Tempting Fate/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'':

** While the Gaang's ship is under attack, Sokka says, [[Rock Bottom|"Things couldn't get much worse!"]], then a giant sea serpent pops out of the water.

{{quote| '''Sokka:''' The universe just loves proving me wrong!<br />

'''Toph:''' That's 'cause you make it too easy!" }}

**:* The trope is however swiftly subverted, as a stray shot causes the serpent to attack their pursuers instead, prompting a "Thank you, the universe!" from Sokka.

*:* In the two-part episode "The Boiling Rock", the Warden says that no one has ever escaped from his prison. {{spoiler|By the end, 5 people have escaped -- Sokka, Zuko, Hakoda, Suki and Chit Sang.}}

*:* Having captured Toph in a metal container, and in the process of carting her home, Xin Fu gets sick of her yelling and taunts her, saying, "You might think you're the greatest earthbender in the world, but even you can't bend metal!" Guess what skill she proceeds to teach herself and use in the next few hours.

*:* At the end of "The Earth King" Aang and Sokka make their way over the plains surrounding Ba Sing Se on Appa, convinced that things are finally going positively for them. They have the Earth king on their side, Long Feng is arrested, Sokka's on his way to see his dad, Aang's on his way to see a Guru who's going to help him master the Avatar State, Toph's on her way to see her mother, and the Kyoshi warriors are coming to Ba Sing Se. Sokka even says "Everything’s gonna work out perfectly, from now on and forever."<br />However, things go wrong in the next few scenes. In prison, a Dai Li agent delivers Long Feng his meal, but also quietly reassures Long Feng that the organization retains loyalty to him, not the King. Toph goes to meet her mother, and ends up being captured in a metal box by Master Yu and Xin Fu. The Kyoshi Warriors arrive before the Earth King, who formally welcomes them. {{spoiler|Unknown to the king, however, they are actually Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, disguised in Kyoshi Warrior garments and makeup, setting the stage for the (temporary) takeover of Ba Sing Se...}}

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'' has "Harley's Holiday", where a semi-rehabilitated Harley Quinn ends up being pursued by the police, as well as Batman and Robin, after a simple misunderstanding. After taking [[Spoiled Sweet]] Veronica Vreeland hostage, she then ends up being pursued by gangsters who wish to ransom off the debutante. After Veronica realizes Harley really doesn't mean her any harm, she agrees to drop all charges, provided she gets out of this in one piece. A delighted Harley states: "For the first time today, things are finally looking up!" [[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)/Funny|Enter Veronica's hysterical Army general father, bearing down on them in a tank, Patton-style.]]

* Waspinator, the designated [[Butt Monkey]] of ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' gets it in "Changing of the Guard":

{{quote| '''Waspinator:''' Wazzpinator having good day! Not get shot once!<br />

** Parodied wonderfully in the episode where Ponce, a character who had never been seen before and was very obviously introduced just so he could be gratuitously killed off, spends the first half of the episode making blatant fate-tempting statements, such as constantly telling his friends he loves them just in case he never sees them again. Sure enough, he is randomly killed by a flying plastic bag.

{{quote| '''Odd:''' ''(unconcerned/resigned)'' I promise never to complain about not having conflicts with my parents again.}}

*:* This textbook exchange:

{{quote| '''Jérémie:''' I'm putting it to sleep. Odd would kill me if the Super Scan went off in the middle of his film.<br />

*:* "End of Take":

{{quote| '''Sissi:''' Or else what, a monster's going to squirt goopy goo all over my face, huh, Ulrich?<br />

* The ''Titanic'' reference happened in an episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' and ''[[Totally Spies!]]''. Needless to say, neither vacation turned out very well, although to be fair, the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode didn't have the [[Mind Screw]] that the ''[[Totally Spies!]]'' episode did.

