Throw the Dog a Bone: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

So they've been [[The Chew Toy|constantly injured]], the [[Butt Monkey|butt of every joke and misfortune]], and it seems [[Cosmic Plaything|the universe itself just likes screwing with him]]. So what's happening now? Huh... he's happy?

* One Christmas-themed Cocoa Pebbles commercial ends with the real Santa showing up, and [[The Flintstones|Fred and Barney]] for a change sharing a bowl of the cereal as friends.

* After attempting to get back together with the woman who rejected him for a Swiffer Wet-Jet (buying flowers, dedicating radio songs to her), the broom finally found a new girlfriend - the rake.

 

 

** a similarly less-mind-screwy example is from the episode where they defeat the angel that was found in a volcano. After they've completed the mission, we briefly get to see Shinji relaxing in the hot-springs afterwards. In the English dub he even says, "this feels like Heaven..." with an almost goofy-looking grin plastered across his face. It's hard not to feel happy for him in the warm-fuzzies sense for that one brief moment. [[Too Good to Last|Too bad it doesn't last for him]].

** Another great example is Asuka. {{spoiler|After descending into a downward spiral for the entire course of the series, at the End of Evangelion, she finally learns that her mother really did love her, and decides to kick some ass! Of course, things sorta balance themselves out after awhile...}}

* After several episodes of Garu being forced to endure [[Pucca]]'s romance, one episode has Pucca accidentally giving Garu the power of astral projection, for once ending the episode with an unhappy Pucca and a happy Garu.

* ''[[The Girl Who Leapt Through Time]]'' eventually gets her [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|hug]].

* The man in the back of the Ark in ''[[Natsu no Arashi]]!'' spends the entire series asking for salt, and never getting it. In the final episode of the second season, Arashi casually places a shaker of salt on his table. While she didn't know it, that was probably the greatest moment of his life.

** Krillin the lesser [[Butt Monkey]] does actually get a bone in ''Z''. The man dies three times (four if you count GT), and gets his head handed to on a regular basis. He's vastly outclassed by the Saiyans and to a lesser extent, Piccolo, and is routinely made fun of for his [[Dragonball Z Abridged|Owned Count.]] Despite this, he managed to come through and save the day on several occasions-- he oneshotted most of the saibamen, he came extremely close to killing Nappa and Vegeta, he played a critical role in foiling the bad guys' plans on Namek until Goku arrived, he sliced off part of Frieza's tail, saving Gohan's life in the process, and [[Earn Your Happy Ending|he gets to marry Android #18 in the end.]]

* ''[[One Piece]]'''s Sanji has endured a great deal of suffering due to being the Straw Hats' resident [[The Chew Toy|Chew Toy]]. Not content to make him a [[Chivalrous Pervert]] who generally lucks out with women, Oda's killed his fantasies of mermaids with Kokoro, a fat old lady mermaid; dashed his dreams of getting a bounty with a [[Facial Composite Failure|horribly drawn Wanted Poster]]; stole his hope to exploit the [[Power Perversion Potential]] of invisibility through a villain with a one-of-a-kind invisibility Devil Fruit; and, finally, he was stuck on an island of transvestites for two years, where he was briefly forced to go native. However, with the crew's arrival at Fishman Island, Sanji has finally gotten to meet real life, ''attractive'' mermaids, and they ''like'' him. Granted, the [[Nosebleed]] that eventually resulted nearly kills him, but for him it was [[Worth It]].

** Then he met their [[World's Most Beautiful Woman|princess]] and {{spoiler|got cured, being able to hit on her with no problems}}. [[Accidental Innuendo|The biggest bone ever]], people!

* [[Trailer Park Boys|Corey and Trevor]] play this role in ''[[The Movie|Trailer Park Boys: The Movie]]''. When they're arrested along with Ricky for robbing a movie theater, they become the most popular guys in prison by yanking down the pants of the [[Jerkass]] head prison guard after he loses a ball hockey tournament between the guards and the inmates.

* Spud in the film ''[[Trainspotting]]'' spends most of the film getting humiliated. In the end, he is the only accomplice of the drug deal who receives his share from Renton.

* In ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]'', the [[Red Shirt|Japanese]] [[Butt Monkey|military]] uses their weapons to [[Disney Villain Death|give death to]] [[Complete Monster|Destoroyah]] before the [[Tear Jerker|ending]].

