History Main / FRomBadToWorse

* One of the biggest memes of 2020 was joking about how "2020 can't get worse" but end up becoming even [[UpToEleven more terrible]] than anybody would expect. In fact, it became so clichéd that a different version of the same meme began to appear, such as 2020 never ending with December "32nd", or that the year 2021 would make 2020 nice in comparison. Thankfully, that is not the case for majority of people despite ongoing pandemic.
** This was also many people’s view of the year 2016, due to the perceived high amount of celebrity deaths and tragedies, and the controversial Brexit and American elections. In fact, for some parts of social media, [[JadeColoredGlasses every year]] [[AccentuateTheNegative is like this.]]

** This was also many people’s view of the year 2016, due to the perceived high amount of celebrity deaths and tragedies, and the controversial Brexit and American elections. In fact, for some parts of social media, [[JadeColoredGlasses every year]] [[AccentuateTheNegative is like this.

** This was also many people’s view of the year 2016, due to the perceived high amount of celebrity deaths and tragedies, and the controversial Brexit and American elections. In fact, for some parts of social media, [[JadeColoredGlasses every year is like this.]]

* This trope of all things was subjected to this. It was originally called "It Got Worse" and defined as "a terrible situation getting some final perfect push over the edge". It became a PotholeMagnet for pretty much any situation, InUniverse and out, that might fit this trope. Not surprisingly, the situation ''got worse'' and attracted massive Administrivia/{{sinkhole}}s and misuse as a catchphrase for anything that the editor at least thought is a bad situation, thus leading to a rename to From Bad to Worse and the original name is now a [[Administrivia/PermanentRedLinkClub deliberate redlink]].

* One of the biggest memes of 2020 was joking about how "2020 can't get worse" but end up becoming even [[UpToEleven more terrible]] than anybody would expect. In fact, it became so clichéd that a different version of the same meme began to appear, such as 2020 never ending with December "32nd", or that the year 2021 would make 2020 nice in comparison.

* FromBadToWorse/{{Fanfic}}

See also RockBottom, where it's the ''characters'' who are TemptingFate by thinking things can't get worse just before they do. DarkestHour is the logical conclusion of such a chain of events. HopeSpot is a common [[DoubleSubverted double subversion]]; after things get really bad, they seem to get better before suddenly getting even worse.

-> '''Kavar:''' I think the situation has gotten even worse.
-> '''Queen Talia:''' ''Worse''? How is that even possible?
-> '''Kavar:''' It can always get worse. An old student is returning. I fear for us all...

* The first line of a New York Times article on the [[TheWarOnTerror 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center]] summed up the day's events with grim perfection:

* A classic Jewish joke/folk tale deliberately invokes this trope for laughs. A poor farmer visits the local rabbi and complains--he, his wife, the wife's mother, and their many children are forced to live in a one-room house. It's crowded, it's noisy, and he never gets a moment's peace, so what can he do to improve his lot? The rabbi thinks for a moment and tells him to bring the farm's chicken into the house. The man is confused, but agrees, only to come back a week later and complain that the chicken has only made things noisier and messier. The rabbi then recommends that the farmer bring the farm's goats into the house, and the man reluctantly does so. After another week, he comes back steaming mad--now the house is worse, and everyone is furious. The nonplussed rabbi tells him to bring the farm's ''cow'' inside; the man sobs as he agrees. By the end of the week, the man's on his last shred of sanity and can barely talk to the rabbi about the huge mess, the endless noise, and the misery of everyone in his home. The rabbi then tells the man to bring the cow, pig, and chicken back outside. A week later, the now-joyous man returns and praises the sage--his house has never been quieter, cleaner, and roomier, and he's ecstatic.

* A classic Jewish joke/folk tale deliberately invokes this trope for laughs. A poor farmer visits the local rabbi and complains--he, his wife, the wife's mother, and their many children are forced to live in a one-room house. It's crowded, it's noisy, and he never gets a moment's peace, so what can he do to improve his lot? The rabbi thinks for a moment and tells him to bring the farm's chicken into the house. The man is confused, but agrees, only to come back a week later and complain that the chicken has only made things noisier and messier. The rabbi then recommends that the farmer bring the farm's pig into the house, and the man reluctantly does so. After another week, he comes back steaming mad--now the house is a (literal) pigsty, and everyone is furious. The nonplussed rabbi tells him to bring the farm's ''cow'' inside; the man sobs as he agrees. By the end of the week, the man's on his last shred of sanity and can barely talk to the rabbi about the huge mess, the endless noise, and the misery of everyone in his home. The rabbi then tells the man to bring the cow, pig, and chicken back outside. A week later, the now-joyous man returns and praises the sage--his house has never been quieter, cleaner, and roomier, and he's ecstatic.