* In the ''[[USU.S. Acres]]'' shorts on ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'', Booker often hunts worms, an activity which Sheldon declines to participate in, but which he's usually nearby to witness. Consider this exchange:

{{quote| '''Booker:''' You won't get away from me!<br />

''(the worm gets away)''<br />

* Lampshaded in the ''[[Jimmy Neutron|Jimmy]]/[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents|Timmy]] Power Hour 2''. After Libby says "What, you think a date is just going to come crashing through the roof?", and Timmy Turner does so, she raises her finger and proclaims "I shall use this power for good!"

** In "Grudge Match", [[Huntress]] and [[Black Canary]] face off and against brainwashed superheroines in a [[Cat Fight|Glamour Slam]]. After breaking Hawkgirl and [[Vixen (Comic Bookcomics)|Vixen]] out of their brainwashing, Huntress is feeling lucky and shouts "Is that all you've got?" to villainess Roulette -- who promptly sends (also brainwashed) ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' onto the stage. Cue the heroines' ''[[Oh Crap]]'' expressions.

** "Divided We Fall"'s ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53OyPYa7SEI "Are you going to'' fight me'', boy?"]'' ([[Justice League (Filmanimation)/Awesome|Yeah he's gonna]].) Just after Flash disappears, Luthor says "what do you know, I did kill him". After Superman overcomes the temptation to burn Luthor to a crisp, it turns out Flash is actually still alive.

* [[Playing Withwith a Trope|Played with]] in ''The Mummy'' animated series, where the family is pursued on waters by the Scarab King:

{{quote| '''Jonathan:''' Okay, we should be perfectly fine as long as no one says --<br />

'''Evelyn:''' I think we lost him!<br />

'''Jonathan:''' ... [[You Just Had to Say It|Why'd you have to say it?]]<br />

* In the ''[[Robot Chicken (Animation)|Robot Chicken]]'' "lampoon of ''[[StarThe Wars]]Empire EpisodeStrikes II"Back]]'', Lando's deal with Vader gets worse and worse as he keeps complaining about it. Eventually he gets [[Genre Savvy]] enough to quit while he's ahead.

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''

{{quote| '''Burns:''' You know, Smithers, I think I'll donate a million dollars to the local orphanage... when pigs fly!<br />

''(they laugh; the pig sails across the sky before them)''<br />

'''Smithers:''' Will you be donating that million dollars now, Sir?<br />

*:* In "No Loan Again, Naturally", Marge is crying after landlord Ned Flanders has evicted the family from their home:

{{quote| '''Homer:''' Don't be upset, Marge. At least it's not raining! ''(after a pause... nothing happens)'' See?}}

*:* "Cape Feare", wherein the last thing Sideshow Bob says before being trampled by a parade (which includes elephants) is, "Surely there's no harm in lying in the middle of a public street?"

*:* In the McBain movie, his partner mentions that once they take down the evil senator Mendoza, [[Retirony|he's retiring in two days, when his daughter's graduating college, and he and his wife will sail around the world like they always wanted to in the aptly-named "Live-4-Ever".]] He then [[TheresThere Is No Kill Like Overkill|He then gets shot 17 times.]]

**:* '''[[Skyward Scream|MENDOZAAAAAAAAAAA-]]'''

*:* "When two best friends work together, not even God Himself can stop them!"

*:* "Take your best shot! I'm wearing seventeen layers!"

*:* In "Brother, Can you spare two dimes," after his friends express concern to Homer about the recent destruction of his couch, Homer states "there is no way this day can get any worse". Instead of something happening his friends just stand around awkwardly until Homer repeats the phrase again. This time Smithers comes over the loud speaker and orders him to see Mr. Burns.

* ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]''

{{quote| '''Rebel 1''': I think we're doomed.<br />

'''Rebel 2''': Nah, unless they got any [[Buffy-Speak|big giant robot camels]] I think we're okay.<br />

''AT-AT walkers appear in the distance.''<br />

*:* In "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing" Stewie changes the failing Cabana Club into the sucessful pLace. When Brian notes that nothing can stop them now, Andy Dick shows up.

