History Main / ConsolationBackfire

When a character has suffered some humiliating setback, and tries to console himself by saying that at least he has something or someone still likes him, this is often a cue for that someone to leave them or that something to be destroyed.

A variation has the character reporting a sob story to a friend, who tries to cheer him up by saying what happened wasn't so awful, only for the story to progress from the merely disappointing on to the truly horrific.

* One Creator/DaveBarry column offered this ParodyCommercial for a soft drink:

* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'': When Hamilton publishes the Reynolds pamphlet, declaring while his wife was away he had an affair with Maria Reynolds, his wife's sister Angelica returns all the way from London [[note]] DAAAYUM!! [[/note]] as soon as she hears.

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' has a deconstruction in the form of [[spoiler:Oersted. After everyone turns their backs on him because of him accidentally committing regicide, he is convinced (by his remaining friend, who dies soon after) that there's one person that still believes in him: Princess Alethea. As long as he still has her, he can keep fighting. So he sets off to save her, only to find out that the "accident" was actually orchestrated by a jealous friend, and when he kills said former friend, the Princess reveals that she has already lost faith in him and declares her love for the same friend that betrayed him, ultimately committing suicide in front of him to spite the knight further. Oersted in turn ''[[DespairEventHorizon snaps]]''. Then in retaliation, [[FallenHero he becomes the new Lord of Dark]], [[FaceHeelTurn levels the kingdom, and then declares war on all of reality]].]]

Sorry for all the time you wasted on [[Website/TVTropes This Very Wiki]]. At least you [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife learned something]].

* In ''Film/TheFifthElement'', Korben Dallas is eating lunch when he gets a message. He points out to the window-to-window chef that the last two messages were from his wife, who was leaving him, and from his lawyer, who was also leaving him ''with'' his wife. The chef responds with some words of wisdom: "Grandfather say, 'it never rains every day'. This one is good news! I bet you lunch!" Of course, his next line as he reads the message is "You are fired". At least Corbin got a free lunch?

* In ''Film/TheFifthElement'', Corbin Dallas is eating lunch when he gets a message. He points out to the window-to-window chef that the last two messages were from his wife, who was leaving him, and from his lawyer, who was also leaving him ''with'' his wife. The chef responds with some words of wisdom: "Grandfather say, 'it never rains every day'. This one is good news! I bet you lunch!" Of course, his next line as he reads the message is "You are fired". At least Corbin got a free lunch?

* At the end of ''[[WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck Daffy Duck's Quackbusters]]'', Daffy is completely bankrupt and can't pay his rent, and a repo crew come in to take all his stuff. Daffy then says "One thing's for sure, I've got nowhere else to go but up!", then a wrecking ball crashes in his office [[ExactWords and sends him flying]].

* In ''Film/TheRoom'', after [[spoiler:Johnny's]] suicide, [[spoiler:Lisa]], leaning against [[spoiler:Mark]], sobs, "[[spoiler:Johnny's]] dead, but I still have you, right?" This is a little too soon after [[spoiler:Johnny's]] death for [[spoiler:Mark]] (they're ''standing over his corpse''), and he recoils in disgust, saying that she doesn't "have him".

->'''Howard:''' Day 12. Vince is dead. All is lost. So alone. Wind my only friend.
->'''Wind:''' I...Hate...You...
->'''Howard:''' Shut up wind!

Sorry for all the time you wasted on [[Wiki/TVTropes This Very Wiki]]. At least you [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife learned something]].

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' has a deconstruction in the form of [[spoiler:Oersted. After everyone turns their backs on him because of him accidentally committing regicide, he is convinced (by his remaining friend, who dies soon after) that there's one person that still believes in him: Princess Alicia. As long as he still has her, he can keep fighting. So he sets off to save her, only to find out that the "accident" was actually orchestrated by a jealous friend, and when he kills said former friend, the Princess reveals that she has already lost faith in him and commits suicide in front of him. Oersted in turn ''[[DespairEventHorizon snaps]]''. Then in retaliation, [[FallenHero he becomes the new Demon King]], [[FaceHeelTurn levels the kingdom, and then declares war on all of reality]].]]

[[folder:Comic Book]]

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* In the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' alternate timeline story "Papa Smurf & Mama Smurfette", where Papa Smurf and Smurfette fall in love, marry, have a child together, and then are exiled from the village by the other Smurfs to raise their own family together in the forest, when Papa Smurf hears that those same Smurfs who exiled him were now trapped in time, Papa Smurf refuses to help, stating that they got just what they deserved. Sassette (who along with her fellow Smurfings were living with Papa Smurf and Smurfette in exile) dares to speak her mind, saying that Empath was perhaps right in saying that Papa Smurf didn't really love Smurfette, but rather stole her from Empath, the one Smurf that truly loved her. To which Papa Smurf became so angry that he slapped Sassette hard in the face, which in turn made Smurfette so angry with Papa Smurf that she decided to leave him and go off into the forest to find a way to bring the other Smurfs home, taking their daughter away from Papa Smurf in the process as she, the Smurflings, Polaris Psyche, and Puppy all left Papa Smurf behind with only Baby Smurf to keep him company. Papa Smurf turns to Baby Smurf, hoping to gain some comfort from him after all this has happened to him, but Baby Smurf just cries, realizing that he also is being left behind.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{UHF}}'', the protagonist George discovers at one point that he is broke, can't pay the rent, and has just run his uncle's business into the ground, with no hope of being employed by anyone in the city (as he's already been fired from every business and his uncle will certainly not offer him another job after he's ruined his TV station). He recalls his girlfriend, saying, "Well, at least I have Terri..." Cue phone call from Terri calling to tell him that he is an insensitive creep for failing to show up at the birthday dinner he promised, and that she never wants to see him again.
* In ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'', a caviar factory owned by Film/JamesBond's [[EnemyMine former enemy turned ally]] Valentin Zukovsky is the site of a lengthy battle between Bond and several {{mooks}}. While surveying the damage done to the factory after the battle ends, Zukovsky comments to his assistant that, "we may not have a roof, but at least, we still have four good walls." Seconds later, all four walls simultaneously collapse.
-->'''Valentin Zukovsky:''' The insurance company is ''never'' going to believe this!