NOTE: An important distinction between OutOfTheFryingPan and From Bad to Worse is that requires a causal link between the initial problem and the getting worse (in this case, that solving the former ends up causing the latter), whereas FBTW does not require such a link. If you're in a pool of water with a bunch of jellyfish, and then someone releases sharks into the water, that's From Bad to Worse. If you're in a pool of water with a bunch of jellyfish, and in the act of climbing out you fall into a different pool with a bunch of sharks, that's Out of the Frying Pan; the same goes for if in the act of climbing out, you accidentally trigger a SelfDestructMechanism for the entire building that you're in.

NOTE: An important distinction between OutOfTheFryingPan and vanilla From Bad to Worse is that requires a causal link between the initial problem and the getting worse (in this case, that solving the former ends up causing the latter), whereas FBTW does not require such a link. If you're in a pool of water with a bunch of jellyfish, and then someone releases sharks into the water, that's From Bad to Worse. If you're in a pool of water with a bunch of jellyfish, and in the act of climbing out you fall into a different pool with a bunch of sharks, that's Out of the Frying Pan; the same goes for if in the act of climbing out, you accidentally trigger a SelfDestructMechanism for the entire building that you're in.

* There's an old joke that is the ''essence'' of this trope. A farmer who's been away from home for a week drives back into town, and stops for some cigarettes before he reaches his house. The sheriff pulls up and tells him some bad news...

-->'''Sheriff:''' He died from eatin' too much horse flesh.
-->'''Farmer:''' Horse flesh?...wait a minute, you don't mean MY horses?!

* RussianGuySuffersMost: prior to the dawn of the second millenium, the [[HornyVikings Vikings]] attacked Europe and gained a reputation as {{Memetic Badass}}es who where out to RapePillageAndBurn. After about 200 years the raids stopped but then the crusades where going on. Then UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan came along...

* A classic Jewish joke/folk tale deliberately invokes this trope for laughs. A poor farmer visits the local rabbi and complains--he, his wife, the wife's mother, and their many children are forced to live in a one-room house. It's crowded, it's noisy, and he never gets a moment's peace, so what can he do to improve his lot? The rabbi thinks for a moment and tells him to bring the farm's chicken into the house. The man is confused, but agrees, only to come back a week later and complain that the chicken has only made things noisier and messier. The rabbi then recommends that the farmer bring the farm's pig into the house, and the man reluctantly does so. After another week, he comes back steaming mad--now the house is a (literal) pig sty, and everyone is furious. The nonplussed rabbi tells him to bring the farm's ''cow'' inside; the man sobs as he agrees. By the end of the week, the man's on his last shred of sanity and can barely talk to the rabbi about the huge mess, the endless noise, and the misery of everyone in his home. The rabbi then tells the man to bring the cow, pig, and chicken back outside. A week later, the now-joyous man returns and praises the sage--his house has never been quieter, cleaner, and roomier, and he's ecstatic.

* The first line of a New York Times article on the [[TheWarOnTerror 9/11 attack]] summed up the day's events with grim perfection:

-->-- ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', dark side

[[index]]

[[/index]]

* RussianGuySuffersMost: In proior to the dawn of the second millenium, the [[HornyVikings Vikings]] attacked Europe and gained a reputation as {{Memetic Badass}}es who where out to RapePillageAndBurn. After about 200 years the raids stopped but then the crusades where going on. Then UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan came along...

-> '''Kavar:''' [[GenreSavvy It can always get worse.]] An old student is returning. I fear for us all...

-> '''Kavar:''' I think the situation has gotten even worse.\\
'''Queen Talia:''' ''Worse''? How is that even possible?\\
'''Kavar:''' It can always get worse.

CueTheRain is a {{subtrope}} for when this comes in the form of [[GrayRainOfDepression a sudden downpour]]. See also RockBottom, where it's the ''characters'' who are TemptingFate by thinking things can't get worse just before they do. DarkestHour is the logical conclusion of such a chain of events. HopeSpot is a common [[DoubleSubverted double subversion]]; after things get really bad, they seem to get better before suddenly getting even worse.

!!Compare to:
* OutOfTheFryingPan: That trope involves the solution of one problem causing a worse one, while From Bad To Worse doesn't even require any causal link between the initial problem and the getting worse. If you're in a pool of water with a bunch of jellyfish, and then someone releases sharks into the water, that's From Bad To Worse. If you're in a pool of water with a bunch of jellyfish, and in the act of climbing out you fall into a different pool with a bunch of sharks, that's Out of the Frying Pan.

'''Warning: spoilers ahead.'''

[[noreallife]]
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!!Examples

* FromBadToWorse/{{Other}}
[folder: Other]

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