History Main / RhetoricalRequestBlunder

-->-- '''[[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond King Henry II]]''', of Archbishop Thomas Becket. [[note]]Sadly for Becket, the people who overheard it weren't familiar with rhetorical questions, and Becket was murdered on the altar of Canterbury Cathedral. Historians suspect Henry never forgave himself.[[/note]]

* In one ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' {{yonkoma}} by Finnish doujin artist setz, [[LittlePeople Shinmyoumaru Sukuna]] muses to [[InterfaceScrew Seija Kijin]] as they're lying down in the grass, looking at clouds, that it would be interesting to see an upside down tree. Cue {{beat}} panel followed by this line:

** In a later flashback, [[spoiler:Wolf asks Johan "how he feels" after saving his life. Johan responds "you'll see" and spends the next fifteen years methodically hunting down and killing every single person who knows who Wolf is, so he knows how Johan 'feels' about being isolated from the rest of humanity.]]

* ''Literature/MerryGentry'' - Gentry is more GenreSavvy, and subverts this by always phrasing herself carefully around the [[LiteralGenie Fey]]. Unfortunately, the Sithen appears to read and obey her ''thoughts''.

--> She had learned to be careful not to wish for anything that might be achievable by some small, determined, strong, fearless, and fast men who were also not above giving someone a good kicking if they felt like it.

--> OK, like, one time, I was out in the parking lot tryin' to remove my excess earwax with a golf pencil, when I see this guy Marty tryin' to carry a big ol' sofa up the stairs all by himself! So I, I say to him, I say "Hey, you want me to help you with that?" And Marty, he just rolls his eyes and goes "Noooo, I want you to cut off my arms and legs with a chainsaw!"\\

-->'''Webb:''' We spent nine months ''hoping that Professor Rickson would meet with an accident'' before Leslie made it clear it was an accident ''we'' were supposed to make happen!

Particularly moral characters may say ItsAllMyFault after the deed is done. Compare IWishedYouWereDead. May be carried out by a PsyhcoSupporter or OverzealousUnderling. BluntMetaphorsTrauma or being SarcasmBlind might lead to this. See also IrrevocableOrder. Not to be confused with RhetoricalQuestionBlunder.

Particularly moral characters may say ItsAllMyFault after the deed is done. Compare IWishedYouWereDead. May be carried out by a PoisonousFriend or OverzealousUnderling. BluntMetaphorsTrauma or being SarcasmBlind might lead to this. See also IrrevocableOrder. Not to be confused with RhetoricalQuestionBlunder.

* The TropeCodifier is, of course, a certain notorious incident in the history of English Church-State relations in the twelfth century. A raging-drunk [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] was frustrated with Archbishop Thomas Becket, his former friend, and said something like (according to popular tradition) "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [or turbulent] priest?" or (according to a contemporary biographer) "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" A couple of {{mook}}s decided to take care of it themselves, by killing Becket. Henry II took it badly, as did many in England. The reason for Henry's frustration, namely Becket defying the wishes of the king who had nominated him, [[note]]Henry II had been laying the foundations of the English legal system (which would, in its turn, become the foundation for the legal system of half the world). The Church objected to being expected, distinctly against the custom of the time, to obey national laws, in one of the pivotal clashes between church and state[[/note]] had alienated many who already regarded Henry as an outsider (neither an Englishman or even a Norman, but an ''Angevin'') who was subverting local custom and concentrating too much power in the central government. Becket's personal popularity and the fact that he was discovered to be wearing a hairshirt under his clothing (a rather serious act of asceticism, as hairshirts are about as comfortable as a shirt made of sandpaper) only added to the outrage that the national leader of the Church had been savagely and shamelessly hacked to death in front of a church altar; Henry had to perform public penance over the issue and Becket rapidly became St. Thomas.

* In ''Fanfic/WhyAmICrying'', Apple Bloom wishes on a shooting star for something bad to happen to her enemy Diamond Tiara. However, instead of something like a prank or bad luck, Diamond gets killed in a carriage accident, leading Apple Bloom to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone go on a massive guilt trip]]. [[spoiler: Subverted when she finds out that Diamond died before the time she made the wish.]]

