History Main / SelflessWish

* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'': One of four ultimate quests the player can pursue is the Heart's Desire ambition, a card game that will give the victor their heart's desire (or whatever the rulers of London and a giant sentient fortress can grant that's close enough, anyway). Towards the end, the player learns that one of their rivals plans to use the wish to permanently destroy the game itself; you face off against him in the final match and your final play is a guaranteed win. But then you can fold, for no reason other than to ensure that someone trustworthy will end the game permanently[[note]]you're plagued with want, so you can't do it yourself[[/note]], sacrificing all the progress you've made and your guaranteed victory so that someone else can achieve their heart's desire - making sure nobody else plays this life-destroying sucker's gamble ever again. [[note]]Your profits are Beechman as a permanent servant and the mystic deck you played the game with, supercharged with the power of prophecy. But gameplay-wise, they're less useful overall to your grand schemes than if you won the game, since lobotomizing Beechman will net you a specialized piece of useful biology knowledge-enhancing gear from one of the Masters.[[/note]]

** Earlier in the Drama CD, [[spoiler:Madoka wishes to save a cat, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that's it]], she never wanted anything else indirectly. There's nothing can go wrong for a direct, simple wish]].

* One story in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' had Tails meet up with an anthropomorphic unicorn who grants him a wish for saving him from the Badniks. True to his nature Tails wish is for Mobius to be free from Robotnik's rule. The Unicorn then takes Tails to a room looking down on Robotnik as he drives along in a parade. Tails is given a gun and told that if he shoots Robotnik Mobius will be free. Being who he is Tails throws the gun down and yells that it's wrong. The unicorn tells Tails that he made the right choice, and as long as he follows his good nature, one day, his wish will come true.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Dandelion}}'', [[spoiler:all five animals-turned-human-men are participating in a game set up by the Wizard in which the person who gets Heejung, the game's protagonist, to fall in love with him will have a wish of his granted by the Wizard. Of these five people, Jieun is the only one whose wish is to have ''another'' person's wish granted; specifically, the wish of his knight Jihae who he feels guilt for clinging to so selfishly that he didn't warn him that the woman he loved was planning to commit suicide. Coincidentally ([[LaserGuidedKarma or not]]), Jieun also happens to be the only character who gets an unambiguously happy ending with Heejung]].

* Parodied in WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons:

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'':
** Jake makes the selfless wish of saving the day rather than seeing [[LoveInterest Rose]] again when given a magical transportation device. ''Really'' driven home when two portals open -- the one he asked for aloud, and the one his heart asked for. Meaning he and Rose literally see each other[[spoiler:, then he has to choose the other portal anyway]].
** In the climax of his fight against the Huntsmen, Rose uses the crystal skulls to destroy the Huntsmen even though that means she'll be destroyed in the process. Jake takes control of the skulls and wishes that the Huntsmen never took her away from her family. Even though this means she'll lose memory of who he is, he's happy in knowing that she's safe.
* {{Subverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime:'' [[KidHero Finn]] and [[NonHumanSidekick Jake]] both get a wish for reaching the center of a maze and at the moment, Jake has seriously injured himself. The plan is for Jake to wish himself healed, while Finn wishes for the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant]] they've been coveting. Instead, Jake [[WastefulWishing wishes for a sandwich]]. Left with the choice between healing his best friend or getting the Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant, Finn picks the latter. DoubleSubverted when [[spoiler:Finn then takes mental control of the Elephant and makes ''it'' wish for Jake to be saved so that they get everything they want anyway]].
* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'':
** In "Wishing Well", Cricket sets up a fake wishing well to get people to pay him and is torn when Tilly uses it. When his shoulder devil suggests he spend the money Tilly dropped in, he listens to him; but his shoulder angel punishes him for swindling her and forces him to do good deeds and give her back the money. Once he does so, he gives her the money and notes she should spend it on something worthwhile; but instead of spending it, she dumps all the money into Cricket's well, because she can't think of anything better to buy than a wish, forcing Cricket to come clean.
** In the ChristmasEpisode, Cricket is worried he may end up on the naughty list because of all the bad deeds he did over the year. When he causes trouble when meeting a department store Santa, he is thereby deemed naughty and decides to resort to being naughty indeed by pulling pranks all over Big City. When his biggest prank, to steal the Christmas star and moon the whole city, goes wrong and Tilly is blamed for it, he realizes the error of his ways and encounters the real Santa, who gives him a magical gift which can be anything he wishes for. At first Cricket is content, but then he drops his head in regret and decides to use this wish to get Tilly back on the nice list, and also to be out of the blizzard because he realized all he really wanted for Christmas doesn't come in a box. On Christmas Day, Cricket discovers not only Tilly got presents, but himself as well, because of his selfless act of putting Tilly's needs before his, which therefore considers him nice.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Timmy needed money to buy tickets to "Crash Nebula: On Ice". He can't simply use his fairy godparents to wish for the tickets because it'd be theft and he can't wish for the money because that would be counterfeiting, so he opened a [[UsefulNotes/LemonadeStands lemonade stand]] but his lemonade had a horrible taste until Cosmo dipped his used socks on it, which also caused the lemonade to grant wishes to anyone who drank it. After using almost all his lemonade to undo the damage caused by his customers, he intended to use the remaining lemonade to get the tickets but then he saw a thirsty boy who was forced to work making lemonade for Vicky's stand and Timmy decided to give him the lemonade and the boy, unaware that the lemonade would grant him a wish, he wished for his Dad. The kid turns out to be [[AlliterativeName Doug Dimmadome's]] long-lost son, ''Dale'' Dimmadome. Doug Dimmadome owns the place where the show's performance would take place and rewarded Timmy and his friends by giving them jobs selling lemonade at the stadium, so they could still see the show without actually needing tickets (Doug Dimmadome wouldn't have been able to give Timmy and his friends tickets anyway, as the show was completely sold out at that point).
** Otherwise, Timmy's selfless wishes don't count for the trope since his wishes are not limited by number.
** In "Fairy Idol", Chester used his last wish to undo the damages caused by Norm.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroes'' episode "[[Recap/FantasticFourWorldsGreatestHeroesContestOfChampions Contest of Champions]]", Ben is awarded one wish for having won the contest. However, rather than taking the opportunity to regain his lost humanity, he uses it to free his teammates ''and'' the villains who lost.
* Twice in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Blendin's Game". Dipper and Mabel win the time wish and, instead of using it for themselves, they give it to Soos. Then Soos, instead of using his wish to meet his dad (who hasn't seen him since his fourth birthday), uses it to clean up the twins from their battle and to have a slice of pizza that doesn't end because spending time with them is the best present of all.

