '''Tick:''' You know, though today was the worst day of my life, I learned many things. First, the world looks a lot different when you're six inches tall and covered with feathers. Second, two heads are definitely not better than one. And finally, you ''can'' lay an egg and still feel like a man.}}
** This is only one episode, mind you; The Tick delivering Spoof Aesops are a [[Once an Episode]] part of ''[[The Tick]]''. In fact, [[Depending Onon the Writer|some episodes]] (like the one above) feel as if they are [[Overly Prepared Gag|written around their Spoof Aesops]].
* The direct-to-video ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' special ''How I Spent My Summer Vacation'' featured the following [[Credits Gag]]:
{{quote| '''Moral of the Story''' (Pick One):<br />
Line 445:
3) Don't Pick Up Chainsaw-Wielding Hitchhikers<br />
4) Feature Length Movies [[Lampshade Hanging|Should Not Have]] [[Four Lines, All Waiting|18 Different Plots]]. }}
* The ''[[Two Stupid Dogs (Animation)|Two Stupid Dogs]]'' episode "Family Values", a parody of ''[[The Brady Bunch]],'' had a lot of this trope. Every time some random mishap would happen (like getting a finger set on fire), the mother would ask the kids what they learned from all of it. The children would respond with such morals (irrelevant within the episode, but taken from actual ''[[Brady Bunch]]'' episodes) as "I learned not to get hit in the face with a football!" or "I learned that Jesse James is not a good role model."
{{quote| '''Big Dog:''' What did you learn today?<br />
'''Little Dog:''' Nothing. What did you learn?<br />
Line 452:
* Examples of the non-sequitur(or [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]) moral can be found in every episode of Aesop and Son, one of the recurring cartoons on ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]''. In each story, Aesop would illustrate a standard proverb with a fable, and his son would reply with an alternate, punnish moral based on the events of the story, such as "A chain is as strong as its weakest ''mink''", or "''Absinth'' makes the heart grow fonder."
* Some episodes of ''[[Alejo Y Valentina]]'' [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle|end]] with Gregory spouting one of these.
* ''[[Father of the Pride (Animation)|Father of the Pride]]'', despite being a more adult-oriented animated sitcom {{smallcaps| With [[Funny Animal|Funny Animals]]!}}, plays this completely straight. And then subverts it with [[The Stinger]] or [[Aesop Amnesia]] on occasion.
* In the ''[[Veggie Tales (Animation)|Veggie Tales]]'' song "The Yodeling Veterinarian Of The Alps", the last line (which [[It Makes Sense in Context|makes sense in context]]) is, "So the moral of our story is the point we hope we've made--if you've gone a little loopy, better keep your nurse well paid!"
* ''[[Duckman]]'': The Longest Weekend.
{{quote| '''Narrator''': The following story could have happened. Only by treating everyone with dignity and respect can we hope to maintain that element of surprise on that inevitable day when we wipe our enemies from the face of the earth.}}
* In the ''[[Batman: theThe Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' episode "Powerless!" [[Captain Atom]], after acting like a [[Smug Super]], [[Brought Down to Normal|loses his super powers]] and has to save the day by being brave and using his brain. At the end of the episode, he is asked if he has learned his lesson. Cut to him telling kids that he now knows that non-powered humans are the most fragile and pathetic beings on Earth.
* In an episode of ''[[Cow and Chicken (Animation)|Cow and Chicken]]'', Cow writes a play called "The Ugliest Weenie", about a misshapen hot dog who gets mocked by [[All of the Other Reindeer]] (except for the heroine). The final song talks about how "It's Good To Be Ugly After All"...because normal-looking hot dogs [[Nightmare Fuel|get roasted over a fire and eaten]].
* ''[[Rocko's Modern Life (Animation)|Rocko's Modern Life]]'' ended their [[Green Aesop]]/[[Musical Episode]] "Zanzibar" with the message "So you see, kids, if we're not nice to Mother Nature... [[Gaia's Vengeance|she'll kick our butts!]]"
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' ends almost every single episode with Twilight (or as of season two, one of the others) writing a lesson to Princess Celestia about what they learned. The episode "Super Cider Squeezy 6000" gives this chance to Applejack, who goes with this;
{{quote| '''Applejack''': Dear Princess Celestia, I wanted to share my thoughts with you. Eh hem- ''([[Beat]])'' I didn't learn anything! Heh, I was right all along!}}
** Of course, she does follow it up with a real Aesop, about how hardwork is better than cheating and taking short-cuts. She also says that she ''might'' have learned that her friends are always there for her, but that "the truth is, [she] knew that already, too".
* In one episode of ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'', Bender joins the Ultimate Robot Fighting League. His final opponent in the episode is trained by Leela's sexist martial arts teacher, and while Bender gets curbstomped by Destructor, Leela fights Master Phnog under the ring and wins. Leela tells Bender's flattened form, "Sure, you lost. You lost ''bad.'' But the important thing is, I beat up a guy who hurt my feelings in high school."
* ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]'': At the end of one episode, they were asked 'What did you Learn today?' Unable to think of anything to say to fill the twenty-five seconds left of the episode, (and to keep Mr. Whiskers from dancing) the pair decides to say everything that they ''didn't'' learn. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
{{quote| "...I didn't learn the [[True Meaning of Christmas]]."}}
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