Yank the Dog's Chain: Difference between revisions

← Older edit

Yank the Dog's Chain (view source)

Revision as of 02:18, 13 August 2023

332 bytes added , 9 months ago

→‎Literature: Replaced redirects

VisualWikitext

WonderBot

Bots, Administrators

15,875

edits

Revision as of 06:43, 3 October 2014 (view source) Dai-Guard (talk \| contribs) m (update links) ← Older edit		Latest revision as of 02:18, 13 August 2023 (view source) WonderBot (talk \| contribs) (→‎Literature: Replaced redirects)
(18 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 4: {{quote\|'''Sokka:''' Well Aang, because when I'm being pursued by people who want to kill me, I'd rather throw them off by walking through a dense forest than ''fly through an empty sky on a giant freaking bison!'' '''Katara:''' That may make sense, but since you're trying to be the leader, I'm guessing this is gonna fail horribly. '''Sokka:''' Oh c'mon, [[Tempting Fate\|the writers don't hate me that muuuu....]]~~\|''[[Avatar: The Abridged Series\|Avatar the Abridged Series]]''}}~~ \|''[[Avatar: The Abridged Series]]''}} Hooray! The [[Butt Monkey]] has finally had [[Throw the Dog a Bone\|something go right]] for once in their unhappy life! And with [[Snicket Warning Label\|twenty minutes to spare]], we're sure to see [[Too Happy to Live\|their new joyful existence play out for the rest of the episode]]... [[Tempting Fate\|right?]] Line 10 ⟶ 11: That, right there, is the feeling and painful acknowledgment by the [[Genre Savvy]] viewer that [[Failure Is the Only Option]]. Why? Because [[The Woobie]] is ''not'' going to get to keep her money and move out of [[Perpetual Poverty]]. [[James Bond]] will ''not'' stay [[Happily Married]] to the [[Girl of the Week\|Girl of the Movie]] because of the [[Cartwright Curse]]. The home that [[The Drifter]] has been accepted into will promptly become a [[Doomed Hometown]]. [[Samurai Jack]] will give up the most recent [[Phlebotinum]] to return to his home time and [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]] in order to save the helpful villagers nearby. [[Pokémon (anime)\|Ash Ketchum]] will make it to the Top 4 of the [[Season Finale]]'s [[Tournament Arc]] only to lose to a random [[Canon Sue]] who owns [[Olympus Mons]]. [[Peanuts\|Charlie Brown]] will get the football yanked out from under him by Lucy once again just as he's about to kick it. And deep down, we know it and expect it. While the permutations are endless, the result is the same: writers Yank the Dog's Chain, keeping [[Throw the Dog a Bone\|the bone]] just out of reach, making even the simplest goals seem like [[Tragic Dream~~\|Tragic Dreams~~]]s. Clever writers can cause viewers quite a bit of tension and suspense this way, since we know the good turn can't last and that ''something'' will inevitably come to take it away. Hacks will merely [[Fan Disillusionment\|cause viewers to bash in a new window and]] [[Rage Quit\|abandon a series in frustration]]. Line 18 ⟶ 19: Despite how obvious they can be, there are spoilers below, so '''BEWARE SPOILERS.''' {{~~tropelist~~examples}} == Advertising == * All the [[Trix]] Rabbit wants is some Trix. [[Cereal Vice Reward\|The kids will never let him have any]], because [[Catch Phrase\|"Trix are for kids"]] (and because [[Kids Are Cruel]]). Line 30: ** All this said, there were at least two instances where the Trix Rabbit ''did'' get to have some - both of which happened when the company let kids vote on it, [[wikipedia:Trix Rabbit#Marketing and advertising\|and the answer was a resounding "yes"]]. == Anime &and Manga ==▼ ▲== Anime & Manga == * ''[[Trigun]]'': This happens to Vash the Stampede all the bloody time. The cause of this can easily be traced back to the [[Big Bad]] constantly holding onto the chain. ''[[Break the Cutie\|Hard.]]'' * ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. Shinji... poor, poor Shinji. Specific example: That kind, charming young boy without any debilitating emotional trauma who actually cares for you? {{spoiler\|He's actually an Angel, and you have to kill him}}. Sorry. As well as mid-series, where he begins to get some confidence, it seems that he has some chance to reconcile with his dad, and he feels in general a bit more like the hero of a giant robot ~~series -- needless~~series—needless to say, it doesn't last. Lest we forget about Asuka. She wakes up from a [[Convenient Coma]] in the movie and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome\|brings the awesome]] by going into combat within 5 minutes of getting out. She wipes out a whole army, so they send in these 9 [[Fan Nickname\|Har]][[Eldritch Abomination\|pies]]. She only has 3 and a half minutes of battery power and a progressive knife against a nearly impossible to break AT Field, They have no pilots (so they can't be incapacitated as easily) and a copy of the best weapon in the series. Asuka wins before she runs out of time. But the result is [[Nausea Fuel\|really awful]]. She gets [[Eye Scream\|speared through the eye]], her guts ripped open, and ''eaten alive'' while the poor girl is desperately trying to fight back. Then, it looks like it's going to get better as she is [[Crowning Moment of Awesome\|STILL ALIVE]] despite having endured all of this. She reaches for the berserker mode button to reactivate the Eva and go back to kicking ass... but then they slice off her arm and [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice\|impale her repeatedly]] until she dies. * ''[[Code Geass]]'' did this close to the end of the first season: Euphemia manages to talk Lelouch out of his plan to {{spoiler\|start a revolt by making it look like she killed him}}, and for [[Hope Spot\|a few seconds]] it looks like there's going to be peace... {{spoiler\|and then Lelouch [[Power Incontinence\|loses control of his Geass at the worst possible moment]] and accidentally orders Euphemia to start massacring Japanese people. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero\|Which she does.]]}} Oops. Line 49 ⟶ 48: ** Even poor Roberto, Johan's worshipper and probably the character we least symphathize with, is {{spoiler\|totally snubbed at the end of the series on his deathbed when Johan denies him the right to see the [[After the End\|Scenery for a Doomsday]] that he's so looked forward to}}. * In ''[[Ode to Kirihito]]'', Kirihito and Reira finally appear to be on way to Japan having escaped numerous gut-wrenching hardships along the way. There's even another Japanese guy on the plane, {{spoiler\|who promptly decides that the bandages Kirihito wears are to hide the fact that he's an Israeli spy, and he calls Arab fundamentalists to sell Kirihito off. Except he isn't. The Arabs decide to kill everyone there for wasting their time, and they're only "saved" because ''another'' extremist group starts attacking the first one. "Saved", as in, now they get to wander around a desert in the middle of nowhere meeting, among other things, a baby that's starving to death}}. * In Chapter 16 of ''[[Uzumaki]],'' rescue ships arrive to rescue the protagonists. