This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Bizarre Threat: From YKTTW
Frank75: I have the impression we're talking about two different things here. Sometimes the threats are meant anything but serious (do you believe Susan Sto Helit would really knot a kid's arms behind its head?), but sometimes they are (like the trope title, the wooden sword example, or the Sheriff of Nottingham's.)
Bladed Smoke: I think the key to this trope is that the threat is intended for comedic effect, and is not carried out. This means that the 'wooden sword' example doesn't belong here, but the 'spoon' one does, because it never actually happens and is meant to be funny. Whether the one making the threats actually intends to carry it out is irrelevant - if it doesn't happen, and is comedic, then it counts. So I'm going to go ahead and delete the 'wooden sword' one, if that's all right.
