History Main / CuRse

* The Chicago Cubs and the Curse of the Billy Goat. As the story goes, during Game 4 of the 1945 World Series a bar owner named Billy Sianis brought his pet goat named Murphy to the game at Wrigley Field (even purchasing a separate ticket), but was kicked out because the goat's odor was bothering others. Sianis was infuriated and declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more."[[note]]His family claims he later sent a telegram to the Cubs' owner saying, "You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again. You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat."[[/note]] The Cubs lost that game, lost the series, and did not play a World Series game again until 2016, the longest pennant drought in baseball. (The Cubs also hold the record for longest World Series drought - until their 2016 World Series victory, they hadn't won a championship since ''1908''.) Highlights since:

** In 2016, the Cubs would not only ''finally'' win the Pennant by beating the Dodgers in 6 games, but at long last win a World Series in a nail-biter against the Cleveland Indians. The latter was an especially tense victory, considering the Cubs were at one point down three games to one before they rallied back to win Games 5 and 6, and then in Game 7 took a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the 8th before the Indians tied it on a Rajai Davis home run, ''and then'' the game finished the regulation nine innings tied at 6 when a rain delay set in, making it seem like their curse wasn't quite done with them (or the Indians, who at that time had the second-longest World Series championship drought and had been dogged with curse talk of their own) yet.

* There is a legend surrounding "The Hope Diamond" in that whomever has possessed it, will be hit with a horrific fate. It is said that the diamond was cursed by the Hindu goddess Sita, as the diamond had been pried from a statue of her, where it served as her eye. The theif who had stolen it, for example, was mauled to pieces by a pack of wild dogs, another a Russian Prince was killed in the Russian revolution, another had been thrown from a precipice alongside his wife and child, two others had committed suicide when the diamond was in their possession, the list goes on.

* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': Brokenstar is the living embodiment of the fifth oak tree at the current Fortress, a curse created by the suffering of SkyClan to punish the Clans. Unlike in canon, this is followed up with him taking a major part in restoring and protecting SkyClan after his death.

*** This was a plot point in ''Pokémon: Mystery Dungeon'' and the comic of it. The main character believes that he's cursed to be a Pokémon because in a past life he grabbed a Ninetales' tail and let his friend Gardevoir take the curse in his place (as a legend has it). [[spoiler:It turns out that ''Gengar'' was the human who left Gardevoir to take the heat.]]

** When [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Leah Clearwater]] loops into Equestria, Fluttershy identifies her werewolf "gift" as a couple of curses made by an idiot who had no idea how wolves actually worked. On top of that, the curses aren't functioning properly on Leah because she's female. Fluttershy helps her sort everything out, turning her into a more normal shapeshifter.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Miroku's family was cursed by Naraku with the Wind Tunnel: a black hole in the palm of the right hand that's passed down through each generation. The Wind Tunnel absorbs [[PowerIncontinence everything in front of it unless sealed]] by enchanted prayer beads, and it's constantly expanding which culminates in it being strong enough to break the seal and [[SuperPowerMeltdown consume its bearer and all that surrounds him]], just like it has already done with Miroku's father and grandfather. The only way for Miroku to free himself and his descendants from this fate is to [[NoOntologicalInertia kill Naraku]]. [[spoiler: It almost, ''almost'' fails since the Tunnel not only gets bigger but brings ''[[BodyHorror other]]'' [[BodyHorror horrible effects to Miroku's body]], but when Inuyasha and Kagome manage to definitely defeat Naraku, the Tunnel disappears and he's saved. The [[BabiesEverAfter children]] that he and Sango have some time later are completely free of any effects.]]

* In the Creator/StephenKing movie ''Literature/{{Thinner}}'', a man is getting a blowjob from his wife while driving. He hits and kills a young Gypsy woman. When he avoids justice by using his connections in a ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney way, the woman's father gives the protagonist a GypsyCurse.

* ''Literature/{{Dark Angel|1996}}'': Under Angel's guidance, Gillian puts two rather effective curses on Tanya and Kim [[spoiler:after finding out she's a witch]], to stop their intended revenge plot against her and David – she gives Kim strep throat to prevent her from talking and gives Tanya what she thinks is bad rash on her arm to stop her from writing or typing. [[spoiler:[[GoneHorriblyRight The curses are a little]] ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight effective in fact]] and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she's horrified]] when she realizes how much damage she did (if left untreated, strep throat can cause serious complications, and given the cause is supernatural it's unclear if Kim would respond to medication, while it's revealed Angel tricked Gillian into giving Tanya ''flesh-eating bacteria'' that lands her in hospital]].

