History Main / RhetoricalRequestBlunder

* A rare positive example from [[LoonyFan Conrad Verner]] of all people ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' (if you did the prerequisite sidequests [[OldSaveBonus in the first game):

* 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--]]" Guess what happens next.

-->'''SelfDemonstrating/{{Loki}}''': Ward the school? That isn't a terrible idea, actually... *''he promptly does it''*

* Played with in the play ''Fortinbras'', a faux-sequel to ''{{Hamlet}}''. The title character, when questioned on the legitimacy of him being in charge, orders two very stupid guards to bring him "the head of the Electors" meaning "chief". One of the more GenreSavvy characters is understandably nervous, especially when the guards bring Fortinbras a round object in a sack, which he interprets as an unsolicited melon. Turns out [[LampshadeHanging "it really is a melon!"]]
* In Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''KingJohn'' the title character tries to claim he's in this situation when the peers react badly to the (supposed) death of Arthur [[note]]who ends up getting killed trying to escape from prison while the man charged with killing him is lying to John about his death[[/note]] on John's orders -- although when he ''gives'' those orders he is obviously worried his hints aren't blatant enough.

[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Cthier_saves_us_8101.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Ch'thier is merciful.]]

* In the December 2004 issue of Hammer magazine, Phil Anselmo ranted against former bandmate Dimebag Darrell, saying he should be "beaten severely". A week after the issue came out, a fan took matters into his own hands -- shooting Dime four times in the head at point-blank range, and killing three other people who tried to stop him.

* It's a common claim of Hitler apologists that the Holocaust was this. As in, his subordinates, having read ''Literature/MeinKampf'' and knowing how he felt about Jews, decided it would be a nice favor to him if they rounded up and killed all the Jews in Europe, while he was [[CaptainOblivious none the wiser]]. The idea comes from the book [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler%27s_War ''Hitler's War'']], which not only had its own counter-book, but after a libel suit in court, said counter-book was proven true ''in a court of law''.
* Dictators who were also charismatic and well-remembered by the people frequently get this treatment; this is particularly true of Third-World post-independence leaders regarded as "Father of the Nation." For instance, many [[ModernEgypt Egyptians]] believe that the well-documented torture of political prisoners in UsefulNotes/GamalAbdelNasser's regime must have been the result of a misinterpreted order or some such, rather than being led and organized by Abdel Nasser himself. Many other Egyptians point out that if that were true, he would still be to blame--not for being a cruel tyrant, but for being an idiot.

* The [[LooneyTunes Warner Bros.]] cartoon "The Hardships Of Miles Standish" has an elderly gentleman telling the story of Miles' courtship of Priscilla in pilgrim days to his grandson. He tops it with "If that ain't the truth, I hope I get struck by lightning!" He does, and as he's singed, clinging to a beam from the roof, [[NoFourthWall he turns to us]] and says "Well, anyway, that's the way ''I'' heard it!"

* In ''Theater/TheNormanConquests'' by Alan Ayckbourn, Ruth is amazed at the monumental emotional denseness, of Tom, a veterinarian who is NotGoodWithPeople. She tells him she would like to strip off all her clothes, dance naked on the grass, and then hurl him down and make love to him, just to see his reaction. Tom takes this quite literally and later solemnly informs his girlfriend Annie that Ruth has been harboring a secret passion for him.

* In ''DragonBallGT'', when Goku gatecrashes Pilaf's latest attempt to wish for world domination he inadvertantly [[FountainOfYouth wishes that Goku was still a little kid]]. ... While the wish granting dragon was listening.

* Throughout the ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'' series Kyon continually wishes that he were living a normal life. In the fourth book (and in TheMovie), [[spoiler:Yuki provides just that. At least she's smart enough to give him an 'out' in case he doesn't like it.]]

* In the Creator/BrothersGrimm fairy tale ''Hans My Hedgehog'', a childless man says: "I wish I had a son, even if it was a hedgehog!". And in "Tom Thumb" a childless woman says "If there were just one, and even if it were terribly small, only the size of a thumb, I'd be satisfied."

* In the Creator/BrothersGrimm fairy tale ''Hans My Hedgehog'', a childless man says: "I wish I had a son, even if it was a hedgehog!" You probably guessed what happens next...
** Similarly, in "Tom Thumb" a childless woman says "If there were just one, and even if it were terribly small, only the size of a thumb, I'd be satisfied."

Particularly moral characters may say ItsAllMyFault after the deed is done. Compare IWishedYouWereDead. May be carried out by a PoisonousFriend. BluntMetaphorsTrauma or being SarcasmBlind might lead to this. See also IrrevocableOrder.

-->-- '''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]]

* The apocryphal story of NapoleonBonaparte sneezing as he was reviewing some prisoners and saying "tuez les tous" (kill them all) which is somewhat close to the sound one actually makes when sneezing (atchoo) and was possibly interrupted mid sentence giving something like "tu es...atchoo!" (you are atchoo!). The more well-known story (albeit also totally apocryphal) goes like this: some zealous soldier heard a flu-ridden Napoleon saying "Ma sacrée toux!" (My bloody cough!) and interpreted it as the homophone "Massacrez tout!" (Slaughter everything!).
* [[TheHouseOfPlantagenet 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 Mooks 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 a high clergyman had been openly murdered in a church; Henry had to perform public penance over the issue and Becket rapidly became St. Thomas.
* It's a common claim of Hitler apologists that the Holocaust was this. As in, his subordinates, having read ''Mein Kampf'' and knowing how he felt about Jews, decided it would be a nice favor to him if they rounded up and killed all the Jews in Europe, while he was [[CaptainOblivious none the wiser]]. The idea comes from the book [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler%27s_War ''Hitler's War'']], which not only had its own counter-book, but after a libel suit in court, said counter-book was proven true ''in a court of law''.

* Shizuo does this to some extent in ''{{Durarara}}'' when he jokingly promises to introduce Kururi and Mairu to his younger brother, a famous actor, if they ever manage to kill their older brother Izaya.

* In ''NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation'', Clark reacts to the news that he received a subscription to a Jelly-of-the-Month Club in lieu of a Christmas Bonus from his boss by ranting that he wished the boss was right there so he could chew him out. His cousin-in-law promptly jumps into his RV and kidnaps said boss.

* In ''TheFiftyFirstState'', an unfortunate miscommunication occurs when [=DeSousa=] asks one of his assistants to "take care" of a nervous chemist. The assistant then goes into henchman mode, [[HilarityEnsues kills the chemist and stuffs him into the car boot]], instead of following the intended meaning which was "[[DontExplainTheJoke look after him]]".