History Main / LifesavingMisfortune

* In ''WebComic/StandStillStaySilent'', the Denmark portion of the JustBeforeTheEnd prologue focuses on an executive who gets stuck in the island of Bornholm after the country suddenly closes down all boat traffic between the mainland and the islands to keep ThePlague from spreading. His MeanBoss, who was mad at him for taking the trip because it was happening too close to an important meeting, fires him on the spot by phone. The first EncyclopediaExposita from AfterTheEnd describes the nations that still exist. The document reaveals that Denmark is among them, but that it now consists ''only'' of Bornholm island. That executive from before? TheMedic of the main cast is his great-grandson.

* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Veronica is on a bus on the way back from a Class Trip, but gets off during a pit stop for a bottle of water. Thanks to Meg, the bus leaves without her, and she has to catch a ride on Weevil's bike. Not too far ahead, however, they find out that the bus went over a cliff, killing everyone inside it.

* The tale is told of how Rabbi Akiva traveled with a candle, a rooster, and a donkey: the candle so he could study the Torah at night, the rooster - his alarm clock - to wake him up to study the Torah, and finally the donkey to carry his possessions. Rabbi Akiva stopped at a city. He tried to get lodging at an inn but there was no room available. Rabbi Akiva went from house to house but nobody would let him in. So what did he do? He walked into the neighboring woods and set up camp. All of a sudden, a strong wind kicked up and extinguished the candle. A few moments later, a ferocious lion emerged from behind his tent and killed his donkey. What was left? The rooster. A ravenous cat appeared and devoured it. Rabbi Akiva was completely stuck. What did he say? "whatever G-d does, must be for the good." The next morning, Rabbi Akiva discovered that a band of robbers had attacked the town during the night, mercilessly killing the people and stealing their money. The robbers escaped into the forest. If they had seen the candle, or heard the noise of the rooster and donkey, Rabbi Akiva would have met the same fate as the townspeople. G-d had saved his life by extinguishing his candle and taking his animals.

* Makoto Naegi in ''VisualNovel/{{Danganronpa}}'', despite his title as the Ultimate Lucky Student was the only student whose personal bathroom door gets stuck, which was really just a minor annoyance. Later on, it becomes a key point in the investigation that proves his innocence, since the murder took place in his bathroom and the killer broke down the door thinking it was locked. Keep in mind that in this game, being accused as a killer in the final vote invariably leads to execution (either for the actual killer, or the class that got it wrong).

* The 9/11 Attacks
** On September 11, 2001, Creator/SethMacFarlane was scheduled to take a flight to Los Angeles. But due to a hangover and his agent giving him the wrong time for the flight, he missed the plane. He tried to find another flight, only to find that the terrorist attacks that day grounded all flights. He also learned that one of the hijacked planes was the one he was supposed to be on.

* In ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'', when the Master of Laketown and Alfrid flee on a large boat from Smaug, the latter complains that they are too heavy and too slow, so the Master tosses him in the water. Minutes later, Smaug's corpse falls on the boat, killing the Master, while Alfrid survives and becomes a KarmaHoudini [[spoiler:- for a couple of days, anyway. In the Extended Edition, he dies in a bizarre and humorous manner while trying to desert Bree during the battle]].

* In ''Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies'', when the Master of Laketown and Alfrid flee on a large boat from Smaug, the latter complains that they are too heavy and too slow, so the Master tosses him in the water. Minutes later, Smaug's corpse falls on the boat, killing the Master, while Alfrid survives and becomes a KarmaHoudini.

Alice has just had a Lifesaving Misfortune. If she hadn't suffered the misfortune (missing the bus), she would have died (in the bus crash). Also see UnluckilyLucky

* A ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' arc sees Jimmy Olsen way way down on his luck, losing his job at the ''Planet'', and missing a job interview by missing his train. The train is attacked by the Parasite, and he drains the passengers down to clothed skeletons, which are found at the next stop. Jimmy decides his luck may not be so bad after all.

* In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Tony Stark implies to Bruce that his Freak Lab Accident might have been this.