*:* In "Stewie Goes for a Drive", there's a [[Call Back]] to "Brian Writes a Bestseller": when Stewie is running away from home:

{{quote| '''Stewie:''' Well, it could be worse. At least I'm not getting stabbed by some random guy on the street. ''(starts raining)'' See, it's the exact opposite! ''(gets stabbed)''}}

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (Animation)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]''

** "Wet Painters" [[Playing Withwith a Trope|played with it incessantly]]. SpongeBob and Patrick are painting a house filled with valuable collectibles. Cue Murphy's Law, involving a paint bubble.

{{quote| '''SpongeBob:''' What could be worse than a giant paint bubble?!<br />

'''Patrick:''' Ooh! I know this one! ''(produces a bubble wand, dips in into the paint, and blows another giant paint bubble)'' TWO giant paint bubbles!<br />

''(the bubbles collide and form one MASSIVE paint bubble)''<br />

'''SpongeBob:''' I don't think this can get any worse!<br />

*:* From "Pizza Delivery":

{{quote| '''Squidward:''' [[Sarcasm Mode|AAAND THE PIZZA'S COLD! OH THIS IS TERRIBLE! NOT THE '''PIZZZZZA!''' Oh, how could it get any worse?!]] ''(kicks their boat that is out of gas, which rockets back up to a full tank, and DRIVES AWAY ON ITS OWN)''}}

*:* From "SpongeGuard on Duty":

{{quote| '''SpongeBob:''' I'm every bit as cool as Larry. And if I'm not, let me be struck by... ''(thunder clap)'' ...a flying ice cream truck. ''(Cue falling ice cream truck.)'' AND LIVE! ''(Ice cream truck suspends in mid-air just above SpongeBob, then falls on him.)''}}

* ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'': Beast Boy, normally the [[Genre Savvy]] one, has been prone to these.

* ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'': In the episode "Cruise Control", the X-Men are taking a vacation on a cruise ship. When Boom-Boom is going to breakfast, [[Storm]] says to her, "Remember, low profile." Boom-Boom says, "It's just breakfast. What could happen?" Cue the breakfast scene, in which the X-Men accidentally reveal their powers to the passengers and cause a huge mess. Also it's ''Boom-Boom'' who starts the whole mess by throwing one of her bombs, although it's Jean using her powers to put out the fire caused by Boom-Boom's bomb that tips off the passengers. Later in the episode, when they're on an island Boom-Boom says the ''same line'' ("What could happen?"), right before the volcano acts up.

* In the [[X-Men (Animationanimation)|90's X-Men animated series]], the X-Men break into a government compound to destroy many of the files of [[Super Registration Act|several mutants]] before attempting to escape the compound. Morph says the line, "Didn't I tell you? Clear sailing all~ the way!" Cue the [[Killer Robot|Sentinels]] marching through the trees. Quoth the Beast: "[[Sacrificial Lamb|Oh dear]]". {{spoiler|Beast is captured, Morph dies}}.

{{quote| '''Buffy:''' Willow, short of the apocalypse, nothing's gonna keep us from that party tonight.<br />

* In ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' movie "Wishology: The exciting middle part"...

{{quote| '''Timmy:''' The Darkness is never coming back!}}

*:* [[Catch Phrase|What else could go wrong?"]] Well, guess what's happening on Yugopotamia right now?

{{quote| '''Buckley:''' That'll work.}}

* An episode of ''~[[Rocko's Modern Life~]]'' has a flashback where Ed Bighead has two balls left to win a bowling game. He throws the first one away as he claims he doesn't need two balls. As he uses the final ball, the announcer says that only something terrible that would haunt him for the rest of his life would cause this to not go perfectly. Ed then accidently destroys the entire building... and ''still'' doesn't get a single pin down.

{{quote| '''Boy:''' So far so good. There's no one around. I'm in luck!<br />

*:* "The Looters". As a pirate ship approaches a ship carrying a cargo of gold:

{{quote| '''Pilot 1:''' Don't worry! Nothing can penetrate our craft's armor!<br />

'''Brak:''' Fire sleep missile! ''(missile is fired and hits)''<br />

'''Pilot 2:''' It's sleeping gas!<br />

{{quote| '''Enemy leader:''' Their time is almost up. It is just a matter of seconds. ''('''BOOM'''!)''}}

*:* "Turu the Terrible". Dr. Quest and Race Bannon are sitting in front of a campfire.