 

** To make it even more [[Badass]], Neville tells Voldemort ''[[Badass Boast|"I'll join you when Hell freezes over!"]]'' in front of everyone of importance in the Wizarding World, his friends, Hogwarts instructors and everyone in general. That was also a unified/''combined'' [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] and Throw The Dog A Bone for the entire [[Cool Teacher|teaching staff at Hogwarts]]; in watching Neville and his stand against Voldemort, they got to see that everything they were all about - ''their entire careers'' - actually meant something.

*** There are hints before Book 7 that Neville may be something of a [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]], such as his part in the Ministry raid in book 5, where he's not the most useful by any stretch of the imagination but proves that he has Gryffindor-grade balls just by going. He's also apparently ''really'' good at herbology (and dancing, see the Goblet of Fire movie, but not so in the book) and Charms, according to the book version of Half-Blood Prince, where Professor McGonagall recommends that he take a N.E.W.T in that subject... and there's that one minor thing... yes, he bears the burden of his parents' [[Fate Worse Than Death]] without collapsing himself.

* An entire planet gets this treatment in a story from [[Star Trek Myriad Universes]], which explores hypothetical timelines distinct from the [[Star Trek]] canon and/or the mainstream [[Star Trek Novel Verse]]. According to [[Word of God]], planet Coridan's prosperous status in ''The Tears of Eridanus'' is to make up for its usual portrayal as the Federation's [[Butt Monkey]] world.

* ''[[In Death]]'': Eve and Roarke certainly got this by meeting each other at the very beginning of the series. ''Interlude In Death'' even has Eve putting a [[Lampshade Hanging]] on this trope, with regards to their relationship.

** Similarly, when Xander saves the world by cooling down Dark Willow just before she blows up everything. Season 7 shows that he's been telling everyone about this ''too much''.

** And yes, [[It Got Worse]] {{spoiler|with a scoop of [[Eye Scream]]}}.

* One episode of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' has Fozzie, the usual [[Butt Monkey]], mock the snarky critics [[Waldorf and Statler]] with the help of the guest star; the masterful Bruce Forsyth, no less, is Fozzie's accomplice in this. The bear manages to ''[[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|out-snark Statler and Waldorf]] so badly that they end up hiding in their box waving a white flag''.

** Fozzie also gets revenge in another episode, in which that night's show is canceled as it was already scheduled for open auditions. One pair of auditioners are Statler and Waldorf; Fozzie goes up to their balcony to mock them.

** The better example is "A Victory for Democracy" when Hacker, after being led around by Humphrey and the Foreign Office, manages to solve the pending international crisis and gets his Foreign Office liaison stuck in a posting which will end his career.

** Don't forget "The Skeleton In The Cupboard": Hacker is ordered to proceed with disciplinary action against the most efficient council in the UK for no reason other than political bickering. Then he learns that Sir Humphrey was responsible for an administrative blunder back in the 50s that has caused the government to lose £40 million over a real estate deal. Hacker then proceeds to blackmail Humphrey with this information to avoid the disciplinary action.

** It's worth noting however that {{spoiler|Prince George was probably not the sole casualty of the third series. [[Mac Adder]] strongly implies that Mrs Miggins' days are numbered: 'I look forward to burying you in the old Highland manner.'}}

** Wait, what? I (and the subtitles) thought that line was {{spoiler|'I look forward to ''bedding'' you in the old Highland manner.' Then again, he IS Scottish, so lives still may be lost.}}

* In ''[[Crownies]]'', the resident [[Butt Monkey]] Richard gets two in episode nine: he finally impresses a judge who he has a terrible history with (mainly because of uncooperative witnesses) to the point where the accused is sentenced to 20-27 years (Richard's goal was 25, for the accused's impulsive murder of a postman, but the judge added two years for [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|tampering with the mail]]). This is quickly followed by a passionate sexual encounter in his office chair with the psychiatrist whose testimony got the aforementioned conviction. (Though this does cause a hitch when it ruins Conrad's suit and Tatum comes close to letting slip that he's not really gay).

* In ''[[Misfits]]'' Simon the nerd-turned-arsonist spends most of his time in the first season being abused by [[Jerkass|Nathan]] and ignored by the others, with the exception of [[Team Mom|Kelly]]; the fifth episode was particularly cruel, ending with him being emotionally manipulated by Sally the probation worker {{spoiler|and accidentally killing her in a fight}}. However, things start improving for him in the second season:

** In the second episode, he ends up being invited to a night out with the other Misfits, and even though he gets [[Slipping a Mickey|his drink spiked]] with the same party drug that the rest of the team are taking voluntarily, he ends up as the only person who enjoys it, because the drug ''reverses'' their powers: while [[Telepathy|Kelly]] is voicing everything that comes to mind, [[Love Potion|Alisha]] is repulsing anyone who touches her, [[Mental Time Travel|Curtis]] is teetering on the edge of a building in the future, and Nathan {{spoiler|has lost his immortality}}, Simon has become noticed and adored by everyone around him.

