Who Will Bell the Cat?: Difference between revisions

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* When the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] testified before Congress about the [[Super Registration Act]], Johnny said he'd like to see someone registering [[Doctor Doom]]—from a suitable distance, like a few countries away.

 

== [[Film]] ==

* In ''[[Tombstone]]'', after Curley Bill kills the Sheriff, Wyatt Earp knocks him out and orders him taken to jail. The other cowboys surround him in order to take Bill back, until Earp puts a gun to Ike Clanton's head. Earp admits that they'll get him in a rush, but not before he blows Clanton's head off, so Clanton tells the others to back down.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: [[Aesop's Fables]] contains the "Mice in Council" fable listed above.

* In [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'', when the head wolf fails to take down the prey, the pack can take him on—but, as he reminds them, it is his right that they come one by one.

* In [[Tanith Lee]]'s ''[[The Dragon Hoard]]'', Jasleth and other rowers hide to await the sea monster and attack it, but when it actually appears, they nervously offer each other the chance to do it.

* In [[Sheri Tepper]]'s ''[[Six Moon Dance]]'', a [[Gender Swap]] results in the ladies suddenly deciding against a plan.

 

* Invoked in a [[Badass Boast]] in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Pandorica Opens". The [[Legion of Doom|Legion of Every Species The Doctor Ever Fought]] is descending on the planet the Doctor's on. The Doctor gets on the radio and reminds them that he's always been able to take the respective species when they weren't working together. {{spoiler|Of course, what he doesn't know is that they're not there to ''kill'' him...}}

{{quote|'''Doctor''': Look at me, [[Indy Ploy|no plan]], no backup, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else I don't have: [[Punctuated! For! Emphasis!|anything. To. Lose.]] So! If you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceships with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica, tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you. And then, AND THEN, do the smart thing. Let someone else try first. *Cue shot of spaceships flying away* }}

* [[Game of Thrones]] gives us a memory from Cercei Lannister, showing that [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones]]. While she was in labour before giving birth to her son, Joffery, Cercei's brother Jaime (widely recognized as one of the greatest swordsmen in the kingdom) was informed he could not be in the room.

{{quote|'''Cercei:''' He just smiled and asked who proposed to keep him out.}}

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* ''[[Impure Blood]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20130801221347/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib078.html You go put him under arrest, then.]

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* [[Merrie Melodies]]: "Bell Hoppy," which reverses and humorously twists and parodies this trope. Here, Sylvester (in his hapless "giant mouse chaser" persona) and his feline buddies from the Loyal Order of Alley Cats Mouse and Chowder Club attempt to bell "the largest mouse they can find" ... only here, it's the cats who hope to take advantage with their prey being belled (so they can eat him, natch), instead of the other way around (mice hoping to avoid becoming prey to a hungry cat). Naturally, Hippety Hopper – the baby kangaroo that the lisping puddy tat forever confuses for a giant mouse – happens on the scene and Sylvester tries to place the bell around his neck, but Hippety is always able to outwit Sylvester; the bell always winds up around the cat's neck and he gets clobbered. In the end, Sylvester does succeed in "belling" the mouse, and it appears that Hippety's unknown-to-him fate has been sealed ... except that the zookeeper catches the escaped kangaroo and places him in a truck to take him back to the zoo. The cats lie in wait and end up leaping into the street ... in front of the truck to get flattened!

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

 

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