* In one episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', Mike is placed on trial for [[ItMakesSenseInContext intergalactic]] [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds genocide]]. He is offered his choice of prosecutors: [[Literature/TheBible King Solomon]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen Hildegard of Bingen]], [[UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson Thomas Jefferson]], or [[BigBad Pearl Forrester]]. Mike rolls his eyes and says, "[[SarcasmMode Oh yeah, I'm gonna choose Pearl Forrester--]]" Unfortunately for Mike, the judge is SarcasmBlind, and Pearl is only too happy to be appointed his prosecutor.

* In ''Series/Preacher2016'', Jesse runs afoul of this several times after receiving the Voice, which compels people to obey him. For example, he tells a parishioner to "be brave and open his heart" when talking to his overbearing mother. Cue the parishioner taking a knife to his chest in the middle of a nursing home. [[spoiler: He also accidentally sends Eugene to Hell in a moment of anger.]]

* In ''TheGift'', by T.J. Silverio, the human who is lucky enough to find the Genie in the Green Soda bottle agonizes over his one wish to the point where he prompts the increasingly impatient Genie into yelling at him [[spoiler: and inadvertently wastes his one wish on the utterance "I wish you'd stop yelling at me!"]]

* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' short "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLlLQ3LmZWU Expiration Date]]", Soldier flies into a rage that his team can't teleport bread anymore after being shown bread with tumors. Engineer replies that he "can teleport as much bread as [he] like[s]" to calm him down. [[spoiler: Soldier spends the ''entire'' [[TooDumbToLive three days of living teleporting so much bread that it creates a gargantuan bread monster.]]]]

* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' has [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2012-05-26 this example]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', this is the downfall of the ancient Thanagarians of whom Hawkgirl and Hawkman are supposed to be the reincarnations: upon discovering his wife's infidelity with John Stewart's counterpart, Katar Hol hyperbolizes that he wishes they were dead. When the vizier takes this as a literal order and carries it out, Katar commits suicide in despair.

* The TropeCodifier is, of course, a certain notorious incident in the history of English Church-State relations in the twelfth century. A raging-drunk [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheSecond Henry II]] was frustrated with Archbishop Thomas Becket, his former friend, and said something like (according to popular tradition) "Will no one rid me of this troublesome [or turbulent] priest?" or (according to a contemporary biographer) "What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric?" A couple of {{mook}}s decided to take care of it themselves, by killing Becket. Henry II took it badly, as did many in England. The reason for Henry's frustration, namely Becket defying the wishes of the king who had nominated him [[note]]Henry II had been laying the foundations of the English legal system (which would, in its turn, become the foundation for the legal system of half the world). The Church objected to being expected, distinctly against the custom of the time, to obey national laws, in one of the pivotal clashes between church and state[[/note]], had alienated many who already regarded Henry as an outsider (neither an Englishman or even a Norman, but an ''Angevin'') who was subverting local custom and concentrating too much power in the central government. Becket's personal popularity and the fact that he was discovered to be wearing a hairshirt under his clothing (a rather serious act of asceticism, as hairshirts are about as comfortable as a shirt made of sandpaper) only added to the outrage that the national leader of the Church had been savagely and shamelessly hacked to death in front of a church altar; Henry had to perform public penance over the issue and Becket rapidly became St. Thomas.

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' has a village called Maskyr's Eye. Back when humans were new in that part of the world, a human mage wanted a quiet place [[MageTower for his tower]] and liked one vale. The territory did belong to a dwarven kingdom, so he got audience and asked Tuir "Stonebeard" (called so for grim stoicism -- ''[[UpToEleven for a dwarf]]''). The king didn't trust humans ''or'' powerful mages at all, and thus said "on one condition only: pluck thy right eye and give it to me here and now." He intended it as a somewhat poetical refusal and didn't expect anyone would really do such a thing.