** Third episode: Alisha actually apologises for how she treated Simon in the past.

== Video Games ==

* Johnny Sasaki of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' finally gets some luck in ''Guns of the Patriots''. {{spoiler|He gets cured of his bowel problems, stars in his own [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], and then marries his commanding officer/long-time crush Meryl in the ending of the game.}}

* In ''[[Blaz Blue]]'', [[The Woobie|Noel Vermillion]] has nothing but sad endings. Except that one ending involving her getting enchanted with Litchi Faye Ling's cute panda hairpin and pins on it happily. It's the closest thing to 'happy ending' she can get. The true endings also improve things for her somewhat (although the second game is still somewhat bittersweet despite the fact that she's {{spoiler|been convinced she's a person despite her [[Artificial Human]] status and never having been in the timeline before and hanging around with her best friend}} since {{spoiler|her other best friend has undergone a [[Heel Face Turn]] and wants to kill her.}}

** The gag ending for Lambda-11 looks like this when she gets a pet insect and makes friends with [[Fun Personified|Makoto]] {{spoiler|but this turns into a [[Yank the Dog's Chain]] when Kokonoe unknowingly throws the unfortunate creature away and erases L-11's memory of the diversion (made even worse by the fact that had she known Lambda wasn't an [[Empty Shell]] she may well have been much nicer (or as nice as she is to Tager).}}

* Steiner, [[Knight in Shining Armor|Knight In, er, Cheap and Rusty Armor]], [[The Big Guy]] (and also [[The Lancer]]) spends a good portion of ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' as the [[Butt Monkey]] to [[The Hero|Zidane]] as well as a [[Chew Toy]]...BUT! He also manages to {{spoiler|hook up with his long-time rival [[Lady of War|Beatrix]] in the end (it turned out that ''she'' had a crush on him, and then it might actually be mutual).}} Still feel sorry for the guy?

* Being the [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover|kind of game]] that it is, [[Super Robot Wars]] tend to have this in spades. Quite noticable in Alpha 3 with [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|NGE]] given how depressing the original series was and how the focus of that game is to defeat what passes as an [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|elder god]] there.

** Unfortunately, as [[Status Quo Is God]], they seem to be [[Just Friends]] again by the time of ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]]'', barely a month later.

* In the sequel to [[Prinny]], [[Recurring Extra]] Asagi finally gets a starring role in the extra content of the game. It's called Asagi Wars, where her main opponents are- of course -alternate versions of herself.

* ''[[Erikas New Perfume|Erika's New Perfume]]'' sees the eponymous character, after various failures at related concepts, learn to tie her shoes. The author even admits this is the happiest he's ever seen her.

* In ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'', Cuddles (the character who has died the most) and Giggles (the runner-up) are in a relationship. Episodes showing this, however, end with both of them dying horribly...except for one. The recent episode "I Nub You" had them as a counterpoint to the romance between Handy and the newly-handless Petunia. (Cuddles pushes Giggles on a swing: Handy finds doing the same tricky, so they just ride a see-saw; Cuddles and Giggles hold hands: Handy and Petunia tie their bandages together, and so on) Although Petunia and Handy, as the stars of the episode, die horribly, Cuddles and Giggles get to live. I thought it was [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|rather sweet]].

** The ending of his "Commercials Special" is more obvious. After being nearly completely broken, he gets his confidence back through [[The Cast Showoff|a song]].

 

 

== Western Animation ==

** {{spoiler|It could be said that he was thrown a real life bone in his appearance in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' where instead of being a clumsy bumbler, [[Adaptational Badass|he was shown to clever, psychotic, and just plain dangerous]], although a [[Shout-Out]] to his former incarnation could be where he had the misfortune of being framed for being a Decepticon spy}}.

** Also, whenever he fights Silverbolt. Silverbolt ''never'' beat Waspinator in combat or even landed a real hit. Waspinator, on the other hand, beat him three separate times.

** And now he's an official member of the Transformers [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_Hall_of_Fame Hall of Fame], through ''fan votes''. Happy at last Waspinator, Happy at last...

** And another episode has Spongebob destroy Squidward's house while he's trying to make it more fancy than Squillam's... only for the resulting rubble to indeed beat Squilliam's house.