* A rare comedic example from ''Series/{{Spaced}}'': Tim Bisley survived a dog attack because he was struck by lightning, which scared off the dogs. However, the incident left him with a phobia of both dogs and lightning (and, bamboo, apparently).
* In one ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' episode, Arthur and the Knights eat all the stew that Merlin made. However, the Villain of the Week shot a hunk of poison into the stew. Because Merlin didn't get any, he's able to save the others and the dragon's egg the bad guy is hunting.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers'', Tony Stark implies to Bruce that his Freak Lab Accident might have been this.

* On the night of May 7, 1902, a man named Louis-Auguste Cyparis got into a fight in the town of St. Pierre on the island of Martinique. He was booked for either assault or murder (accounts differ) and placed in solitary confinement in an underground cell. The next morning the island's volcano, Mount Pelee, erupted, wiping out the town of St. Pierre and killing thirty thousand people. Cyparis was one of only three documented survivors, and while there are some reports of other survivors, it is known that all the other survivors lived on the outskirts of the city and the edge of the blast zone. The sheltered underground prison cell saved Cyparis's life. He later spent years traveling with the Barnum & Bailey Circus, telling his story from inside a replica of his cell.

Subtrope of NecessaryFail.

* ''Film/{{Titanic}}'': Applies to the character who loses a card game, and with it his ticket on the ''Titanic'', to Jack Dawson.

* In April 1865, William Seward, UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln's Secretary of State, had been injured in a carriage accident a week before Lincoln's assassination and was confined to bed wearing a jaw splint. On the night of the assassination, one of Booth's conspirators snuck into his house and stabbed Seward in the neck, but his jaw cast blocked the assassin's knife. His son Frederick too also had a lucky accident that night. When trying to fight off the assassin, the attacker Powell pulled out a gun but it jammed. Rather than clear the jam, Powell pistol-whipped Frederick and knocked him out. Painful, but it broke the gun in the process and kept him from following up with a kill shot.

* ''Series/NYPDBlue'': A man's wife is trying to kill him. Yet he remains oblivious to her hatred of him. At one point before his story is shown, he was attacked and got his jaw broken. Later, he is shot in the head by a would-be killer but the bullet is deflected by the wires in his jaw, resulting in serious but not fatal injuries. His doctor says it was a one in a million chance that the bullet hit in the exact right spot to save his life.

* The tale is told of how Rabbi Akiva traveled with a candle, a rooster, and a donkey: the candle so he could study Torah at night, the rooster - his alarm clock - to wake him up to study Torah, and finally the donkey to carry his possessions. Rabbi Akiva stopped at a city. He tried to get lodging at an inn but there was no room available. Rabbi Akiva went from house to house but nobody would let him in. So what did he do? He walked into the neighboring woods and set up camp. All of a sudden, a strong wind kicked up and extinguished the candle. A few moments later, a ferocious lion emerged from behind his tent and killed his donkey. What was left? The rooster. A ravenous cat appeared and devoured it. Rabbi Akiva was completely stuck. What did he say? "whatever G-d does, must be for the good." The next morning, Rabbi Akiva discovered that a band of robbers had attacked the town during the night, mercilessly killing the people and stealing their money. The robbers escaped into the forest. If they had seen the candle, or heard the noise of the rooster and donkey, Rabbi Akiva would have met the same fate as the townspeople. G-d had saved his life by extinguishing his candle and taking his animals.

* A ''Series/CriminalMinds'' SerialKiller Of The Week, obsessed with killing people because they seemed to have happier lives than he, mentions in passing that his Greek Mythology obsession (which he's built his mofit around) made him want to go to Greece 20 years ago, and he discovers that his BadBoss got him drunk and prevented him from going to the airport (he couldn't afford another ticket, had to stay at home, and miseries stacked up until he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and let go of his job). The BAU tells him during the final MexicanStandoff that the bus he was supposed to get on to get to his flight had a crash and everybody in it died.

* ''Series/NYPDBlue'': A man's wife is trying to kill him, yet he remains oblivious to her hatred of him. At one point before his story is shown he was attacked and got his jaw broken. Later, he is shot in the head by a would-be killer but the bullet is deflected by the wires in his jaw, resulting in serious but not fatal injuries. His doctor says it was a one in a million chance that the bullet hit in the exact right spot to save his life.