* In [[https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1999/03/11 this strip]] from ''Doonesbury'' (a deliberate parody of the page quote), while he is serving as aide to Jesse Ventura during the latter's Governorship of Minnesota, Uncle Duke interprets one of Ventura's rants about Garrison Keillor as an instruction to assassinate him:

-->'''Homer:''' Die? Well, dying doesn't scare me, because dying would be a stone groove! Got any messages for Music/JimiHendrix?\\

-->'''Marge:''' I'm so embarrassed, I wish there was a hole I could just crawl into and die.
-->'''Guard 1:''' Okay, throw her in the hole.
-->'''Marge:''' Please, it was just a figure of speech!
-->(''They let her go'')

-->'''Ned:''' I don't know how I can possibly repay you! But if any of you ever need a favor, just look for the happiest man in Springfield!
-->(''everybody turns to a happy-looking man'')
-->'''Happiest Man In Springfield:''' No, no! Not me, friends, he's talking about himself! But thanks for looking!

--> '''Squidward''': Pinch me, I must be dreaming... ow!
--> '''Spongebob''': If you need anything else, just ask.

-->'''Spongebob''': I must be dreaming! Pinch me, Squidward!
-->'''Squidward''': Pinch yourself, you ninny.

* WebVideo/{{Rabbit}} '''Rabbit:''' Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.

* WebVideo/{{Rabbit}} '''Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.'''

* WebVideo/{{Rabbit}} “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* In ''webvideo/Rabbit'' “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* In ''WebVideo/Rabbit'' “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* WebVideo/Rabbit “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* ''WebVideo/Rabbit'' “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* ''Webvideo/Rabbit'' “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* ''WebVideo/Rabbit'' “Alright… Well… This was traumatizing. Let me know if you want me to come back and cut your ears off.”

* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' had a few, such as [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-05-14 this]].

'''Umbridge:''' Two weeks ago, there was a meeting in Cornelius's office. Me, Cornelius and Amelia Bones were there. Cornelius ordered Amelia to arrest Harry Potter on some made-up charge, but she refused. 'Harry Potter has broken no laws, so I'll not arrest him,' she said, then she walked out. Cornelius looked up at the ceiling and said, 'Will no one rid me of this troublesome boy?' I decided right then to do what nobody else was willing to do, and ''kill'' that halfblood liar.\\

-->'''Duke''': The governor wants me to take care of the problem.
-->'''Honey''': Um... are you sure, sir? What did he say exactly?
-->'''Duke''': He said, "Will no one rid me of this human hemorrhoid?"
-->'''Honey''': There're a lot of ways to interpret that, sir.

** [[spoiler:It is eventually revealed that the assassination attempt on Bran is this. King Robert mentioned how it would be better if Bran were simply put out of his misery after his injury. Prince Joffrey, having heard this, steals one of his father's knives and commissions a killer to do the deed.]]

** God would occasionally invoke this when He wanted to teach His people a lesson. Such as the time the Israelites were too frightened to conquer Canaan, even with God on their side, and declared that they wished they'd died in the desert rather than face this battle. So God lead them in circles in the desert until every man who had said that had actually died in the desert.

* In [[https://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1999/03/11 this strip]] from ''Doonesbury'' (a deliberate parody of the page quote), while he is serving as aide to Jesse Ventura as Governor of Minnesota, Uncle Duke interprets one of Ventura's rants about Garrison Keillor as an instruction to assassinate him:

-->'''Duke''': He said, "[[ThomasBecket Will no one rid me of this human hemorrhoid?]]"

* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' in the episode "Squilliam Returns".

** Subverted in Krusty Dogs:

* In the Ed Brubaker comic ''Comicbook/{{Sleeper}}'', undercover agent Carver tells his comrades in the organization he's infiltrating that he'd ''love'' to have his ex-wife's new husband helpless in front of him...and to Carver's horror, helpful new guy "Pit Bull" makes this happen.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5953407/20/Vows-III-Honour Vows III: Honour]]'' after Harry's Voldemort encounter in the graveyard he tells Draco he can burn the clothes Harry was wearing for all he cares. Draco promptly does so.
-->'''Harry:''' Those were my favourite jeans! I didn't think you'd take me seriously!