*** A third example has Squidward managing to compose a musical piece for a competition, and having that piece selected to be played despite Spongebob/Patrick's general annoyingness. When the composition is actually PLAYED, it's revealed that he actually wrote the annoyingness INTO the piece, you'd expect this to be a [[Yank the Dog's Chain]] where everyone goes nuts over Spongebob, but then the people start cheering... for Squidward.

**** The Tiki Island episode is pretty much dedicated to this. Even when it looks like it's undone in the end, it turns out that it's not.

** Another example occurs in an episode where he falls in love with a female Squid. Squidward turns to Spongebob for advice, but it goes wrong. When Squidward finally has enough, he starts yelling at [[SpongeBob]] right in front of his girlfriend. At first, Squid thinks she's going to break up with him for said outburts, but it ends up making her more attracted to him.

** There was also had Rita and Runt being adopted by Dr. Scratchinsniff and Brain getting a position of significant power.

** The [[Acceptable Targets|Mime]] still got the shaft though. In fact {{spoiler|dropping a safe on him was ''Yakko's'' wish}}.

** It should be noted that, due to his [[Chew Toy]] status, many fans expected one of the letters of "Merry Christmas" to fall on him.

** In "Poor and Stupid", Kenny falls in the middle of a Nascar race track, two cars are coming straight a him at full speed, Kenny braces for the inevitable... and then the drivers notice him and manage to dodge him crashing and burning at the sides of Kenny.

**** Not to mention ascending into a land of giant breasts in the clouds. (Were we watching the same movie?)

* Arnold of ''[[Hey Arnold]]'' tried to give a nice day to the usually unlucky Eugene, but it's subverted as he fails continually. Then it's [[Double Subversion|Double Subverted]] as Eugene at least ''thinks'' one good thing happened (getting a new fish), even though it was cancelled out (the fish was eaten while he wasn't looking).

** His performance in "Eugene, Eugene" counts, too.

** In ''"Helga's Love Potion"'' Brainy, after countless [[Offhand Backhand]] from Helga, is kissed by her (in his forehead). He faints.

* ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' does this once with Swiper. In the Halloween episode, they successfully stop him from swiping (it's normally a crapshoot whether they succeed or not depending on where they want the episode to go). After the usual "Swiper no Swiping!" and "Awww, maaaan!" exchange, they teach him how to trick or treat, then proceed to give him some candy after he asks for some.

** "Destination Imagination" is also a bone for Frankie. After years of cooking, cleaning, taking care of numerous imaginary friends, and pretty much running the house single-handedly without a bit of gratitude from anyone or an ounce of respect from her slave driving anal bunny boss, she is rewarded when Mr. Herriman acknowledges her importance to the home and has the chores spilt up amongst everyone. Whether the change sticks in the last episodes of the series remains to be seen.

*** The second-to-last episode of the series "Fools and Regulations" was yet another for Frankie. Bloo's ridiculous antics, established as a major source of grief for Frankie, actually help her in the end by earning some badly-needed fundraising donations for the house. Funny enough, Frankie punishes Bloo anyway for being such a jerkass.

* [[King of the Hill]]: When Bill Dauterive is staying at his rich family's mansion, two eligible bachelorettes vie fiercely to seduce him. The outcome? {{spoiler|"Both of 'em!"}}

** Also, the episode where Bill temporarily adopts a soldier's dog, Buddy. Most of the episode revolves around Hank realizing (to his dismay) that the animal that he adopted is a {{spoiler|cat}}, but Bill and Buddy spend the entire episode happy. And then, at the end of the episode, he gets a salute from the entire crew of the aircraft carrier that Buddy's owner works on as he returns Buddy, and gets a ride home on a fighter jet.

* After being a [[Butt Monkey]] for nearly ten seasons, Kirk Van Houten (Milhouse's dad from [[The Simpsons]]) finally caught a break in a recent season when he married Luanne again and moved back to his old home, and essentially, recovering his good old life.

** This happens occasionally for Grandpa Simpson, who is usually ignored by his family. This usually happens with Bart helping him do something cool, like trying steal the Hellfish treasure, running away to Branson, MO, or escaping the nursing home.

** Also, every now and then this is also delivered by her brothers themselves.

** [[Mad Scientist|Doofenshmirtz]] also gets this occasionally, usually either from his [[Friendly Enemy]] [[Animal Superhero|Perry]] or [[Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter|daughter]] [[Morality Pet|Vanessa]].

 

{{reflist}}