* In Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', curses are various forms of ''nasty'' magic. Particularly dreadful is the "death curse," a wizard's last spell, CastFromHitPoints. Examples include:

* In Creator/GuyGavrielKay's ''Literature/{{Tigana}}'', the entire country of Tigana and all its inhabitants are cursed.

* ''Literature/{{Xanth}}''. Many. Cursefiends have this as their power, and the Furies use it on anyone who is not (in their eyes) a dutiful enough child. Which means everyone.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/WitchWorld'', That Which Runs The Ridges turns out to be under a curse.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'', a "curse" appears to include any spell with a malevolent effect, particularly charms.
** The Unforgivable Curses: the Cruciatus Curse (Crucio), used for torture; the Imperius Curse (Imperio) used for MindControl, and the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra), which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
** Unicorn blood will save you from dying "even if you are an inch from death", but you will live a "half life" from the moment you drink it.

* Creator/TeresaEdgerton's second ''Literature/{{Celydonn}}'' trilogy revolves about the curse on a land, and breaking it.
* The plot of Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/TheCurseOfChalion'' is driven by a curse of corrupted virtues and ill luck on the country's ruling line.
* In Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/TheTombsOfAtuan'', Arha curses another priestess. Unusually, there is no reason to believe that the curse has any actual effect.

* In Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/EqualRites'', Granny Weatherwax assures Esk that she will curse under the right conditions, such as when people ain't showing respect. Often "curse" means that you ''tell'' someone you've cursed them and the next time something bad happens to them, they think "That was because I didn't show respect to the witch." Granny Weatherwax has been known to actually curse people, just in less traditional ways. For example, instead of turning someone into a frog just making them think that they are a frog. It's much easier and more fun too.

* In ''Literature/JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'' the Gentleman does this to Jonathan Strange, cursing him to 'Darkness, misery, and Solitude'. In practice this means he is surrounded by eternal night, everyone flees the eternal night in terror, and he deliberately and literally [[PowerBornOfMadness drives]] [[SelfInflictedHell himself]] [[PowerBornOfMadness mad]] in a quest to free his wife.As it turns out, [[spoiler: because of the [[ExactWords imprecision of the spell]] the darkness entraps any English magician who comes into contact with it, starting with Mr. Norrell]]. The Raven King also cursed a few places during his reign, mostly over matters of civil unrest or rebellion.
* In Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''Literature/ThirteenthChild'', Uncle Earn [[MaliciousSlander accuses]] Eff of casting a curse when she is five -- too young to cast magic. Later, William asks Eff if her nervousness springs from being under a curse.
* Creator/PatriciaCWrede's "Literature/TheSixtyTwoCursesOfCaliphArenschadd" features a variety of imaginative examples.
* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheTamuli'' has an unusual variant of a benevolent curse. A god wants to hide his followers from obliteration and simultaneously give them magical powers to defend themselves. A blessing won't do, because blessings "ring in the air" and are easily detectable by magical means. So the god uses a curse with the exact same effects instead. It is notable that, while benevolent, it's still a curse; the god can't bring himself to curse his beloved followers directly and curses their drinking water instead.
* In ''Thinner'', by Creator/StephenKing, the protagonist is put under a curse [[WeightLossHorror that causes him to waste away]]. (His judge and lawyer are cursed with hideous acne and skin cancer that will eventually kill them too.) His response is to track down the gypsy and curse him--by taking out a contract with a hit man to kill his family.

* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[Literature/ProsperosDaughter Prospero In Hel]]'', Mephisto's folly is caused by amnesia, which he inflicted on himself to escape a curse.
* In the [[Literature/ForgottenRealms Avatar Trilogy]] we are introduced to Kelemvor Lyonsbane, last scion of a family of cursed mercenaries. The curse began when his ancestor [[DyingCurse betrayed a powerful sorceress]] and was cursed to never again act purely for profit, or else transform into a murderous panther. However, with the birth of his son, the curse reacted to the boy's innocence and reversed itself. From then on, Lyonsbanes could ONLY act on another's behalf out of thoughts of profit.
* In ''Literature/TheShahnameh'', the one who kills Esfandiyār is cursed to die and suffer in this life and the next. Fortunately for Rostem, [[spoiler: it can see through {{Uriah Gambit}}s.]]
* In Creator/TanithLee's ''Literature/TheDragonHoard'', the events begin with Prince Jasleth and Princess Goodness being cursed by a witch who was upset about not being invited to their birthday party.
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', one dying man curses the man who betrayed him.
* In Creator/DevonMonk's ''Literature/DeadIron'', why Cedar is a werewolf.
* Creator/DevonMonk's ''Literature/AllieBeckstrom'' series starts with Allie breaking a curse on a boy.