{{quote| '''Race Bannon:''' Well, so far so good, eh doctor?<br />

'''Dr. Quest:''' And surprisingly peaceful.<br />

*:* "The Devil's Tower". Klaus is dive-bombing the Quests with grenades but repeatedly misses. He then yells "This time I cannot miss!" His next grenade ends up in the wing of the biplane he's flying, blowing up the wing and sending him spiraling down to his doom.

* ''[[Total Drama Island (Animation)|Total Drama Island]]'':

{{quote| '''DJ:''' It's our first challenge, how hard could it be? ''(cue the thousand-foot cliff)'' Oh sh--*bleep*}}

* In one episode of ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'', Ed's bratty sister Sarah is acting like a princess and bossing the Eds around. At one point Eddy remarks "Next thing you know, she'll want a throne!" [[Gilligan Cut]] to "Queen Sarah" sitting on a hastily cobbled-together throne, and Eddy [[You Just Had to Say It|offering "A toast, to my big fat mouth!"]]

* ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]'' (1973/74) episode "Too Hot to Handle". The heat causes wax statues of the main heroes to melt, so Wendy and Marvin remove the uniforms from the statues.

{{quote| '''Wendy''': Let's get these things packed away before something else happens to them.<br />

'''Marvin''': What's the rush? I mean, what else could possibly happen to them?<br />

** In "A Hard Day's Knight", Candace agrees to dress up like a princess for their medieval fair. After a few moments she wonders "Wait a sec. Could this be one of those things that backfires horribly on me? Nah." Throughout the rest of the episode, she suffers indignity after indignity.

* Shows up a few times in ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'':

** In the very first episode, Twilight Sparkle brushes off Princess Celestia's advice to make some friends, saying "The fate of all Equestria doesn't depend on me making friends". By the next episode, it's clear that actually, it does.

* One ''[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]]'' cartoon was about a white laboratory mouse that had consumed several volatile explosives, escaped, and is threatening to destroy everything in its path once it explodes. Tom, after hearing about the exploding white mouse on the radio, encouters said mouse, but it turns out to be his archnemesis Jerry, who disguised himself as the white mouse by covering himself with flour just to give Tom a scare. Shortly after Jerry's disguise is accidentally washed off, the ''real'' white mouse arrives, at which point Tom hears over the radio that the explosives inside the mouse have deteriorated and is no longer dangerous, "the white mouse will not explode." Tom decides to triumphantly drop-kick the white mouse out the front door, causing it to explode for real and level the neighborhood.

* ''[[Stunt Dawgs (Animation)|Stunt Dawgs]]'': Every time Lucky makes a comment on how things could have become worse, they '''DO''' become worse just like he said they would. He also falls victim of the trope whenever it's commented on how nothing bad has happened to him lately. One would think that, after all the times he said things could have been worse without hinting on how and nothing making things worse, he'd learn to avoid the trope.

* ''[[South Park (Animation)|South Park]]''

** In "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" the doctor notes Mephesto should be fine as long as the power doesn't go out. When it immediately does, he adds "[[Lampshade Hanging|Who didn't see that coming a mile away, huh?]]"

* All the time on ''[[Jimmy Two -Shoes]]'', to the point where Jimmy's [[Catch Phrase]] is "Like that's even possible." It is.

{{quote| '''Sam:''' Nice. Using your powers to stuff toilet paper into a locker. He's gonna find out it's you. <br />

'''Danny:''' Have you seen his grades? '''(together with Tuck)''' ''Never gonna happen''.<br />

'''Dash:''' Hey! This is Fenton wipe! *glares at Danny*<br />

'''Sam:''' "Never" is karma's doorbell. Ding-dong, it's for you.}}