* In ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall,'' after [[AloofBigBrother Wirt]] and [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling Greg]] fall asleep, Greg goes to a DreamLand where he is offered a wish by [[TheHighQueen the Queen of the Clouds]]. Greg asks to go home, but the Queen explains that she'd have to send him alone, because Wirt has [[DespairEventHorizon fallen into despair]] and is already under [[TheDreaded the Beast]]'s power. Taking to heart Wirt's earlier claim that their situation was all his fault, Greg instead asks to [[spoiler:meet the Beast so that he can bargain for Wirt's safety]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'': In the ChristmasEpisode "Giftmas", Kuzco wants Papa Santos to make him emperor again as his Giftmas wish. However, Papa Santos refuses because Kuzco is put #1 on the naughty list because of how much of a {{Jerkass}} he naturally is. He gives Kuzco a list of good deeds he has to do in order to get off the naughty list and make up for his past actions. Kuzco not only fulfills the tasks he was required to do, but he also helps Papa Santos deliver the presents by turning himself into a llama ''[[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove again]]''[[note]]although this time he did it deliberately[[/note]] and substituting himself with one of the llamas on Papa Santos' sleigh which was frozen by Yzma in an attempt to stop Papa Santos from making Kuzco emperor again. However, after the presents are delivered and Kuzco is removed from the list, Papa Santos reminds Kuzco that Tipo is saddened because Kuzco made him believe that Papa Santos doesn't exist. Kuzco (somewhat reluctantly) instead wishes to LetThereBeSnow making Tipo's dream come true. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Tipo seemed like he was going to use his own wish to make Kuzco emperor again, but instead he simply has Kuzco changed back to human form, much to Kuzco's dismay.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/LittleEinsteins'' has one that's even more so than the immediately above adventure. In the ChristmasEpisode, "The Christmas Wish," Annie uses her wish box to wish to be with all of her friends on Christmas. This was something she already had, since she was there, at the time, ''on Christmas'', with all of the other Little Einsteins.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'', the kids find a toy lamp that looks like a genie's lamp. While most of them make random wishes while imagining the results, Kermit spends most of the episode wondering what to wish for. Finally, he makes up his mind at the end. He wishes that "we all stay together as friends all our lives and become famous in movies and TV together". [[MythologyGag After a clip from]] ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'' is shown, Gonzo says that's a strange wish, while Scooter tells him he won't know if it comes true for a long time; but Kermit [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall is pretty sure it will come true...]]
* In a [[ValentinesDayEpisode Valentine's Day Special]] starring ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'', a selfless wish was used to prevent a rather catastrophic selfish one. The WickedWitch Chlorhydris wanted to use a special wishing well to purge the world of love (and yes, [[WomanScorned she did have a motive for this]] [[RunawayFiance which was explained in a later episode]]). The well could only be used [[WhenThePlanetsAlign when there was a full moon on Valentine's Day]], which only happened once every thousand years, and she needed to offer it a cat. Not just any cat would do, and apparently, Gargamel's cat was perfect (for some odd reason). Of course, taking Azrael from him caused ''him'' to find out about it, and naturally he wanted to use the well's powers for himself (to catch the Smurfs, of course). The Smurfs themselves got involved, and after the well's power was activated, the two villains got into a struggle to use its power. while they were doing that, Smurfette briefly considered using the well to find true love, but after realizing how crazy it was, she told it, "I wish we were all back where we belong!" sending Gargamel to his hovel, Chlorhydris to her observatory, and the Smurfs to their village. (And as a bonus, preventing the well from being used again for another thousand years.)
* In "Wally Saves the Trollidays" on ''WesternAnimation/{{Wallykazam}}'', Bobgoblin uses up almost all the Trolliday wishes in the sack, leaving just one, which is given to Wally. He's upset that nobody else will get to have any wishes, so he uses his wish to wish for the sack to be filled with wishes again. It's never said, but something like this presumably ''only'' could work if the wish were selfless. When the wishes are given out and he gets another, he uses it to wish for a sled for his dragon Norville, while Norville wishes for one for Wally. Bobgoblin gets another wish too and wishes that everyone has a happy Trollidays... and for another big purple hat.

