History Main / IWishedYouWereDead

* In ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'', Laura Ingalls' jealousy of her newborn baby brother turns to guilt after said brother dies. Thinking she was responsible, Laura runs away from home and climbs a mountain -- and we are not talking here about a childish exaggeration of 'hill' -- to get "closer to God." She hopes that she'll bring about a miracle by doing so. (The ''true'' miracle may be that [[TelevisionGeography she was able to ''find'']] [[TheMountainsOfIllinois a mountain in Minnesota]].)

* Reversed around in ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'' midquel. In an argument with his father over his upbringing (namely being taken in by a surrogate mother, leading Bambi to think his father no longer wanted him) he angrily snaps that he wishes "Mother was here instead of you". Despite his regret afterwards however, it is ''Bambi'' that suffers the DisneyDeath instead of the Great Prince.

* Brutha from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book ''Discworld/SmallGods'' was beaten by his grandmother every morning, because, even if he hadn't done anything wrong at that point, he surely would during the day. One day, he yelled after her, "I wish you were dead!" She died the next day.

* The wish spell Glomer intended for Series/PunkyBrewster (episode "Any Wish Way You Can") hits Margaux instead, giving her three wishes. Allen says something that irks Margaux who growls "I wish you'd disappear!!" Allen's body does just that, leaving his clothes in midair. (Glomer brings him back, though. Margaux certainly wasn't going to waste her second wish on his behalf.)

Alice [[MakeAWish wishes]] Bob, usually a parent, was dead. Often times Bob is a total jerkass and Alice tells them to "Drop Dead" in a heated exchange. Bob then dies, or contracts a deadly disease, or has a horrible accident. Cue the angst as Alice then broods believing that she somehow is responsible for the tragedy [[AssholeVictim even if Bob had seemingly no redeeming qualities whatsoever]].

Alice is typically a child. Often they also NeverGotToSayGoodbye, so even more drama ensues. Usually lasts only one episode but can be milked indefinitely as the Alice acts more and more irrational/self-destructive. You can also milk it for drama by making Bob not die, but become deadly ill for an episode. The wisher will learn a lesson, and the [[StatusQuoIsGod status quo]] will resume. Even more classic (and TruthInTelevision) is children blaming themselves for their parents divorcing.

* Inverted on a broadcast of ''Imus in the Morning'' where Don Imus seems to be obsessed with theories regarding Whittaker Chambers Alger Hiss to where cast member Charles [=McCord=] gets fed up:

* Inverted on a broadcast of ''Imus in the Morning'' where Don Imus seems to be obsessed with theories regarding Whittaker Chambers Alger Hiss to where cast member Charles McCord gets fed up:

* Variation in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'': Yumei shares the story of how her parents died with a boy from a fishing village. When her tears turn into a cerulean lapis, a gem that grants wishes, the boy wishes that Yumei could be with her parents again. Naturally, this means sending her to the next life, but Lenneth [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove cannot wrap her head around it.]]

* ''Manga/TheLuciferAndBiscuitHammer'' has protagonist Yuuhi plan for fellow Knight Hangetsu Shinonome to die if he ever gets in the way of / harms Samidare. [[spoiler:Then Hangetsu dies a brutal death ti a golem trying to protect him.]] While he doesn't cry about it initially, he's guilty as hell.

* ''Manga/TheLuciferAndTheBiscuitHammer'' has protagonist Yuuhi plan for fellow Knight Hangetsu Shinonome to die if he ever gets in the way of / harms Samidare. [[spoiler:Then Hangetsu dies a brutal death ti a golem trying to protect him.]] While he doesn't cry about it initially, he's guilty as hell.

* Variation in ''Valkyrie/ValkyrieProfile'': Yumei shares the story of how her parents died with a boy from a fishing village. When her tears turn into a cerulean lapis, a gem that grants wishes, the boy wishes that Yumei could be with her parents again. Naturally, this means sending her to the next life, but Lenneth [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove cannot wrap her head around it.]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' focuses on the other Cul-de-sac kids as they discover that the Ed's are mysteriously absent from the neighborhood. At first they enjoy their freedom from being constantly hassled by the Ed's scams, but as the hours creep by, they begin to worry as they find that the Ed's are ''nowhere'' to be found. Jimmy confesses that he's wished for this to happen almost every birthday, and feels guilty that it seems like it came true. The other kids, with the exception of Kevin, all feel the same way (in reality, the Ed's have been wandering around all day looking for the mascot costume mask that Ed lost).