* During the Scourge saga in the ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' comic, the Water Wizard suffered a flat tyre that made him late to a meeting of supervillains to discuss what to do about the vigilante Scourge. When he finally got there, he discovered Scourge had murdered everybody at the meeting.

* ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'' has a variation. Bard's kids probably owe their lives to Bofur drinking himself into a stupor in Laketown. If he hadn't missed the boat, Fíli would be the one sent to find kingsfoil, leaving only the elderly Oin and the incapacitated Fíli to fight off the Orcs until Legolas and Tauriel arrived.

* A ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' arc sees Jimmy Olsen way way down on his luck, and missing a job interview (The Planet sacked him) by missing his train. Said train has The Parasite waiting on the tracks, and he drains them down to clothed skeletons, which are found at the next stop. Jimmy decides his luck may not be so bad after all.

* Applies to the character who loses a card game, and with it his ticket on the ''Film/{{Titanic}}'', to Jack Dawson.

* ''Film/TheDesolationOfSmaug'' has a variation. Bard's kids probably owe their lives to Bofur drinking himself into a stupor in Laketown. If he hadn't missed the boat, Fi­li would be the one sent to find kingsfoil, leaving only the elderly Oin and the incapacitated Ki­li to fight off the Orcs until Legolas and Tauriel arrived.
* A brief scene in ''Film/{{Interstate60}}'' features this. An executive is getting out of his car when a cyclist crashes into his car door, as a result of which the executive realizes he will be late for an extremely important meeting. Frustrated, [[BeCareFulWhatYouWishFor he wishes that the event in question had never happened]], which is granted by the cyclist. This time around, the executive gets out of his car safely, but is too distracted by his phone call to notice the enormous truck coming his way, which fatally runs him over.

* In ''Literature/CallOfTheWild'', Buck (a sled dog) is beaten to within an inch of his life by his cruel owner, before being saved. The owner leaves Buck behind and he and the rest of the sled dogs die when the ice gives way just a short ways out of camp.
* In the ''NUMASeries'' novel ''Vixen 03'', Thomas Machita is betrayed by Randolph Jumana and thrown in a jail cell to await execution. The execution never comes because the South African Defense Forces attack the compound that night. The construction of the cell prevents him from being crushed when the building is blown up. Machita ends up being the only survivor of the attack.

* On an episode of ''Series/DustysTrail'', the wagon train comes upon a deserted town. Somehow Dusty ends up locking everyone in a jail cell, so they survive when the Army or whoever shells the town for an exercise(why it was deserted).

* ''Series/VeronicaMars'' is on a bus on the way back from a Class Trip, but gets off during a pit stop for a bottle of water. Thanks to Meg, the bus leaves without her, and she has to catch a ride on Weevil's bike. Not too far ahead, however, they find out that the bus went over a cliff, killing everyone inside it.

* Similarly, sometime before the pilot episode of ''Series/KnightRider'', police officer Michael Long suffers a head injury requiring a metal plate. When his partner betrays him, she shoots him in the head and leaves him for dead. The bullet is deflected by the metal plate. It doesn't do any damage to his vital organs, but his face is severely damaged. Plastic surgery makes him look like Creator/DavidHasselhoff and he becomes Michael Knight, the show's protagonist.

* Near the beginning of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' when you're playing as young Conner in the woods you stumble across some Templars who proceed to beat you up and threaten to kill you. When you come to and wander back to your village you find the whole thing burning and many people, including your mother, dead and/or dieing. Chances are you too would have been a casualty if you hadn't run into the Templars earlier.

* Sometimes thought of as an urban legend, but marked as true by Website/{{Snopes}}. In 1950, the Reverend at the West Side Baptist Church (hopefully not to be confused with the Westboro Baptist Church) lit a fire in the furnace and went home to eat with his family before choir practice at 7:20. Before he could go, his wife soiled her dress and they had to wait while she ironed another. Additionally, every other member of the choir had something delaying them as well. (Car trouble, a persistent math problem, oversleeping, etc.) As a result, every member of the choir was late for practice...good thing since the furnace ignited a gas leak and the empty church exploded five minutes after practice was supposed to begin.