History Main / EpicFail

At its best the trope can give the viewer a much needed jolt out of a sense of boredom, it can produce a laugh out of something you wouldn't think could, it can inspire a temporary sense of fate or dramatic justice. At its worst, it can become a DeusExMachina, rescuing the writers from the fortress of logic they have enclosed themselves within with a HandWave of "luck".

Compare CriticalFailure (a game mechanic meant to represent the normal ever-present danger in any action), FromBadToWorse, ForWantOfANail. This trope is the norm for StupidCrooks. If the Fail is so Epic that reality itself breaks trying to process it, then you've managed to make a RealityBreakingParadox. Contrast FlawlessVictory.

Not to be confused with EpicFlail (or [[WeakSauceWeakness Epic Frail]] for that matter), [[WhatTheFuAreYouDoing though you can certainly commit an Epic Fail with an Epic Flail if you're not careful.]]

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->'''[[Series/{{Jeopardy}} Don Pardo:]]''' ''"That's right, [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Al]], you lost. And let me tell you what you didn't win: [[ConsolationPrize a twenty volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat]]. But that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. And you brought shame and disgrace on your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our HomeGame. You're a complete loser!"''

->'''[[Series/{{Jeopardy}} Don Pardo:]]''' ''"That's right, [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Al]], you lost. And let me tell you what you didn't win: [[ConsolationPrize a twenty volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat]]. But that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. You brought shame and disgrace to your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our HomeGame. You're a complete loser!"''

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/epicfail_1563.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:H-how did you even ''manage'' that?[[note]][[http://blossomsnet.blogspot.com/2004/07/car-crashes-into-roof-of-marlborough.html Not pictured]]; the sheer hill with the parking area. Or the 70-year old driver who confused the gas with the brake.[[/note]]]]

Not to be confused with EpicFlail (or [[WeakSauceWeakness Epic Frail]] for that matter), [[WhatTheFuAreYouDoing though you can certainly commit Epic Fail with an Epic Flail if you're not careful.]]

->''"That's right, [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Al]], you lost. And let me tell you what you didn't win: a twenty volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat. But that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. You brought shame and disgrace to your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game. You're a complete loser!"''

->''"That's right, [[Music/WeirdAlYankovic Al]], you lost. And let me tell you what you didn't win: a twenty column set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat. But that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. You brought shame and disgrace to your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game. You're a complete loser!"''

[[caption-width-right:300:H-how did you even ''manage'' that?]]

* EpicFail/LetsPlay

->''"There's a difference between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is simply the non-presence of success. Any fool can accomplish failure. But a ''fiasco'', a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions. A fiasco is a folk tale told to others that makes other people feel more alive because ''[[{{Schadenfreude}} it didn't happen to them]]''."''

Not to be confused with EpicFlail, [[WhatTheFuAreYouDoing though you can certainly commit Epic Fail with an Epic Flail if you're not careful.]]

->''"That's right, Al You lost. And let me tell you what you didn't win: a twenty column set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat. But that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. You brought shame and disgrace to your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game. You're a complete loser!"''

That's right, Al You lost. And let me tell you what you didn't win: a twenty column set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat. But that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people. You brought shame and disgrace to your family name for generations to come. You don't get to come back tomorrow. You don't even get a lousy copy of our home game. You're a complete loser!

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Epic Fail: when normal, run-of-the-mill failure just isn't enough.

* {{EpicFail/Live-Action TV}}

Compare CriticalFailure (a game mechanic meant to represent the normal ever-present danger in any action), FromBadToWorse, ForWantOfANail. This trope is the norm for StupidCrooks. If the Fail is so Epic that reality itself breaks trying to process it, then you've managed to make a RealityBreakingParadox.

Often used against those who are TemptingFate, and sometimes as a demonstration of how monumentally ''screwed'' you are in a FinalBossPreview. When epic failures come in forms that shouldn't be possible, they can be examples of BeyondTheImpossible. Often this trope comes with an IncendiaryExponent, possibly because of the RuleOfCool.

* EpicFail/{{Roleplay}}

!!InUniverseExamplesOnly

* EpicFail/TabletopGames

Often used against those who are TemptingFate, and sometimes as a demonstration of how monumentally ''screwed'' you are in a FinalBossPreview. When epic failures come in forms that shouldn't even be possible, they can be examples of BeyondTheImpossible. Often this trope comes with an IncendiaryExponent, possibly because of the RuleOfCool.

->''"There's a difference between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is simply the non-presence of success. Any fool can accomplish failure. But a ''fiasco'', a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions. A fiasco is a folk tale told to others that makes other people feel more alive because ''it didn't happen to them''."''

Compare CriticalFailure (a game mechanic meant to represent the normal ever-present danger in any action), FromBadToWorse, ForWantOfANail. This trope is the norm for StupidCrooks. If the Fail is so Epic that reality itself breaks trying to process it, then you've managed to DivideByZero.

* EpicFail/{{Live-Action TV}}