* In ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', it happens ''twice''. Once in the backstory, Naraku expects Kikyo to use the Jewel of Four Souls to save her life (she takes it with her into the afterlife instead). This sets up the ending, where Kagome is trapped in the Jewel. Like Kikyo before her, Kagome doesn't make the selfish wish - she first refuses to make a wish, trusting in Inuyasha to find her, and when he does, [[spoiler:she wishes for the Jewel to cease to exist, the only possible wish that the Jewel could not somehow pervert]].

** In the prequel ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'', Takiko [[spoiler: doesn't manage to stop Genbu from consuming her soul since she has heavy self-worth issues ''and'' is dying already. She ''does'' hold on long enough to make two of her wishes, which are both completely selfless and dedicated to helping the land of Hokkan and stopping the upcoming war with the Kutou country; her third one is fulfilled by the prayers of the grateful Hokkan citizens.]]
** In the original ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', Yui [[spoiler: is so consumed by her anger towards Miaka and a BreakTheCutie process that she becomes a broken and spiteful RivalTurnedEvil, thus allowing [[TheDragon Nakago]] to manipulate her for his own ends. This is crowned by her making two very selfish wishes (including one ''specifically'' made to separate Miaka from Tamahome) and, once she realizes the damage she has caused, making a completely selfless one to fix said damage. Right after that, she's consumed by Seiryuu.]]
** Also in the original series, Miaka, [[spoiler: at first, wants to make [[PlayedForLaughs hilariously selfish wishes]]. Later in the story, she thinks of balancing selfish and selfless wishes (helping the people in the book, fixing her and Yui's relationship, bringing Tamahome with her)... but the three wishes she ''actually'' makes are completely selfless, allowing her to "repair" both the Real World and the one in the Book. This lets her summon Suzaku without being consumed by him.]]

* A variant in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Kurama, a demon who masquerades as a human, turns out to have stolen one of the three treasures of Spirit World so he can wish for it to save his human foster mother's life at the cost of his own. Yusuke, being a good-intentioned IdiotHero, leaps in and tells the mirror to take his life instead. The wish is granted, and ''neither'' one dies: it turns out that two people trying to sacrifice themselves for the same wish nullifies the cost of making one. It ends up doing that because the force behind the mirror makes it so. Presumably he could have taken either or both of their lives. Said force was just so impressed with them it spared both. Yusuke's wish basically boiled down to not wanting a mother not to suffer at the loss of her son, for the mirror to take his life it would violate his wish since Yusuke was motivated by his own experience with his mother seeing her while he was dead and suffering as a result.

