What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Difference between revisions

** 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?"

** Played through again in the sequel and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]].

{{quote| '''Eve:''' It's only a chest. No harm ever came from opening a chest.<br />

'''Rick:''' Yeah, and no harm ever came from reading a book. Remember how that one went? }}

* ''[[The Incredibles]]'' has "We're superheroes. What could happen?" {{spoiler|Cue giant robot.}}

{{quote| '''Sam''': So, you're sure this is safe?<br />

'''Flint''': Don't worry. I have a dangeometer that lets us know if the food is going to overmutate.<br />

'''Sam''': What happens if the food overmutates?<br />

'''Flint''': I dunno. [[Tempting Fate|But that'll never happen.]] }}

* [[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 [[How to Train Your Dragon]]:

{{quote| '''[[The Stoic|Stoick]]''': I need you to stay and look after Hiccup<br />

== [[Literature]] ==

* ''[[Jurassic Park]]''. Although in this one, the critical "thing" that could happen (the control system being hacked, among other things) isn't clearly foreshadowed. But c'mon, an island full of vicious dinosaurs run by an man who continuously insists everything is perfectly safe is just [[Tempting Fate|asking for trouble]].

** In the book, this is all but Ian Malcolm's sarcastic catchphrase.

* 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.''

* 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.

'''DOCTOR''': Ow! Wrong. You know, I've simply got to stop saying that. Every single time I say what could possibly go wrong, something goes<br />

''(Lurch.)'' }}

* Jimmy Fallon used this in a joke while hosting the 2010 Primetime Emmys:

* 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]]''.

== Video Games ==

* The [[Trope Namer]] was [[Bubsy]]'s catch phrase. Cranked [[Up to Eleven]] in the [[Animated Adaptation]].

** 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.

** [[Freemans Mind|Yeah, well, that's why we have insurance.]]

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in [[Dragon Age 2]], in which Varric observes that 'I don't like this' is right up there with 'What could possibly go wrong?' when it comes to [[Tempting Fate]].

* ''[[Persona 2]]'': ''Innocent Sin'', when the party is at [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon|Xibalba]], where it's revealed later on that {{spoiler|their thoughts become reality there}}: ([[Fan Translation]] version.)

{{quote| '''Ginko''': I've had just about enough! The scenery here never changes!! Enough, enough, enough!<br />

'''Maya''': Shh! Be quiet... That noise... Could it be!?<br />

''(Cue Waterfall up ahead.)'' }}

* In ''[[Chzo Mythos|Seven Days A Sceptic]]'' practically everything on the ship is built on the assumption that nothing will go wrong (whereas in [[Real Life]] the opposite holds true). Examples include escape pods that need to be fueled up for hours before use and the captain's suite emergency unlock, which is installed on the inside. The ship's scanners can also track the number of living beings on board but not their locations, the power source is mounted in a huge shaft with no railings, there's a glass-domed observation deck with no apparent protections against micrometeorites (or radiation, for that matter) and the prison cell uses a force field instead of metal bars that won't vanish in case of power failure. No wonder the engineer spent most of his time hiding in the dining area and making the counselor fix things for him - he must've had a breakdown on the first day and been in denial since.

* In [[Mass Effect]], the [[Sapient Ship|Reapers]] play the [[Batman Gambit]] by letting species of the galaxy find their technology littered across several star systems just so they can advance to a desirable state, ripe for a galactic harvesting. Really, [[Tempting Fate|how can this backfire]]?

* Frequently invoked and lampshaded in ''Narbonic'', particularly [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php?view=archive&chapter=42439 here] (the bottom comic).

* The bunny - [http://www.scarygoround.com/sgr/ar.php?date=20080314 Oh God the Bunny].

* Let's not forget [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1700/fc01654.htm FreeFall #1654]. Varroa Jacobsoni says it word for word.

** And Sam gives a [[Genre Savvy|justified warning]] about saying such!

{{quote| '''Sam Starfall:''' Hey, even '''''I''''' don't say that out loud.}}

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** 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.

* 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]]''.

* ''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.

* In the ''[[Duckman]]'' Episode "Clear and Presidente Danger", Duckman begins wondering out-loud about becoming the new leader of the third-world country Porto Guano and ends with "What Could Possibly go Wrong?" Cornfed [[Breaks the Fourth Wall]] to say to the audience "For a complete list, please send $12 to Journal Graphics, Washington, DC, 20300."

* One name: [[Looney Tunes|Wile E. Coyote]].

* [[The Powerpuff Girls]] Movie: Jojo assures the girls that Townsville will love them after they help him with his plan. Suuuuuure, they will.

* [[History Channel]]'s [[Modern Marvels]] series does a sub series titled "Engineering Disasters" every now and again. Every one of them seems to invoke [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]] at least once per episode. They've produced 21 hour long episodes and still haven't covered everything. National Geographic Channel has ''Seconds From Disaster'' which is the same thing.

* Subverted by an experimental reactor in Switzerland. While the guy in charge had a "[[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]" attitude, the engineers considered this phrase a serious question, and [[Properly Paranoid|built the reactor in a cave just in case they got an answer.]] Naturally, they got an answer, and [[Let Us Never Speak of This Again|sealed up the cave]].

* The "Big Dig" in [[Useful Notes/Boston|Boston]]. "Let's replace the unsightly and congested Central Artery expressway with an underground tunnel! Then, let's reclaim the land where the old highway used to be, building parks, gentrifying the slums that developed around the highways, and de-congesting surface traffic! [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]?" Two decades, $15 billion, several lawsuits and four deaths later...

* [[The Rolling Stones]] hire [[Hells Angels]] to work security and pay them in beer. At least one audience member wound up dead.