* In ''Anime/{{Sarazanmai}}'', Kazuki gets so mad at Enta [[spoiler:for stealing the Dishes of Hope]] that he tells him they're through and he never wants to speak to Enta again. [[spoiler: Reo then shows up to steal the Dishes and shoots Enta in the process, ensuring Kazuki won't get the chance to.]]

* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' had an episode where Will told off his uncle's JerkAss political mentor-turned-rival, including a "drop dead." Seconds later, he has a fatal heart attack. Will attends the funeral out of guilt, only to learn that he was pretty well universally hated - most of the "mourners" are there just to make sure he's really gone. Will admonishes them for their callousness, causing one to ask who he is; when he responds "I'm the dude who killed him," he gets a standing ovation. "Tough room."

* In ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'', after the sadistic DomesticAbuser Orin goes missing and is presumed dead, his girlfriend Audrey seems rather sad and regretful, even though he treated her horribly and, frankly, anyone else would be glad he's gone. When her coworker asks her about it, she confesses that she always secretly wished Orin would disappear, and now that he actually ''has'', she feels understandably relieved, guilty for feeling relieved, and partially responsible for his "meeting with foul play". [[spoiler:While she didn't directly cause Orin to disappear, his abuse of her ''is'' the reason Seymour decided to kill him.]]

* ''Film/{{Copycat}}''. Nicoletti is jealous of the handsome detective Reuben Goetz that his ex MJ is now working with. But Reuben is killed by a prisoner who got hold of Nicoletti's pistol, so he pours out his guilt to her over this trope.
-->"I can't tell you how many times I saw the two of you together...I'd see you with your heads together. He'd be making some kind of dumb joke. I wished...I wished him dead. Every time."

* At the beginning of the ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' {{doujin|shi}} ''Silencer'', America says angrily to England that he should just disappear if he argues with him. After that, England is nowhere to be seen and no countries other than America remember him. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted, as it's revealed that the reasons for England's disappearance are far more complex than that...[[TearJerker although you'll probably wish that they]] ''[[TearJerker weren't]]''.]]

* An episode of ''EdEddAndEddy'' focuses on the other Cul-de-sac kids as they discover that the Ed's are mysteriously absent from the neighborhood. At first they enjoy their freedom from being constantly hassled by the Ed's scams, but as the hours creep by, they begin to worry as they find that the Ed's are ''nowhere'' to be found. Jimmy confesses that he's wished for this to happen almost every birthday, and feels guilty that it seems like it came true. The other kids, with the exception of Kevin, all feel the same way (in reality, the Ed's have been wandering around all day looking for the mascot costume mask that Ed lost).

* In the [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E07HookMan "Hook Man" (S01, Ep07)]] episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Lori does this to her father when she fins out he is having an affair and accidentally summons the titular Hook Man.

* ''Film/{{Copycat}}''. Nicoletti is jealous of the handsome detective Reuben Goetz that his ex MJ is now working with. But Reuben is killed by a prisoner who got hold of Nicoletti's pistol, so he pours out his guilt to her over this trope.

* After giving up his seat on a charter flight, Music/WaylonJennings jokingly told his friend Music/BuddyHolly, "I hope your plane crashes!" [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died It did.]] The words so tormented Jennings that, for years, he felt personally responsible for Holly's death.

* King Henry II of England, during an argument with Thomas Beckett, cried "Will no one rid me of this TurbulentPriest?" To his horror, his knights took this as a request and murdered Beckett.
* After giving up his seat on a charter flight, Music/WaylonJennings jokingly told his friend Music/BuddyHolly, "I hope your plane crashes!" It did. The words so tormented Jennings that, for years, he felt personally responsible for Holly's death.