* In ''Film/TheFifthElement'', Corbin Dallas is eating lunch when he gets a message. He points out to the window-to-window chef that the last two messages were from his wife, who was leaving him, and from his lawyer, who was also leaving him ''with'' his wife. The chef responds with some words of wisdom: "Grandfather say, 'it never rains every day'. This one is good news! I bet you lunch!" Of course, his next line as he reads the message is "You are fired". At least Corbin got a free lunch?

* In ''Literature/MovingPictures'', a bartender at a bar for people DrowningTheirSorrows has learned never to say "Cheer up, it might never happen" because it already has, or "Never mind, it could be worse" because it probably will be.

* In one episode of ''Series/FullHouse'', Joey has a lucky day. First there's a newspaper strike, delaying publication of a review of a disastrous comedy show the night before, he wins two tickets to a concert after getting a call from a radio station and correctly getting the answer right, gets a date with the attractive cable lady who also installs a channel the household didn't have, free of charge, and he is given the opportunity to audition to replace a longtime children's TV show host. However, Joey doesn't know that the host HatesBeingTouched and after he's hired gives him a big hug, after leaving the host tells Danny that Joey is fired. This then starts his bad luck, as the newspaper strike is settled, he doesn't qualify for the prize tickets due to a relative being employed at the radio station, the cable lady has to uninstall the free channel and breaks off their date upon hearing that he can't have the tickets, which gets Joey to mention to Danny that he at least he got [[DramaticIrony the job that he's unaware he was fired from]], right before Danny breaks the news to him.

* In ''Theatre/OnceInALifetime'', when George's movie appears to be a fiasco, May tells him that "we've got a gold dinner set, anyway. A hundred and six pieces, and every piece with your initials in diamonds. That's not bad for two months' work." This is the cue for two pages to appear, carrying said dinner set out.
-->"No, George -- you ''haven't'' got a solid gold dinner set."

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Dope and Faith", Stan tries to convert his atheist friend Brett by having him suffer so he'll turn to Jesus by blowing up his house and sabotaging his restaurant with ipecac. Afterwards, Brett looks on the bright side that he's still got his family.
-->'''Stan:''' Yeah, I thought you'd say that.\\
''[Brett's wife comes up to him]''\\
'''Brett's wife:''' Brett, I've realized I'm a lesbian, so I'm leaving you and taking the children.\\
'''Brett:''' What?! When did you become a lesbian?!\\
'''Brett's Wife:''' That is so ignorant! You don't ''become'' a lesbian! It's not like somebody shot an experimental beam into my head, and suddenly I'm gay!\\
''[Stan gives AsideGlance]''
* Ed does this to himself in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy''
-->'''Eddy:''' Get over it! If she told you to jump in a lake, with a rock tied to your head, and wait for naked photos of you to develop, so she could hand them out to all the kids in the cul-de-sac, would you? \\
'''Ed:''' [[NoodleIncident I had socks on, Eddy]]
* At the end of ''[[WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck Daffy Duck's Quackbusters]]'', Daffy is completely bankrupt and can't pay his rent, and a repo crew come in to take all his stuff. Daffy then says "One thing's for sure, I've got nowhere else to go but up!", then a wrecking ball crashes in his office [[ExactWords and sends him flying]].

* At the end of "[[WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck Daffy Duck's Quackbusters]]", Daffy is completely bankrupt and can't pay his rent, and a repo crew come in to take all his stuff. Daffy then says "One thing's for sure, I've got nowhere else to go but up!", then a wrecking ball crashes in his office [[ExactWords and sends him flying]].

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' has a deconstruction in form of [[spoiler:Oersted. After everyone turned his back on him because of an accident he committed (killing the king), he is convinced (by his remaining friend, who died soon after) that there's one person that believed in him: The Princess. So long as she believes in him, he kept fighting. So he set off to save her, only to find out that the accident was orchestrated by a jealous friend, and when he killed the friend, the Princess said that she already lost faith on him and committed suicide in front of him. Oersted in turn ''[[DespairEventHorizon snaps]]''. Then in retaliation, [[FallenHero he becomes the Demon King that he fought all this time]] [[FaceHeelTurn and then killed everyone there and then tried to kill everyone from different timelines]].]]

Sorry for all the time you wasted on [[Wiki/TVTropes This Very Wiki]]. At least you [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife learned something]].

----

* In ''Film/TheRoom'', after [[spoiler:Johnny's]] suicide, [[spoiler:Lisa]], leaning against [[spoiler:Mark]], sobs, "[[spoiler:Johnny's]] dead, but I still have you, right?" This is a little TooSoon after [[spoiler:Johnny's]] death for [[spoiler:Mark]] (they're ''standing over his corpse''), and he recoils in disgust, saying that she doesn't "have him".

** After being completely lost during the first service due to her inexperience in the brigade system, Danielle ranted about how so few restaurants used a brigade system. She then rhetorically asked the dorm how many cooks there ever cooked in a brigade system. Cue almost every cook on the blue team raising their hands.