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090326055435/http://www.onemanga.com/Uzumaki/16/26/ Guess what happens next. Go ahead. Guess.] * In the [[Flash Back]] episode 24 of ''[[~~xxxHolic~~×××HOLiC]]'', then twelve year old Watanuki makes a friend who can also see spirits. Of course, we know that in the pilot he was friendless and ghost besieged for most of his teen years, so his happiness becomes heartbreaking since we know it can't end well. The friend is ultimately lost to paranormal circumstances in something of a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. It's ultimately a [[Happy Ending]] because it finishes with his birthday being attended by his four new friends in the cherry grove he met his young friend. * ''[[Bleach]]'' loves doing this, [[Break the Cutie\|especially to poor Orihime]]. Want to fight? Cue dramatic determination followed by the destruction of your attack abilities! Want to get some training? Not a chance, without your attack powers you're useless! You've trained anyways, so now you want to help fight? {{spoiler\|Sorry, but if you don't [[Sadistic Choice\|surrender and defect to the enemy, your friends will all die horrible deaths]]! But look, Ichigo's beaten Grimmjow and now all of you can go back... NOT! Guess what? You were kidnapped solely to lure your friends and allies into coming to rescue you so that your home would be left unprotected! And look who's there with his laser-blasting finger pressed against your chest while he scoffs over your speech about [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?\|your heart!]] Oh, hey, seems like you've been rescued again... or the two lurking behind you could be readying for an attack. But look, [[Big Damn Heroes\|Ishida joins the fray]], and you two are going up to help Ichigo, [[Oblivious to Love\|who you just so happen to be in love with]]. Well, what do you know? [[The Dragon\|Ulquiorra]] was waiting for you to show up so that he could blast a hole in his chest! And Ishida? He lost a hand. Wait, Ichigo's back... as a nearly mindless [[The Heartless\|Hollow]] with the only goal being to protect you. Plus he just stabbed Ishida because he interfered in mutilating Ulquoirra's corpse, which made him view him as an obstacle in protecting you.}} And we mustn't forget that poor Ishida is as much of a [[Butt Monkey]] as Orihime is. Hey, you're a Quincy, which is cool, right? Nope! Because [[Mad Scientist\|Mayuri Kurotsuchi the maniac scientist]] killed off most of your clan, including your grandpa! But at least there's this girl you like, right? Wrong! She's in love with [[Chaste Hero\|Ichigo]] who doesn't even know she likes him! Oh man, you have to fight that scientist dude, so you pull your ultimate technique which {{spoiler\|makes you lose all your powers!}} But don't worry, daddy is here to help, except that he has to {{spoiler\|shoot you eighteen millimeters from your heart.}} Worked up the courage to tell that girl you like her yet? Oh, wait! She {{spoiler\|just got kidnapped!}} So, just follow the hero blindly into a place you have absolutely no knowledge about! GASP! Another [[Mad Scientist]] has shown up, and you're about to die! Oh, it's okay, because {{spoiler\|you get rescued by your worst nemesis, the scientist!}} Not to mention that the method he uses to heal his daughter [[Nausea Fuel\|will scar you for life]]. Look out, some weirdo creature is attacking Orihime! You try to save her, except {{spoiler\|your arm gets cut off!}} So yeah, poor Ishida doesn't have it that easy either. Line 56 ⟶ 55: {{quote\|'''Chad:''' Now that I have won this fight I shall no longer be a jobber! '''Nnoitra:''' LOL, no. }} [[The Woobie\|Momo Hinamori]]. Oh, so you want to forever serve the man you practically are in love with? How nice... except oh no, he's suddenly dead and you've just found his corpse maimed and pinned to a wall! And after you try to attack the captain you're utterly convinced that did it, you get arrested! But wait, they found a letter from Aizen, revealing the killer's true identity... too bad that happens to be your childhood best friend, Toshiro Hitsugaya! So wracked with grief, you break out of your cell and try to kill ''him'', only to be knocked out soon after; when you do wake up, you follow him around, go to a part of the Soul Society inaccessible to even captain-level shinigami where you find the person you originally tried to kill, but what's this? He says there's someone who wants to meet you! And standing right behind you is ''your captain, perfectly alive.'' You immediately hug him and start to cry, because you're so happy he's alive and well ~~and-- wait~~and—wait a minute, did he just stab you? Hahahah, guess what, ''you've just been betrayed and the man you idolized was all just a lie''. Have fun being stuck in a coma for the next 40 or so chapters and remaining in extremely heavy denial when you wake up! When all of that's done, you remain out of the picture for a while {{spoiler\|until chapter 334, where, hooray, you've made a [[Big Damn Heroes\|spectacular comeback]] saving Matsumoto, hopefully over the trauma of the whole Aizen ordeal! Erm, not quite: you still refer to him as "Captain Aizen," but hey, you're gonna kick some ass and show every actions speak louder than words, right? Well, not really... despite fending off three Fraccion, you get owned by some freaky chimaera thing and guess what, no redeeming moment for you! ''[[Sarcasm Mode\|But lucky you, it gets even better!]]'' Cue about 60 chapters later and you make a return... except, once again, you've been ''stabbed again'', by -- get ready for this -- ''your best friend, Hitsugaya''. Have fun getting over that one!}} Oh, and did we mention you're one of the most hated characters in the Western fandom, for ''all'' of that happening to you? Yeah, it's really fun to be you, isn't it? * In ''[[Ranma ½]]'', the Jusenkyō-cursed individuals frequently have cures dangled in front of them (especially frequently in some of the anime's filler episodes). For example, one episode has Ryōga and Shampoo using a special "waterproof soap" that turns out to work only temporarily. And then there are the countless times it seems like someone could get a trip to the springs, but then it turns out to be fake, or in one case [[No Sense of Direction\|Ryôga]] gets it and doesn't know how to get there. The most downright cruel example, though, occurs {{spoiler\|at the end of the series, when Sōun Tendō has secured the last remaining cask of water from "Spring of Drowned Man" as a wedding gift for Ranma. Well, we say "secured", we mean "stole the gift that the Jusenkyō Guide sent as a thank you to Ranma for saving his daughter, with the intention of blackmailing Ranma and possibly Akane into going along with the wedding". Happōsai, mistaking it for booze, ''drinks'' it before ''any'' of the several people after it can actually use it.