** [[spoiler: Madoka's wish can also be seen as a subversion: her wish was actually more selfish than anyone else's, and that's why it worked: wishing to be able to do something ''with her own two hands'' meant she actually got the benefit of the hope generated by her own wish. It can be seen as a LogicBomb, in a sense.]]
** Earlier in the Drama CD, [[spoiler: Madoka wishes to save a cat, and [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin that's it]], she never wanted anything else indirectly. There's nothing can go wrong for a direct, simple wish.]]
** Played With in Rebellion: [[spoiler:Homura's]] wish is ''very'' selfish (seeing as she wants a happy ending after all the shit she's been through), but [[spoiler:it results in the rest of the cast getting their happy ending while Homura herself is plagued with guilt. It's still selfish in terms of control because she went against the wishes of Madoka and [[GettingSmilesPaintedOnYourSoul forced her to be happy]], but then it's also ''not'' selfish because Homura was acting in accordance with what she ''knew'' the first iteration of Madoka would want, and not the self-sacrificing Madoka who only existed as a result of Homura's mistakes with time travel. In essence, Homura was driven mad enough to make a selfless wish for a person who no longer existed because of her actions, while being incredibly selfish to a person who was exceedingly selfless]].

* Quite a few times on ''Anime/SailorMoon'', Sailor Moon uses the Silver Imperium Crystal to make selfless wishes. She wishes Fiore could understand love in the ''R'' Movie. In the ''S'' movie (and the manga story it's based on), she wishes Luna could be human for one night so she could properly speak to Kakeru. Her first wish, made at the end of the first season, was that all her friends were alive again and that they could all just be normal schoolgirls. She had to take back the second part of that wish when she realized it wasn't completely selfless since it left the world open to attacks by outer forces, so Luna had to undo Usagi's LaserGuidedAmnesia and later the other girls'.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'':
** In the first arc, all the characters are there for an ulterior wish (Bulma for a boyfriend, Oolong for treasure and riches, Yamcha to not be scared of women). However, this is thrown out the window when Oolong has to prevent [[TerribleTrio Emperor Pilaf]] from wishing for world domination: he jumps in and wishes for something completely useless to Pilaf ([[LovableSexManiac a pair of panties]]) in order to save everyone on the planet.[[note]]The Yang Dragonkin who spawns from the negative energy generated by making wishes is ''very'' pissed off at this.[[/note]] So in sense, it was a selfish wish done for a selfless purpose.
** This is also [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] at the end of the Baba arc. Goku defeats his deceased grandpa Gohan and finds the last Dragon Ball required to have a wish granted so that his friend Upa can revive his murdered father. Upa questions if that's really okay considering Goku could easily wish for Gohan to be revived, [[IncorruptiblePurePureness but Goku being Goku]], he says that it's alright. Uniquely, Gohan is still present to give his blessing on the matter as well! (For his part, Goku was never looking for a wish, he was searching for the Four Star Ball that Gohan had in his possession.)
** This ends up working against the heroes at the tail end of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', every wish made on the Dragon Balls accumulated evil energy created counterwise to the good energy of the selfless wishes, thus out of the seven Shadow Dragons that emerge from this evil energy, six are pure evil as a result of being born from selfless good wishes, the one good dragon was born from a selfish one (King Piccolo's wish to restore his youth).
** This is the key to the end of the Universal Survival Arc in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''. The Tournament of Power has, as the prize for being the surviving universe, the allowance of one wish on the Super Dragon Balls. In the end, [[spoiler:Android 17 is the last one standing and he decides, after everything, to wish back the universes erased by the two Zen'Os during the Tournament. This was also a SecretTestOfCharacter as knew this would happen and, had it not, they would have erased everything.]]

* In ''Webcomic/KillLaKillAU'', in Comic 41, we have Ryuuko, in light of Satsuki's illness, and she wishes to be the "sick one" instead of her then ill sister. This comes true and the comic ends with her in the hospital as her illness gets worse. When Satsuki finds out about this, in part II, she is devastated but makes a wish to be the sick one along with Ryuuko, so the latter won't be alone.

* Discussed in ''Fanfic/GazDreamsOfGenie'', when Gaz is struggling to come up with a use for her final wish that won't backfire on her, and Azie (the titular genie) suggests that she use it for someone else rather than herself. Ultimately, Gaz chooses to [[spoiler: not do so, and regrets it. Because she opened Azie's lamp by breaking it, she was cursed to [[BecomingTheGenie switch lives with her]] upon the completion of her ThreeWishes, with a selfless wish being the only way to avoid this. Since she doesn't make one, she ends the story trapped in the lamp while Azie gets her life.]]