* In Creator/WenSpencer's ''Literature/{{Tinker}}'', Tinker knows that although elves can turn you into a frog, they can't cause a ''curse'' -- a plague of bad fortune. She just ''feels'' like she was hit by one.
* Subverted in ''[[Literature/TheInkworldTrilogy Inkheart]]'', where Dustfinger pretends to place a curse on [[TheDragon Basta]] in order to frighten him, [[spoiler: as Basta was threatening Meggie with a knife.]]
* In Creator/EDBaker's ''Literature/TheWideAwakePrincess'', an old woman asks Annie for food -- and then throws it away, contemptuously. She's cursed with toads and snakes falling from her mouth. Annie's 'curse' is that magic doesn't work around her (her sister is Sleeping Beauty, so her parents begged to make their next daughter immune to magic) therefore, all curses thrown at her get bounced back.
** Speaking of curses, ''Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess'' has many. A curse turns Eadric into a frog, and backfires when Emma kisses him with her curse-repelling bracelet, which turns her into a frog. A curse that has far more impact on Emma, her family, and the next couple books is one placed on their family a few hundred years before, fating any female ancestor of [[JerkassVictim Princess Hazel]] to turn into an ugly, evil old hag if she touches a flower after her sixteenth birthday. The curse affects the Queen Mother, Olivine and [[spoiler:Grassina]] before [[spoiler:Emma is able to have it lifted.]]

* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/ThreeHeartsAndThreeLions'', Hugi recounts how Mother Gerd had cursed a peasant's field -- and [[IneptMage only killed the thistles.]]

* Curses are a subject of the horror anthology ''Literature/ThatHoodooVoodooThatYouDo'' by Creator/RagnarokPublications. In one story, a faithful Catholic woman curses her priest when she discovers he's been practicing BlackMagic. Knowing such rituals have power, especially around him, causes him to freak.

* From ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' we get plenty of cursing and a few actual curses/ spiteful prophesies/ blood magic rituals which [[MayBeMagicMayBeMundane may or may not work]], depending on the beliefs of the chracter and how much a person or reader buys into the workings of either [[SelfFulfillingProphecy Self-Fulfilling]] or SelfDefeatingProphecy -- or, [[TheMagicComesBack the possibly-returning-to-full-strength-after-a-breather magic]]. One thing most in the Seven Kindoms agree on, though, regardless of their individual levels of belief or scepticism: if [[BigFancyCastle Harrenhal]] is not actually under a known, specifically-worded curse (there are plenty of rumours about vague dying curses, the blood of innocents used in mortar triggering things, parents' invoking curses due to slain children, divine vengeance for the breaking of oathes -- the whole enchilada; any or all of it plausible according to various beliefs married to events that have occurred), it's got the [[AwesomeButImpractical next best thing to it]] clinging to its stones. ''So much'' bad stuff has happened in and around it over just its relatively young 300 years, that it gives far more ancient [[HauntedCastle keeps and castles]], like even the dead scary Nightfort, a run for their ghost story money. [[TheMillstone And, usually beats them.]]

** Gae Bolg and [[LightNovel/FateZero Gae Buidhe]] are both cursed spears. Any wound they deliver is cursed to never heal properly so long as the spear exists.

* ''Webcomic/DestroyerOfLight'': When Persephone needs [[TopGod Zeus]]' help with a sensitive matter, she threatens to use her powers as a {{Fertility God}}dess to curse him with impotence if he double-crosses her. He's honestly a bit pleased with her audacity, but warns her not to push her luck.

* ''Webcomic/{{Darken}}'' has an amulet that's "more curse than metal", which keeps [[ClingyMacguffin finding its way back to Casper]] and inflicting bad dreams on him. Oddly, [[spoiler:it turns out to be sapient and benevolent and helps walk Casper through a bit of EpiphanyTherapy]].