}} ** The anime has one of these that almost might approach the end of the manga in cruelty. {{spoiler\|The Jusenkyō Guide comes to Japan because this is a special day, a day in which a certain body of water can be connected to Jusenkyō's base water, allowing it to be turned into an extension of whichever spring is desired. The lucky body of water is none other than the Tendō's koi pond, which means that every cursed person in Nerima can get cured -- even Shampoo, as once the ritual is complete the Guide can freely change the pond from Spring of Drowned Guy to Spring of Drowned Girl or whatever is desired. The episode leads up to the climax of the ceremony, everyone is literally a few seconds away from being cured... and what happens? Ryōga trips and breaks the rope, canceling the spell before anyone can get cured -- and what's more this ritual can't be repeated for another '''thousand years'''. And then the Jusenkyō Guide wanders back home before anyone can think of tagging along, or asking him to send them back some Nanniichuan.}} Line 64 ⟶ 63: * Joey/Jou from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' makes a sudden comeback against Yami Malik in their Dark Duel in the Battle City Finals when he pulls out Gilford the Lightning and has him on the ropes. Yami Malik manages to hold out once again, but apparently has nothing else up his sleeve, with nothing left on the field or his hand, so our hero is in the clear, finally about to be the hero for once and save the damsel, Mai, from her [[Mind Rape\|fate]], right? Things seem to be looking that way, as the following turn, Yami Malik draws Monster Reborn, with nothing powerful on its own in his grave to stand up to Gilford, including Ra at this point, since that would require a tribute summon to get any ATK points. So he's basically reviving a [[Memetic Mutation\|giant flaming chicken]] with no attack points, except that it turns out that it has an [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]] that destroys Gilford and, in this very situation, shocks the controller of said monster into death, and... [[Oh Crap]]. Sure enough, things go as predicted, except that as the smoke clears, our hero is [[Not Quite Dead]], and is good to make another move, with Yami Malik's Ra leaving the field. All he needs is a monster with enough attack to finish Yami Malik off, and he draws Gearfried, summons it, and is just about to declare an attack until...he collapses and as such is disqualified. * For another ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' example (this one from season zero), Jonouchi enters a game show to win a million yen so he can pay off his father's debts. In traditional ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' style, the host of the game show is a [[Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat\|Cheating Bastard]], and rigs the game so Jonouchi can't possibly win. Yugi helps out by [[Mind Rape\|Mind Raping]] the host, allowing Jonouchi to win the money. Of course, {{spoiler\|the check ends up being no good anyways}}. * ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has a particularly [[Mood Whiplash~~\|Mood Whiplashy~~]]y example: right after the [[Time Skip]], we learn that {{spoiler\|Simon proposed to Nia, and we see her accept via phone}}. Right after we see this, {{spoiler\|her Anti-Spiral nature takes over and forces her into a [[Face Heel Turn]].}} Ouch. Then {{spoiler\|the Anti-Spirals attack, threatening to eliminate the human race}}, and none other than {{spoiler\|Rossiu, Simon's [[Number Two]] in the new government}} goes all [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] and uses Simon as a scapegoat (to be fair, {{spoiler\|Simon defeating Lordgenome is [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero\|what caused the Anti-Spiral attacks]]}}), having him thrown in jail to be executed. {{spoiler\|The Anti-Spirals refer to this trope as "Ultimate Despair," and their goal is to do this to all Spiral Races.}} [[Averted Trope\|It doesn't quite work.]] Line 82 ⟶ 81: == ~~Comics~~Comic Books == * {{spoiler\|Black Adam's}} entire storyline in ''[[52]]'' is one long, tragic, and incredibly cruel example of chain yanking. * In ''[[The Killing Joke]]'', [[Batman]] pleads with the Joker to reconsider the death course the two of them are on, making a genuine offer of help... and there's a [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming\|panel]], about a panel and a half, where it looks almost like the Joker will accept. The Joker even turns the concept into a joke that has even Batman laughing. Line 88 ⟶ 87: * [[Spider-Man]] has a big support cast, and people keep getting killed. Sometimes the writers decide to bring them back. This never works. Possibly the biggest example is when his ''parents'' turned out to be alive again; they'd been killed when he was a baby. They turned out to be robots. Supporting cast coming back from the dead has only "stuck" twice: when the Aunt May who died turned out to have been an ''[[Voodoo Shark\|actress]]'', and when Mary Jane, who had been [[Dork Age\|killed in a plane accident]] because [[Superheroes Stay Single\|having a wife restricted Spidey]], was not dead after all. (Cross your fingers for history repeating itself soon, folks.) ** And then [[One More Day]] happened, because [[Joe Quesada]] didn't like the changes that had been made to Spidey since the Silver Age and PARTICULARLY not his marriage to Mary Jane, resulting in probably the most infamous [[Cosmic Retcon]] of recent years. God damn it. * Recently{{when}} in ''[[X-Men]]'', {{spoiler\|Magneto saved Kitty Pride from her [[Fate Worse Than Death]]...only for her to immediatly get a ''second'' such fate because now she's stuck in her "phased out" form, unable to interact with the world in any way without outside assistance.}}▼ * ''[[Funky Winkerbean]]'': Lisa Moore's breast cancer has returned, but it looks like they caught it in time and she should be right as rain in a few months. Except the doctors mixed up her medical charts: her cancer wasn't in remission and by the time they caught the mistake, it was already too late to do anything but delay the inevitable.▼ ▲* Recently in ''[[X-Men]]'', {{spoiler\|Magneto saved Kitty Pride from her [[Fate Worse Than Death]]...only for her to immediatly get a ''second'' such fate because now she's stuck in her "phased out" form, unable to interact with the world in any way without outside assistance.}} * Sometimes, the pirates in ''[[Asterix]]'' think they can actually take down the ship they see. Or Can They? Nope! ''They'' are on board. It can be Phoenician, Egyptian, or Roman, but it's all the same. * ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)\|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' had a recent one to boot, {{spoiler\|with Princess Sally being roboticized not long after Sonic had fixed a [[Cosmic Reboot]] and prevented her from being killed.}} Line 111 ⟶ 109: * ''[[Oscar Wilde\|Wilde]]'': Oscar has it pretty rough in the last 20 minutes or so, what with being imprisoned for 2 years of hard labor just for being gay (because homosexuality was actually ''illegal'' in England back then). Then his wife Constance comes to see him and, guess what? Not only does she ''not'' want a divorce even after he's cheated on her with ''men'' (and lots of them), but [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming\|she'll let him see his kids again!]] A happy ending for when he gets out of prison! Right? '''No.''' His sentence ends and he learns that {{spoiler\|Constance is dead, which not only takes away her, but any hope Oscar has of seeing his two boys again.