--> '''Tommy''': Please mister lizard, we wish we could go... *he looks at the other babies* ...We wish we had our doggie back.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut,'' [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny]] dies before the halfway point of the movie, goes to Hell and meets [[AntiVillain Satan]] and his FetishizedAbuser, [[ManipulativeBastard Saddam Hussein]], who are planning to take over the Earth. When they succeed at the end, Kenny is able to climb out of Hell with their army. Throughout the film, though, he encourages Satan to stand up to Saddam, which he [[TheDogBitesBack eventually does]]. For helping him, Satan offers Kenny any wish, and he requests that Satan [[ResetButton undo every ill effect of the American-Canadian War]], even though technically this means he'll have to go back to Hell with the other damned. [[spoiler:The final scene of the movie shows him ascending to Heaven instead.]]

* This is a major theme in ''Film/TheForbiddenDoor''. The old dragon that grants wishes tells the children that when you wish for something for yourself, someone else must pay the price, but if you wish for something for others, you must pay the price. [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Nimian]] asks to keep his country safe. His price is [[spoiler: dying in defense of it.]] The children originally plan to ask for a bicycle and a trip to Venice, but realize how shallow they are. Later, they ask to repair their parents' relationship, and their price is [[spoiler: leaving Dragonland forever.]]
* ''Film/BruceAlmighty'': When God asks Bruce what he wants [[spoiler:after Bruce is hit by a truck]], Bruce replies that he wishes [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Grace find a man who may make her truly happy and see her through God's eyes, even if it is not Bruce]]. [[spoiler:Grace chooses Bruce anyway after the truck hit makes her realize how much she loves him.]]

* Subverted at the end of ''Film/TheNeverendingStoryIITheNextChapter'' with Bastion's final wish from Auryn: [[spoiler:for [[BigBad Xayide]] to have a heart. Not only is it CruelMercy at best since it forces her to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone feel the gravity of all her evil deeds]], but as the human personification of [[ThePowerOfTheVoid emptyness]] it proves outright ''fatal'' to her]].

* In ''Literature/TheMasterAndMargarita'', Margarita badly wants to find her vanished lover, but when the Devil offers to grant one request to thank her for having played hostess at his ball, she instead asks for mercy for one of the damned souls she met at said ball. It is then revealed that it was a SecretTestOfCharacter, and, satisfied, Woland gives her the chance to formulate her real wish, which she does.

* Creator/SusanCooper's ''Literature/TheDarkIsRising'' series novel ''Literature/{{Greenwitch}}'': Jane and her companions are trying to retrieve an artifact of vital importance to the Light, which was lost in the first novel. When she first meets the Greenwitch in its inactive form, Jane is offered the chance to make a wish. Her wish is that the Greenwitch could be happy. At the end of the novel, the Greenwitch rewards Jane by returning the artifact to her.
* Played with in ''[[Literature/TheSwordOfTruth Wizard's First Rule]]''. A witch holds Richard's friends captive and says she will grant him one wish. He came to her because he needs the location of a [[CosmicKeystone Box of Orden]] from her. What does he do? He asks for his friends to be released. A SelflessWish, after all, would be a waste, since the witch wants him to leave without the answer no more than he does.