** [[spoiler:Though Princess Gwendolyn of the Pastel Kingdom does not seem to believe she has a curse, since she has been the way she is for as long as she can remember, her friends in the club start to suspect she may be cursed after all after seeing a picture of Gwen with her family. Gwen’s older sisters, Maria and Lorena, are both {{Princess Classic}}s who are so beautiful that [[FriendToAllLivingThings birds do their hair]] and [[GreenThumb flowers spring up wherever they sleep]]. Her twin brother, Jamie, is so gorgeous that he [[BishieSparkle literally sparkles]] and EvenTheGuysWantHim. Meanwhile, [[FaceOfAThug Gwen]] has sickly green skin, stringy green hair, fangs, demon-like eyes, and cannot smile at someone without looking frightening. Of course, the children have an OverprotectiveDad who has kept them all locked away from the rest of the world for most of their lives, so [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight none of them ever realized that the way Gwen looked was abnormal]]. Because of the differences between her and the rest of her siblings, the other members of the CPC start to wonder if she may be cursed after all and just not know it yet.]]

** Princess Aurelia of the Gilded Kingdom has a [[OverprotectiveDad “lovingly overprotective stepfather”]] who gifted her a cursed necklace before she went to sleepaway camp, making anything that touches her mouth disintegrate, so no boys would want to kiss her. Of course, he didn’t count on the curse staying even ''after'' she took the necklace off.

* The final episode of ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'' has a gypsie put a curse on Gordon so that anything that he cooks is lethal to anyone who eats it. Casualties include a lot of birds and Councillor Druggett.

*** First came the [[DorkAge Ted Stepien era of the Cavaliers in the early 1980's]], who soon proved himself to be [[HeadInTheSandManagement an incredibly incompetent owner]] who kept trading away first-round draft picks for players that didn't pan out, to the point where the NBA specifically passed the Ted Stepien Rule that disallows any team from trading their first-round pick for three consecutive years and eventually required any trade involving the Cavaliers to get league approval because other teams kept fleecing the Cavs in trade after trade. The Cavs under Stepien also [[GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity had five head coaches in two seasons]] as well as a new fight song based off of polka music and a dance team named the "Teddy Bears". The Cavs' on-court performance and attendance plummeted during his ownership, including a then-record 24-game losing streak and home games barely breaking 10% of the arena's capacity (with those going mainly voicing how much they hated Stepien and loved play-by-play announcer Joe Tait who had also been fired by Stepien). The Cavs' situation was so bad that in order to entice the Gund brothers to buy the team and keep it in Cleveland in 1983, the NBA granted them additional first-round picks to make up for the ones Stepien had traded away.

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation has [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1510 SCP-1510]] who, when alive, was a Roman legionnaire cursed by King Jugurtha for not helping him escape capture. The curse caused him [[BodyHorror to wake up with his body rotting away]], leaving his mind/soul linked to his helmet.

*** The Indians' choking woes didn't stop even after the Cavaliers broke the citywide drought: they lost the "Hell Freezes Over" 2016 World Series to the Chicago Cubs in an extra innings Game 7 at home, and blew a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-five 2017 ALDS to the Yankees.

** Yet again another member passed away in 2019: Robert F.Kennedy's granddaughter Saoirse died of suspected overdose at age 22.

*** By the late 1980's, though, the Cavs' new management was able to put together a good team that began challenging for the league's top spots. They just had the terrible luck of running into Michael Jordan was starting to show off his otherworldly talent that would [[RisingEmpire soon make the Chicago Bulls the dynasty of the 1990's]]. Jordan and the Bulls beat Cleveland in their best-of-five first-round series in 1988, and met them again the following year in the first round. The teams split the first four games, and so Game 5 on May 7 was needed in Cleveland. It came down to the wire with the lead changing back and forth over the final minute; the Cavs were up 100-99 with three seconds left when Jordan took the inbound pass and made a jump shot from the foul line over Craig Ehlo to hit the buzzer-beating basket now know as just "The Shot" and win the series for the Bulls 101-100. The Cavs never seemed to recover after that -- they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers next year, missed the playoffs after that, and though they made the playoffs in 1992, 1993, and 1994 they were knocked out by the Bulls each time.

** [[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/cursedItems.htm Cursed items]] can have such fun effects as changing your [[InvoluntaryTransformation species]], [[GenderBender gender]], alignment or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking making your hair grow longer... once]]