}} * In ''[[I Am Legend\|The Last Man on Earth]]'', Robert finds a dog and is overjoyed at the sight of another living creature. He practically fawns over it, tends its wounds, comforts it when it's frightened, and tells it about the happy times they'll share together. Immediately afterwards [[Tear Jerker\|he learns it's infected and is forced to drive a stake through it]]. [[Laughing Mad\|He breaks]]. * ''[[12 Monkeys]]'': You're not crazy! You figured it out! You're a hero! You... [[ItFrom Bad ~~Got~~to Worse\|oh dear. Ohhh dear]]. * ''[[Psycho Beach Party]]'': The murderer has been caught, {{spoiler\|Chicklet's [[Split Personality]] has been cured}}, romantic stories are all tied off happily, all of that is now behind them as the all live hap-oh god. {{spoiler\|It was all a dream as Chicklet is in a mental hospital getting realistically horrifying shock therapy}}... Happy? == Literature == * Happens ''hard'' to Mike Noonan in ''[[Bag of Bones]]''. His wife dies unexpectedly, taking their unborn baby with her, leaving him alone and broken, unable even to work. Eventually, he discovers that returning to their summer home in western Maine holds the key to turning his life around, one way or another. Immediately, he meets the young, beautiful Mattie Devore and her daughter, Kyra. Thanks to them, he finally finds purpose in his life. He starts writing again. Mattie even reciprocates his unspoken feelings for her. Romance and redemption are all but certain. {{spoiler\|Then, Mattie is murdered right in front of him, the ghosts in his house come to life and try to kill Kyra, Mike gives up on writing forever, and the book ends with him still alone and engaged in a bitter battle to obtain custody of Kyra.}} * In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', Arya Stark manages to make several daring escapes from different captors, but is always kidnapped by someone new shortly thereafter. {{spoiler\|And she is ''finally'' brought back to her family... just in time for [[ItFrom ~~Got~~Bad to Worse\|the Red Wedding]].}} ** Her sister Sansa, after being held captive and abused for a year, is finally going to be taken away by some friendly people to marry a great guy... {{spoiler\|Then her captors find out and force her to marry one of them instead, a terribly ugly dwarf. He's actually a decent person, but Sansa isn't mature enough to appreciate his good points.}} And now it's apparently in the process of happening ''again''. Stupid [[Stockholm Syndrome]] [[Genre Blindness]]. * Marcus Clarke's ''For the Term of His Natural Life.'' The entire book consists of nothing but [[ItFrom ~~Got~~Bad to Worse]] and [[Yank the Dog's Chain]] and is the most relentlessly depressing book ever. Even at the end of the book, where something finally goes right, {{spoiler\|not seconds later he and his love interest both drown at sea}}. * In ''[[Harry Potter and ~~The~~the Prisoner of Azkaban (novel)\|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'': Pettigrew's been outed as guilty and is being turned in! They're going to prove Sirius' innocence! And then Harry can leave the horrible, abusive Dursleys and live with his godfather! Everything's going to be fantastic, everything's going fine, and, say, is that the full moon?... and didn't they just learn Lupin was a werewolf?... aw, shit. * The title character in Charlotte Bronte's ''[[Jane Eyre]]'' finally gets to the altar with her employer/true love Rochester when it is revealed that Rochester is already married to a mad woman he's got locked in the attic, and the wedding is canceled. * In Charlotte Bronte's claustrophobic ''Villette'', the perpetually unhappy heroine Lucy has fallen in love with and become engaged to fellow-teacher M. Paul, only it is revealed ambiguously in the last few pages that Paul {{spoiler\|probably died in a shipwreck before they could be married}}. ** Charlotte considered this a ''happy'' ~~ending -- for~~ending—for M. Paul that is. Which you may be inclined to agree if you've read the book: {{spoiler\|life with a passive-aggressive depressive like Lucy Snow is a fate no man should suffer}}. * ''The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber'' by Hemingway is such an example. * ''[[Discworld]]'''s Rincewind has had this happen to him enough times that now he expects it. It has now gotten to the point that if anything good happens to him he will more or less panic until the other shoe drops. Line 136 ⟶ 133: * The discovery of a later will at the end of ''[[Bleak House]]'' leads us to believe that Richard and Ada will live [[Happily Ever After]]. Unfortunately, it turns out that [[Shaggy Dog Story\|the entire inheritance has gone into paying for the long-running court case]]. Although Richard is at last free of his obsession with winning the case, it is only so that he can {{spoiler\|[[Dying as Yourself\|die as himself.]] Overworked and ill, he is killed by [[Death by Despair\|the shock of losing the estate.]]}} * This trope becomes common with the Baudelaires in Lemony Snicket's ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' series. There are times in the series where it appears Violet, Klaus and Sunny are going to catch a break,`but then Lemony Snicket crushes all your hopes. * The whole point of the short story ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120507002152/http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/villier5.htm La torture par l'esperance]'' (The Torture of Hope) by Villiers de l'Isle-Adam is that yanking the dog's chain is the most sadistic form of torture. * Pretty much the B-plot of every Travis McGee novel, with the exception of the books where it's the A-plot. * Happens repeatedly to the protagonist of ''Master of the Five Magics'' by [[Lyndon Hardy]]: each time he risks it all to learn of a new kind of magic, a rival swoops in and gloms all the profits, leaving him with nothing but a clue to the next style of magic-use. * The whole point of a story by Jerome K. Jerome "In Remembrance of John Ingerfield and of Anne, his Wife". * Everything will be going well by the end of an [[Aubrey-Maturin]] book only for everything to be mediocre ''at best'' by the start of the next. == Live-Action TV == * ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' is a show with this trope as its entire point. * ''[[Battlestar Galactica ~~Reimagined~~(2004 TV series)\|Battlestar Galactica]]'' is full of those. In the mid-series finale of season 4 {{spoiler\|they finally make a truce with some Cylons and make it to Earth 3 minutes before the end - and in those 3 minutes it is revealed that Earth is a nuclear wasteland.}} Afterward, {{spoiler\|Dualla's chain has been yanked enough and [[Driven to Suicide\|she shoots herself]]}}. At the end of season 2, the fleet finds a habitable planet and, under the leadership of {{spoiler\|President Gaius Baltar, settle on the newly-named New Caprica.