* ''Literature/CodexAlera'':
** In ''Furies of Calderon'' Tavi has saved the day and is offered a boon by the First Lord. Much to the First Lord's astonishment, Tavi simply asks for his badly damaged farming community to be given help surviving the oncoming winter. The First Lord grants it, and after he correctly guesses what Tavi really wants for himself, he grants that too.
** In ''Cursor's Fury'' Bernard and Amara play key roles in helping Lacy Placidia, a politically and magically powerful woman, [[spoiler:escape from a treasonous High Lord Kalarus]]. She offers them a reward as thanks. Amara [[spoiler:wants her to help Rook, Kalarus' top spy and assassin who worked for the man because he held her daughter hostage, and give her a quiet home away from all the politics and games to be with her daughter. And, as Rook promised her daughter to ride horses, a horse too]]. Bernard then gives his desire of [[spoiler:a second horse, this one for Rook so she can teach the child as well]]. Lady Placidia is stunned and smiles.
* At the end of the first ''Literature/{{Neogicia}}'' novel, Saly gets the opportunity to ask a favor from the Emperor of her faction. Her best friend has plans to save up so her father can get an expensive medical treatment to which the Emperor has free access. She asks for her friend's father to be treated for free.
* In ''The Forbidden Door'', at the coronation of Nimeon, both the new Dragon Emperor and the human protagonists David and Laura are given a chance to ask for something from the Master of Wisdom. However, they come to understand that asking something for themselves will require others to pay the price while asking something for others will require them to pay the price. Nimeon asks to be [[TheWisePrince a wise]] [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething and just ruler]] to his people and ends up [[spoiler: paying with his life in a HeroicSacrifice]]. The children rethink their selfish wishes, and later end up asking for their broken families to find reconciliation, at the cost of [[spoiler: never returning to Dragonland.]]
* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Thomas Aquinas tells the story of [[Literature/BooksOfKings King Solomon]] with particular emphasis on how selfless it was for him to wish for wisdom to better rule with when he could have asked God for wisdom in theology or mathematics or some other art that kings use to distract from their duties.
* In ''Half Magic'', a group of children find a magic coin that grants unlimited half-wishes. While they do use the coin to wish for things they want for themselves, they also frequently use it to make other people's lives better like wishing for a poor man to have exactly as many of his wishes granted as he deserves and adding "do a good deed" as a condition for their most self-indulgent wish to have a time-travel adventure. At the end of the book, they make a final big wish for all of their mother's wishes to come true and then leave the coin to be found by another family who needs it.
* A Soviet short story called "The Flower of Seven Colors" (adapted into a cartoon twice) features a girl named Jenny being given a magic flower that grants seven wishes, and each wish takes up one of its seven petals. Toward the end, after several small wish-related adventures, she finally is reduced to just one wish. Then she meets a nice boy who turns out to be incurably lame and uses the last petal to cure him.
** It is especially true in the 70s animated adaptation, in which the girl sees the boy several times and teases him... before he decides ScrewThisImOuttaHere and picks up his crutch. The sight causes her to say "I wish for him to be healthy again."
* The prophecy in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' revolves around a selfless wish. The Hero of Ages would make the journey to the Well of Ascension, which would give him godlike power. But the prophecy strictly says he must willingly let go of that power to save the world from the Deepness. [[spoiler:It turns out to have all been a lie. [[SealedEvilInACan Ruin]] manipulated the prophecy to convince someone to take the power of the Well and release it, thus freeing him from captivity so he can finally destroy the world.]]

* ''Series/FullHouse'': In "The House Meets the Mouse", after spending the entire episode abusing her wishes as "princess for a day"[[note]]a position she stole from Stephanie in the first place.[[/note]], Michelle uses her third wish to make Stephanie princess for the rest of the day. As a reward for her generous act, she and her whole family are invited to ride in the Magic Kingdom parade.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'': In Episode 11, Takeru gains all of the 15 Eyecons and is now about to receive his wish. When the spirits ask him what it is, [[spoiler: instead of resurrecting himself, he resurrects Kanon Fukami, the sister of Makoto Fukami, and with that, Makoto finally sides with Takeru despite him paying his sole ticket for revival.]]

* ''VideoGame/WakuWaku7'': The profile of RobotMaid Tesse states that she wants to use the power of the Waku Waku Balls ToBecomeHuman, but her ending has her making a wish to heal the scientist who created her from his illnesses.
* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile''. In what is considered either the saddest or {{Narm}}iest recruitment scene, we're introduced to Yumei, a half-mermaid girl who is treated like shit by her fellow merfolk, especially once her mother dies. She then goes to find where her father was and finds a fisherman and his son who saved her. The fisherman's son, Fuyuki, talks about the legend of the Lapis Lazuli that grants a wish, and he wants to wish for a big ship. Upon finding out that Yumei's human father is dead, she decides to commit suicide but says goodbye to Fuyuki after revealing her mermaid form to him. Her tears actually turn into a Lapis Lazuli, and Fuyuki picks it up. Rather than wishing for a big ship like he wanted, he then says wishes for Yumei to be with her parents. Unfortunately, her parents are dead...

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', the mystical artifact called the Everlight is said to grant any wish to the person who finds it. GenkiGirl Norma manages to find it after her Character Quest and uses her wish to restore [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior a bitter old man's eyesight]]. She does it to show the old man that his pupil (Norma's teacher) was right about people being ultimately good since it was her teacher's last request.
* The whole ending for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds''. [[spoiler: Princess Hilda aimed to steal Hyrule's Triforce so that her own kingdom, Lorule, could be restored before it crumbled away. After getting a pep talk from Ravio on how her actions would doom Hyrule, Hilda accepts her kingdom's fate and sends Link and Zelda back home with their Triforce. Link and Zelda decide to use the power of the Triforce to make a wish and their wish restored Lorule's Triforce, granting Hilda's kingdom a second chance.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', [[spoiler: the king of Hyrule wishes for a future for Zelda and Link instead of the restoration of Hyrule, forever burying his old kingdom under the sea with Ganon]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}''

