History Main / HowManyFingers

* Played with in ''Series/TeenWolf'' during a brutal lacrosse game. The coach asks a player how many fingers while holding up two. The player answers four. The coach's response is to tell him to say two and then pronounces him fit to carry on playing.

* During the football game in ''Literature/{{MASH}}'', Duke and Hawkeye team up to take the opposing team's star player out of the game with a nasty double tackle. When his coach asks him the classic question after he is carried off the field, the answer is "fifteen".

* During the football game in ''Literature/{{Mash}}'', Duke and Hawkeye team up to take the opposing team's star player out of the game with a nasty double tackle. When his coach asks him the classic question after he is carried off the field, the answer is "fifteen".

* A variation in a Snickers candy bar commercial, where a football player who got his bell rung is benched:
-->'''Coach:''' Who am I?\\
'''Player:''' You're the coach.\\
'''Coach:''' Who are you?\\
'''Player:''' (''beat; low, threatening voice'') I'm Batman.

* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Bear Flu", Chloe does this to Grizzly, who is so out of it from his illness that he answers "little baby unicorns?"

* ''Film/{{Creed}}'': During the final match, Donnie's left eye is swollen shut from taking so many hits. The refereee comes over to his corner and does this to test if he can see enough to continue the match. Donnie actually can't see out of that eye, but one of his cornermen taps the answer on the back of his neck where the referee can't see.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfElmoInGrouchland'': Elmo passes out after Oscar [[spoiler: sneezes into his blanket and throws it into his trash can]]. One character asks Elmo the trope, but before he could answer...

-->'''Urkonn''': (''kneeling over her'') How many claws am I holding up?
-->'''Fray''': You hib me ib the face wib a whole girder!
-->'''Urkonn''': You were meant to duck.

* Simon does this to a balance-impaired Wash in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' “[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/4948425/1/Fever Fever]]”, after he takes a fall. He answers “two and a half?”. He’s not very sick aside from being light headed and sneezing, but Kaylee gets very sick.
* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} of Creator/AAPessimal, young Witch Rebecka Smith-Rhodes is roped into providing medical cover at a sporting event. Her first patient is a cricketer who has not grasped that it's better to catch the ball in your hands,rather than on your head.
-->How many fingers am I holding up? (beat) How many ''hands'' am I holding up?

* Defense attorney Irving Kanarek tried this one on a witness in the Manson murder trial, after asking the seriously near-sighted witness to remove her glasses. Too bad the witness was testifying to something she had ''heard'', not claiming to have ''seen''...

* Defense attorney Irving Kanarek tried this one on a witness in the Manson murder trial. Too bad the witness was testifying to something she had ''heard'', not claiming to have ''seen''...

* [[spoiler:Doythaban and his [[CloningBlues gate-clone]]]] do this to [[TheCaptain Tagon]] after surprising him in [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-08-06 this]] strip of ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''.

-->'''King Julien:''' Is that a tricky question?

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'': After Josuke heals Koichi from a near-fatal wound, he does this. Unusually, he uses both hands. (Two fingers on one, three fingers on the other; Koichi correctly answers "Five".)

* In ''Film/BruceAlmighty'', Bruce tests God's omniscience by asking "how many fingers am I holding up" with his hands behind his back, rapidly changing them as God answers correctly. Fed up, Bruce decides to cheat by holding up seven fingers, five on his right hand and two on his left, and then quickly folding up the two on his left hand as God answers. Bruce then holds out his right hand triumphantly... only to notice that God instantaneously [[BodyHorror altered the anatomy of his hand to include two extra fingers]] to validate his answer.

* Done twice, to great effect, in the DwindlingParty GroundhogDayLoop of ''VideoGame/HetaOni''. The first time, it's PlayedForLaughs when [[HeroicWannabe Alfred]] asks this to a zoning-out [[{{Tsundere}} Arthur]], who quickly snaps the correct answer and lectures him for wasting time on nonsense. The second time isn't very funny at all; after Arthur has used up a concerning amount of magic trying to kill a monster, Alfred asks him [[MeaningfulEcho the exact same question]], only to discover [[spoiler: that he's blind]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': Skipper asks this question to King Julien. [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins Skipper's a penguin]], and [[DontExplainTheJoke penguins only have flippers.]]

[[caption-width-right:169: [[NonSequitur "November?"]]]]

-->'''Captain Black:''' How many fingers am I holding up?\\

-->'''Jade''': Jackie? How many fingers do you see?\\

* In the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', when Jackie is knocked down after stopping Jade from hijacking a moped.