}} Skip forward a year and, although there are some hiccups, things appear to be running fairly smoothly - more importantly, {{spoiler\|there haven't been any Cylon attacks in that past year}}. Then...{{spoiler\|yep, here come the Cylons. Since the fleet has been reduced to patrolling in orbit, they can't fight off the Cylon ships and Baltar is forced to surrender.}} Line 164 ⟶ 160: * ''[[Good Times]]'' lived on this. * Seeing as how nobody is allowed to be happy on ''[[House (TV series)\|House]]'', this tends to happen a lot. But especially cruel was the very beginning of Season 3. For about the first half of the first episode, House is reasonably happy with no leg pain, cane or vicodin. This obviously cannot last so the ketamine treatment starts failing, Cuddy and Wilson don't believe him when he says his leg is hurting again and let him believe that he couldn't save a patient in a [[Jerkass~~\|Jerkassy~~]]y attempt to teach him some humility and by the end of the second episode, he's back to his normal, limpy, miserable self. In Season 5, he switches to a new drug and throws away his cane because he's completely free of pain. Wilson and Cuddy (as usual) oppose this because the drug has serious side effects. (House ignores them, again as usual.) But at the end of the episode he decides to stop taking it because his diagnostic skills aren't as good when he's high on methadone. ** The writers outdo themselves in their cruelty to House in the Season 5 finale. Line 172 ⟶ 168: * In ''[[The Invaders (TV series)\|The Invaders]]'', a general told David Vincent that his safe contained enough information to blow the invasion plot. It had vanished, of course. * Savvy fans of [[Joss Whedon]]'s shows knew, both from seasons of examples and flat statements in interviews, that he didn't care to write happy relationships, or ones that worked out well. By Season 6 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', for example, many die-hard fans refused to rise to the bait of Xander/Anya's wedding because it was obviously not going to end well. (That the majority of the audience was, by definition, die-hard by that point made it more so.) Yet another episode (without the romantic entanglement) is "The Zeppo" in which the story focuses on Xander, while what would usually be the "main" plot is seen only briefly. Though Xander does something useful and ~~heroic -- in~~heroic—in the face of his characterization up to that ~~point -- by~~point—by the end of the show [[The Greatest Story Never Told\|he decides not to tell them]], and happily offers to get them snacks. On ''[[Angel]]'', there were years of Wesley pining for Fred. He saw her choose another man over him, banish him like the rest of the cast after his devastating Connor arc, and more recently struggle with possible feelings for yet another man. They FINALLY get together. For one episode. He then must watch her die, in his arms, pleading for her life. Then the thing that killed her takes over her body and spends the rest of the season looking like Fred. * sigh* * Only to act like her in situations to manipulate others. She does it well enough that as Wesley's dying, he asks her to lie to him with that illusion. Line 184 ⟶ 180: Note that the entire ''[[Married... with Children]]'' series is basically one long chain-yanking session. * ''Married with Children''? Chain-yanking session? [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]? The two absolute worst ones that come to mind, are when Kelly goes through a [[Training ~~From~~from Hell]] montage to train her memory to remember things for her appearance on a sports trivia show, but for each thing she remembers one thing spills out. You just know SOMETHING will happen to make her lose a fact. When she asks how the final round works, it removes the factoid for "What man once scored four touchdowns in a single game at Polk High" (Al's crowning achievement in life). Even the audience felt that one! The second worst has to be the series finale, which ended up looking a lot like ''Ranma'' minus the martial arts and form changing. * In one episode of ''[[Nowhere Man]]'', Tom Veil recuperates on a woman's farm and they fall in love. On the verge of abandoning his search to regain his old life, he gets another lead. He hesitates, then takes the lead. She leaves; [[Status Quo Is God\|he goes back on the road]]. ** Another, a [[Christmas Special\|Christmas episode]], had Veil reunited with his family, learning that it was all a mistake and the authorities had been looking for him to testify against the people in the photo at the centre of his drama. It was all an elaborate plot, of course. Line 199 ⟶ 195: * In the fifth season of ''[[Heroes (TV series)\|Heroes]]'', Hiro finally manages to save Charlie from both Sylar and her blood clot. Of course, Samuel the evil carny comes along and has his own teleporting time master trap Charlie "somewhere in time", and then kills him so he can't tell Hiro where/when she is. Cue one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever to befall our favorite [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]]. * On ''[[Top Gear]]'', after Jeremy Clarkson and James May had spent two seasons mocking the forthcoming Dacia Sandero, they finally see one in Romania. May seems somewhat smitten, so Clarkson buys one for him. Half an hour later, a lorry backs into it where May had left it parked, caving in one side. * This is the basis for many episodes of ''[[Peep Show]]'' ~~-- Mark~~—Mark Corrigan ''never'' catches a break. There are long-term chain-yankings like promising relationships that never quite happen (the one that eventually does [[Be Careful What You Wish For\|quickly turns into an embarrassing, resentful nightmare for both parties]]) and episode-length ones, like when Mark's chance at his dream job is ruined by his best friend sweeping in what he thinks is a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment to deliver a long speech about how he has a "wanking disease" ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]) to the prospective employer. Still, that's what happens when the [[Butt Monkey]] is the ''protagonist''. * On ''[[Lost]]'', Locke finally found purpose in the end of season 4, after spending the entire series in a constant battle with faith. Shortly after, {{spoiler\|He started traveling through time, which he could only stop by leaving the island, and dying. But when he does die, we don't feel much because the episode showing it happen has already revealed that the character comes back to life. What made it really cruel was that he never came back to life at all, and instead was just an [[Unwitting Pawn]]}}. * ''[[Chuck]]''. Every time the poor boy meets someone, it somehow gets yanked away. It can't help having his 'ex' around all the time. * The first season of ''[[MASH (television)\|Mash]]'' has an episode where everyone comes to believe that there's been a ceasefire and the war is over. During their "farewell" party they learn the sad news: the war isn't over, and the wounded are arriving. * Another early episode has