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', the Harbinger of the End pits Velvet and the others against [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/TalesOfXillia Jude and Milla]] in a battle of fates. If Jude and Milla win, then they go back to their world and the world of Velvet and the others is destroyed. If Velvet and the others win, they get one wish, or more specifically, Velvet does, as she's asked to speak for the group as the leader. She wishes for Jude and Milla to go back to their world. "You said you have things to do back home, right? That's why." The Harbinger asks if she's certain, noting he can grant anything her heart desires, including the power to turn back time. She replies that she won't run away. At this point, he says that he senses no malice in her answer, so their world won't be destroyed.]]
-->[[spoiler:Milla]]: You see, [[SecretTestOfCharacter your answer was the true test of judgment.]]
* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'': One of four ultimate quests the player can pursue is the Heart's Desire ambition, a card game that will give the victor their heart's desire (or whatever the rulers of London and a giant sentient fortress can grant that's close enough, anyway). Towards the end, the player learns that one of their rivals plans to use the wish to permanently destroy the game itself; you face off against him in the final match and your final play is a guaranteed win. But then you can fold, for no reason other than to ensure that someone trustworthy will end the game permanently[[note]]you're plagued with want, so you can't do it yourself[[/note]], sacrificing all the progress you've made and your guaranteed victory so that someone else can achieve their heart's desire - making sure nobody else plays this life-destroying sucker's gamble ever again. [[note]]Your profits are Beechman as a permanent servant and the mystic deck you played the game with, supercharged with the power of prophecy. But gameplay-wise, they're less useful overall to your grand schemes than if you won the game, since lobotomizing Beechman will net you a specialized piece of useful biology knowledge-enhancing gear from one of the Masters.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/PetalCrash'': Orphaned twins Penny and Deony both wish to find their long-lost parents under the assumption that it's what the ''other'' twin wants, even if it's not their own heart's desire. As a result, it ends up not being granted, but they're not too hung up on it since they already have each other.

** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E47TheNightOfTheMeek The Night of the Meek]]" has a mall Santa getting to play Santa Claus for real, and he wishes that he could do it every year. He gets his wish.
** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E114IDreamOfGenie I Dream of Genie]]" ends with the man wishing to [[BecomingTheGenie become the genie]], when he realizes the "usual" wishes such as love, wealth, and power aren't for him.

* In ''Wild Orchid'', a retelling of the ballad of Hua Mulan, the emperor offers Mulan the deepest wish of her heart- anything she wants, he will grant. she realizes she could use this wish the way her father did, to wish for the chance to marry for love- but in her case, she doesn't know if the one she loves truly loves her. So rather than asking to marry Prince Jian, she requests that the emperor grant the deepest wish of ''Jian's'' heart, which is to be free to travel.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'': In the ChristmasEpisode "Giftmas", Kuzco wants Papa Santos to make him emperor again as his Giftmas wish. However, Papa Santos refuses because Kuzco is put #1 on the naughty list because of how much of a {{Jerkass}} he naturally is. He gives Kuzco a list of good deeds he has to do in order to get off the naughty list and make up for his past actions. Kuzco not only fulfills the tasks he was required to do, but he also helps Papa Santos deliver the presents by turning himself into a llama ''[[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove again]]''[[note]]although this time he did it deliberately[[/note]] and substituting himself with one of the llamas on Papa Santos' slay which was frozen by Yzma in an attempt to stop Papa Santos from making Kuzco emperor again. However, after the presents are delivered and Kuzco is removed from the list, Papa Santos reminds Kuzco that Tipo is saddened because Kuzco made him believe that Papa Santos doesn't exist. Kuzco (somewhat reluctantly) instead wishes to LetThereBeSnow making Tipo's dream come true. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Tipo seemed like he was going to use his own wish to make Kuzco emperor again, but instead he simply has Kuzco changed back to human form, much to Kuzco's dismay.]]