Trapper thinking he'll get to go home due to a stomach ulcer, and even getting a farewell party, before being told by HQ that he'll have to stay in Korea and be operated on there. * Trapper gets put through the wringer again in "Kim", deciding to adopt a seemingly-orphaned Korean boy with his wife back in the States, then having to rescue the kid after he wanders into a minefield...''then'' having to watch as the kid's mother turns up and whisks him away. Line 209 ⟶ 205: In the show's final episode, B.J. receives discharge papers, though they are quickly rescinded. Col. Potter is informed of this, but doesn't say anything - hoping B.J. will be stateside before anyone finds out. Unfortunately, B.J. makes it as far as Guam before he's yanked back to the 4077th. (However, he does ultimately get to go home - along with everybody else - when the war ends shortly thereafter.) * The utterly miserable second half of [[The Sarah Jane Adventures\|"The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith"]]. In the the thirty-three years since she left the Doctor, she never found anyone, until now. Even the first half of the story is bittersweet, as it feels too good to be true if her track record is any indication of what's to come; you can tell they're [[Star-Crossed Lovers\|star-crossed]]. This doesn't make the ending any less tragic. * [[~~This~~Punctuated! IsFor! ~~Sparta~~Emphasis!\|Ronnie]]. [[~~This~~Punctuated! IsFor! ~~Sparta~~Emphasis!\|from]]. ''[[Eastenders]]''. Every single time it looks like she's going to have a happy ending, the producers cruelly snatch it away from her practically going "Neener neener!", be it a potential reconcilement with Danielle being ruined by [[Shaggy Dog Story\|Danielle getting ran over and killed instantly]] or her being caught out when she goes to mad lengths to get a child again. It looks as if recently she's finally having an honest to god child again and all's well... but in true Soap fashion (As revealed in television magazine spoilers), said baby stops breathing and may have suffered cot death barely a day after being born, pushing Ronnie way past her [[Despair Event Horizon\|limit]]. That is if she hasn't already been punted over it before now. * Rimmer, [[Chew Toy]] of the ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' universe, is simply ''not allowed'' to be happy. On the rare occasions he's thrown a bone it usually gets stuck in his throat. A particularly cruel example: in the episode "Timeslides", a bit of minor fiddling with time restores Rimmer to life. In his joy he starts running around, touching things, eating ~~things -- and~~things—and accidentally eats an explosive-filled cheese sandwich intended for Adolph Hitler, which [[Made of Explodium\|explodes]]. He gets [[Genre Savy]] to this in 'Back to Earth' where {{spoiler\|when speaking to the writer of the show, he demands he be written a girl who he can fall in love with, marry and after the big night, NOT find out that she's his long lost sister}}. * On the show ''Sisters'', second-oldest sister Teddy is FINALLY happy after years of turmoil that has included a struggle with alcoholism, miscarriage, her daughter's rape, her divorce, etc. Now, she's married to the love of her life, who's had similar problems of his ~~own--alcoholism~~own—alcoholism, divorce, death of his ~~son--and~~son—and they're preparing to buy a house. He's also preparing to testify against a crime lord (he's a cop). * Happens all the time in ''[[Oz]]''. The worst case is Beecher, of course. But every character has its moments. It's very painful. * At least one victim in ''[[Criminal Minds]]''. The unsub tells her over an intercom that if she can find her way out of the vast complex he's dropped her in by sunset, she gets to live. She gets literally within ''sight'' of the open door to freedom, but the sun is setting and the door slams in her face before she can get out. {{spoiler\|Of course, the team save her anyway, but still.}} Line 223 ⟶ 219: * One episode of ''[[Smallville]]'' had Clark finally tell Lana his secret and propose to her at the same time. That was the teaser! She accepts the proposal, Jonathan Kent wins the state senate seat, beating Lex Luthor and everything seems perfect up til the 30 minute mark when {{spoiler\|Lana is killed in a car accident caused by Lex trying to get Clark's secret out of her. Clark gets Jor-El to rewind time, ignoring his warning that the universe would find someone else to die if he saves Lana. Clark doesn't tell Lana his secret, Jonathan still wins the senate seat but ends up dying of a heart attack.}} * Several episodes of ''[[The Fugitive (TV series)\|The Fugitive]]'' have Dr. Kimble seemingly on the verge of being exonerated, but it always turns out to be a trap or something that otherwise falls apart...until the [[Grand Finale]], of course. == Newspaper Comics == ▲* ''[[Funky Winkerbean]]'': Lisa Moore's breast cancer has returned, but it looks like they caught it in time and she should be right as rain in a few months. Except the doctors mixed up her medical charts: her cancer wasn't in remission and by the time they caught the mistake, it was already too late to do anything but delay the inevitable. == Tabletop Games == * ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~40,000]]'' takes this to an artform, with tremendously horrible things lurking behind every victory and any attempt to correct any aspect of the [[Crapsack World]] doomed to [[Failure Is the Only Option\|failure]]. [[The Empire\|The Imperium]] is even [[Genre Savvy]] about this, one of its many Thoughts For The Day being "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment". It helps when the literal god of Hope is also the god of Manipulation. * ''[[Paranoia]]'' reminds Friend Gamemaster to let the players score some temporary victories along the way to their inevitable hosing. * ''[[Ravenloft]]'': the Dark Powers deliberately go out of their way to inflict this on those who have done unpleasant enough things to qualify as Darklords. As Lord Soth demonstrates, the way to get them to cut it out is simply to stop caring. Line 255: After continously teasing you about being adopted (yet another [[Call Back]]), GLaDOS promises a surprise in which you're going to "meet two people you haven't seen in a long, long time." Of course, it's a lie. Then later in that same test chamber, she promises to put them on the phone, but instead puts on a fake "prerecorded message" in which they claim not to love you. Yes, GLaDOS, we get the point. You don't like Chell. [[Sarcasm Mode\|Thank you for being so discreet about it]]. The last one is more noticeable for being subverted [[Hypocritical Humor]]. Later in the game, she contradicts {{spoiler\|Wheatley}} when he tries to pull the same "adopted fatty" insults on Chell, creating an "awwwwwww" moment, but promptly yanks the rug out when she whispers to you, "For the record, you ARE adopted, [[And That's Terrible]]." *** And at this point, [[~~G La DOS~~GLaDOS]] does not have enough energy to lie to Chell. This is one of only two times in the entirety of both games we actually learn anything definite about Chell's background. == Web Original == * Any time it looks like [[Homestar Runner\|Coach Z]] might be catching a break, something needs to get in his way. {{quote\|'''[[Butt Monkey\|Coach Z:]]''' Hey, thanks for the advice, Homestar! I'd love to come to your house for Decemberween!~~<br />~~ '''Homestar:''' What? [[Big No\|No, no-ho-ho!]] No, no, no. No, Coach Z, no. [[Overly Long Gag\|No.]] No, you can't. }} * In a slightly less sympathetic use of the trope, [[The Nostalgia Chick]] puts on some mood music when [[Todd in the Shadows]] finally agrees to sleep with her out of boredom. The "mood music" turns out to be "Reproduction" from ''[[Grease]] II'', and he runs off, much to her anger. Line 272: * ''[[8-Bit Theater\|Eight Bit Theater]]''. After years and years of nothing but being screwed by the universe itself over and over again, Black Mage finally gets what he always wanted: He becomes an unstoppable mage of mass destruction, slaughtering almost everybody he knows (including the girl he has a crush on) in merely seconds... Only to have [[Deus Ex Machina\|Sar]][[A Wizard Did It\|da]] come pop in and bring everybody back to life. ** Done far, far earlier when he briefly became the overlord of hell, with all the power and cowering minions the title provides, only to be shoved back into his former body before he could destroy it. * At the end of the Kamikaze Kate arc in ''[[Misfile]]'' [[Our Angels Are Different\|Rumisiel]] has successfully exorcised a very scary ghost and saved (at least) one soul from damnation and proven himself a [[Badass]]. Ash is ecstatic, this means he can get back to heaven and fix things. Except... heaven is full of [[Jerkass~~\|Jerkassess~~]]ess (and Rumi is such a screw up) that just one deed like that isn't even going to close to evening the score, so [[Status Quo Is God\|nothing changes]]. ** Later, Rumi gets the news that Heaven is willing to give him a hearing about letting him back into heaven. The catch? The next available hearing is in {{spoiler\|73 years. Ash doesn't take it well.}} * Angus McLeod's ''[[World War ~~One~~I]]: [http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=world+war+one#/d24ibfq Simple Version]'' depicts 1917 as one of these for Germany. {{quote\|'''Germany:''' Oh brothers, with Russia off my back, I have a chance of winning this war! '''Newspaper Headline:''' United States Declares War On Germany. '''Germany:''' [[Oh Crap\|FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU]]-- }} * Patchy got hit with this hard in one of the arcs of ''[[Life of Maid]]''. After Patchy decides to get a new handheld, a Nintendo 3DS, she comes short of the money needed to buy it and decides to go to Remilia for money. But instead of simply giving her the money like in a previous arc, she puts Patchy to work around the mansion. After working her ass off, she finally gets her hands on ~~it -- but~~it—but just two strips later, she leaves the 3DS unattended to use the little girl's room, only to have it get {{spoiler\|eaten by Yuyuko, who mistakes the chicken in the [[Cooking Mama\|"Cooking Papa"]] game she was playing for the real deal}}. == Western Animation == * [[The Simpsons (animation)\|Frank Grimes]] Specifically, Mr. Burns sees a documentary about how Grimes went through a hard life and had recently earned a diploma in nuclear physics. Impressed, he tells Mr. Smithers to find him so he can make him his executive vice president. By the time Smithers returns with Grimes, however, Burns had seen a heroic dog on TV and now wants to make ''him'' executive vice president. {{quote\|'''Smithers:''' In the meantime, here's Frank Grimes. Line 303: Plankton fits quite well here, but he kinda deserves it. * In ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]],'' it really looks like Peter is the only superhero around, though naturally he's outnumbered by [[Super Villain\|supervillains]]. One can hope that the supervillains are all local. So when J. Jonah Jameson's astronaut son and all-around decent guy gets superpowers and is willing to help, wouldn't it seem like [[Big Applesauce\|the Big Apple]] finally gets another hero? No, because [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]. Looks like the best Spidey can hope for are supervillains who aren't [[Friendly Enemy\|quite]] [[Even Evil Has Standards\|evil]] and won't stay local, like Black Cat, Sandman, and Molten Man. * In ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', [[Harmless Villain\|Dr. Doofenshmirtz]] ''finally'' finds a nice evil girlfriend. They hit it off, [["Falling in Love" Montage]] and ~~all -- and~~all—and then in the last five seconds of the episode, [[Hoist by His Own Petard\|the love-destroying satellite he built earlier]] crashes and zaps her, causing her to storm away with a declaration of "I feel NOTHING!" Then there's poor Candace. [[Once an Episode]] she'll have solid proof of her brothers' schemes (which actually shares fun and joy to the neighborhood more than it harms), only to find that it's vanished or ruined when she shows her mother. Other times, any special moment with Jeremy will be interrupted by something (possibly just by Candace herself), and any attempt to impress him will backfire in a humiliating fashion. * Then again, Jeremy seems to be as mellow and kind to Candace when she's disheveled with branches in her hair as any other time. Candace ''fears'' being humiliated in front of him, but he's so much of a legitimately [[Nice Guy]] that it may be impossible. You could say Jeremy is the personification of [[Throw the Dog a Bone]]. ** Happens at the end of "My Fair Goalie" to Football X-7 creator Professor Ross Efrop, who was forced into hiding when it was discovered his name was a palindrome, as the British at the time were very anti-palindrome. He is about to come back out when he's still shunned for his name being a palindrome. * Happens repeatedly on ''[[The Fairly ~~Odd Parents~~OddParents]]'' to almost everyone. One instance is when Timmy had finally undone all of [[Jackass Genie\|Norm's]] tricks, [[Alpha Bitch\|Trixie]], who had been brainwashed to fall in love with several Timmy Turners, has finally showed up, deciding to give "the biggest, wettest kiss" to Timmy... only to have it wear off then. * The ''[[Invader Zim]]'' episode "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" has Dib finally achieve everything he wanted, including respect and acclaim, after being [[Touched by Vorlons]], only for it all to be a fantasy created by Zim's [[Lotus Eater Machine]]. ** To get back at him for throwing a muffin in his face, no less... * The B-plot in the ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "Road to Rupert" has Peter and Meg bonding after Meg becomes Peter's chauffeur when Peter's license gets suspended. Peter, of course, goes back to his abusive ways after he gets his license back. Played so straight that {{spoiler\|Peter tells Meg that he's going back to tormenting her to keep up appearances in front of the family. Meg is actually okay with this after Peter splashes a glass of juice at her, as if this is the closest thing to love that she can ever expect out of these people.}} ** Or in the episode "Peter's Daughter", where Peter vows to treat Meg better if she wakes up from a coma, which she's in because he made her go into the kitchen to save his beer when the house flooded. Meg gets a sweet, affectionate, (over-)protective father, as well as a boyfriend, because she starts dating a med student who was there when she woke up. Then Peter accidentally ruins her relationship ... then she finds out she's pregnant ... But then Michael (her boyfriend) proposes to her, saying he loves her and wants to be there for her. [[Shotgun Wedding\|Ignoring the fact that her dad was there with a rifle]]. So Meg's going to get married ... {{spoiler\|except on the day of the wedding, she realizes she isn't pregnant, and isn't sure she can go through with it. Her mother tells her to do what she thinks is right, ("Thanks, Mom. I love you." "I, uh, you too.") and Meg tells Michael the truth when she gets to the altar, prompting him to run out of the church.}} * This is pretty much standard for the [[Black and Nerdy\|nerdy]] [[Butt Monkey]] Tucker from ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. He usually ends up getting the short end of the stick either through his numerous failures to pick up girls or constantly getting the most emotional/physical abuse due to his comic relief character setting. The best shown is "King Tuck" where he [[Dork Horse Candidate\|runs for school president]] in order to get some respect from ~~others--including~~others—including his friends. After Danny and Sam gets [[An Aesop]] that they should listen to Tucker once in a while, they promptly, ''in seconds'', ignores and walks off when Tucker's rambles about his interests. Worse, for no reason other then to play up his [[Butt Monkey]] status, the writer gets two popular girls to chase after him with intent to do some bodily harm. Poor guy can't catch a break. * This happens to Henry in some ''[[~~Ka Blam~~KaBlam!]]!'' episodes. In the episode "Won't Stick to Most Dental Work!", he gets tired of being the Butt Monkey and quits the show. After the first sketch, he opens his own restaurant, and then quits after seeing how heartbroken June was. Also in "You May Already Be A KaBlammer!", he's upset over the fact that no one finds him funny, so June tells him that she'll be his sidekick as long as he's hers. And since he's famous for falling in love, only to be rejected, he gets his happy ending in episode 29, which was the so-called "last episode" (they ended up making a lot more, and some didn't get to air due to the cancellation), when a girl gives him a kiss: June. Line 319: {{quote\|'''Edd:''' I'm touched! That you would interrupt a cliché plot ending for my sake!}} * After being tortured, mutilated, and reduced to a [[Brain In a Jar]] throughout the first three seasons of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003\|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003), Baxter Stockman finally regains a whole, human body in the episode "Insane in the Membrane". Unfortunately, it's not long before Stockman's new body begins breaking down, and the doctor begins losing limbs. Worse still, he begins losing the one thing he'd managed to keep throughout his tribulations: his mind. ** It gets worse for him in "Good Genes, Part 1." Bishop effectively brings him [[Back ~~From~~from the Dead]] in a pseudo-body to continue their work. Stockman laments this development because he thought that he had finally found peace following his previous appearance. * Near the end of season 2 of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': The [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] who ran the Earth Kingdom's secret police has been arrested! The real leader has promised them support against the Fire Nation! Sokka's finally seeing his dad after two years, and his girlfriend's in town! Toph's mom wants to reconcile with her! Aang is going to train to master the Avatar state!... Wait, there's still two episodes left. And as soon as Sokka says "[[Tempting Fate\|Everything's gonna be perfect, now and forever]]," you know something's gonna happen. Sure enough, before ''this'' episode is even out: the secret police are still loyal to the man they "arrested"; Toph was tricked and captured by bounty hunters hired to drag her home; and it's not Sokka's girlfriend that's in town, it's [[The Dragon]] in ~~disguise -- and~~disguise—and the king, not knowing better, welcomes her with open arms. And in those next two episodes, [[It Got Worse]]. * ''[[Kim Possible]]'''s [[Unlucky Everydude\|Ron Stoppable]] never seemed to come out on top in the first three seasons. At the most extreme levels of yankage he somehow managed to get all of his 99 million dollars he got from Bueno Nacho stolen by [[Idiot Ball\|keeping it all]] [[Took a Level In Dumbass\|in his pants]], leaving him with nothing [[Fridge Logic\|(though most can't figure out what happened with the continued royalties after that payment)]]. [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain\|Drakken]] also has his leash [[Kick the Dog\|yanked]] a few times more than comfortable. * The ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]'' episode "Omitown" had Omi thinking he found his long-lost parents, only to learn at the end that they were fakes created by the show's [[Big Bad]]. Line 330: == Real Life == * After four, terrible years and thirteen millions of people dead, they called [[World War ~~One~~I]] the "War to End All Wars," meaning that after this kind of war humanity would finally throw away their warlike nature and world peace now would come and expand. [[It Got Worse\|If they only knew]]... They also wanted to see the end of death and misery. Well, the Spanish flu and the Great Depression got in the way of that... Speaking of WWI-Mustard gas. It might splash undetected as a liquid onto a soldier's skin or clothes and then when they went down into the trenches where it was warmer the liquid would heat up into a corrosive gas. So just when you think you're safe, you've escaped the fighting with your life you discover you and all your buddies are gonna die... Line 336: ** In a similar case was the Philippines in the 1970s it was one of the fastest growing economies in Asia second only to Japan, then when the Marcos administration took over it all spiraled downward. * In 1917, the working class of Russia overthrew the corrupt government of the tsar and the nobles and replaced their rule with that of a working class government, with [[Vladimir Lenin]] chosen as the leader. 1924, Lenin died by illness and the new leader who took over was named [[Joseph Stalin]]... * The [[Disney Channel\|Playhouse Disney]] fandom when the old Playhouse Disney shows returned on Disney Junior... only to get taken off again a few years later. {{reflist}} [[Category:Cynicism Tropes]] [[Category:Tear Jerker Tropes]] [[Category:Tropey the Wonder Dog]] [[Category:Plot Twist]] [[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]] [[Category:Yank ~~The~~the ~~Dogs~~Dog's Chain]] [[Category:Finagle's Law]]