** "The Night Of The Meek" has a mall Santa getting to play Santa Claus for real, and he wishes that he could do it every year. He gets his wish.
** "I Dream of Genie" ends with the man wishing to [[BecomingTheGenie become the genie]], when he realizes the "usual" wishes such as love, wealth, and power aren't for him.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', the Skull Heart can grant a woman their wish, but if it isn't a selfless wish from someone pure of heart, their price for having said wish granted is becoming the next Skullgirl. The issue lies in the Skull Heart being a JackassGenie whose criteria as to what counts as "pure" are so strict as to be nigh-impossible. Multiple characters (either in the backstory, or individual story modes) attempt a selfless wish, with varying results: for example, [[spoiler:in Filia's ending, she wishes for Carol (Painwheel) to be turned back to normal so she can live a happy life. The Skull Heart decides that this doesn't count as selfless since Filia is doing it because she feels bad for her]].

There is one thing that a character wants more than anything else in the world. He wants it so badly that [[QuestForAWish he goes through great trials]] for [[MakeAWish the chance to be granted a single wish]]. When the time finally comes, he decides to forgo his chance of getting what he wants and instead asks for something on behalf of someone else.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', it happens ''twice''. Once in the backstory, Naraku expects Kikyo to use the Jewel of Four Souls to save her life (she takes it with her into the afterlife instead). This sets up the ending, where Kagome is trapped in the Jewel. Like Kikyo before her, Kagome doesn't make the selfish wish - she first refuses to make a wish, trusting in Inuyasha to find her, and when he does, [[spoiler:she wishes for the Jewel to cease to exist, the only possible wish that the Jewel could not somehow pervert]].

* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', Esmeralda, in the song "God Help The Outcasts", asks for God to bless and help those who are worse off than she is. To be placed into context, Esmeralda has asked for sanctuary in the cathedral of Notre Dame, and should she step out, [[SinisterMinister the villain, Frollo,]] would arrest her and demand she either become his or face immediate execution.

* The 2000 remake of ''Film/{{Bedazzled|2000}}'' had Brendan Fraser's character using his last wish on IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy. This ends up [[spoiler:saving his soul since the fine print of his DealWithTheDevil says that any Selfless Wish renders the whole contract null and void. A character (implied to be an aspect of God) claims it's not actually possible to sell a soul, the point of the wishes is to allow their recipient to damn themselves by what they wish for. The two explanations could both apply, since the Devil is an UnreliableNarrator who has been lying or twisting the truth throughout the film]].

* ''Film/BruceAlmighty''. When God asks Bruce what he wants [[spoiler:after Bruce is hit by a truck]], Bruce replies that he wishes [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy Grace find a man who may make her truly happy and see her through God's eyes, even if it is not Bruce]]. [[spoiler:Grace chooses Bruce anyway after the truck hit makes her realize how much she loves him.]]
* In ''Film/{{Constantine}}'' John Constantine is a man damned to Hell for committing suicide when he was a child but revived thanks to the doctors, and now suffers from lung cancer because he smoked several packs a day. He saves the world by summoning [[spoiler:Lucifer to him by committing suicide once more and alerting Lou to some of his people trying to take over the world before Lou can. Lucifer dispatches the threat with barely any effort and asks John what he wants in return]]. Rather than asking for more time, John wants [[spoiler:the soul of the heroine's sister to be released from Hell. Lucifer does this and promptly tries to take John back with him, but when he finds John immovable and rising up into the light, Lucifer is quick to realize this Selfless Wish also counts as a HeroicSacrifice, negating his previous sins and earning John a place in Heaven. Before that can happen, Lou heals all of John's ailments, confident John will sin and become his once more]].

* Twice in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Blendin's Game". Dipper and Mabel win the time wish and, instead of using it for themselves, they give it to Soos. Then Soos, instead of using his wish to meet his dad (who hasn't seen him since his fourth birthday), uses it to clean the twins and to have a slice of pizza that doesn't end because spending time with them is the best present of all.

* In ''Manga/InuYasha'' it happens ''twice''. Once in the backstory, Naraku expects Kikyo to use the Jewel of Four Souls to save her life (she takes it with her into the afterlife instead). This sets up the ending, where Kagome is trapped in the Jewel. Like Kikyo before her, Kagome doesn't make the selfish wish - she first refuses to make a wish, trusting in Inuyasha to find her, and when he does, [[spoiler:she wishes for the Jewel to cease to exist, the only possible wish that the Jewel could not somehow pervert]].

* ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20111228181423/http://www.spiritworldfiles.com/xovers/c/cj-batman-wish.html A Wish for Batman]]'' had Franchise/{{Batman}} receive a wish in a crossover with ''Manga/AhMyGoddess''. After considering wishing for his parents or Dick's to be brought back to life, Batman ultimately wishes that his work as Batman would be complete and successful and that Gotham would become safe under his watch. Following the reality warp that allowed his wish, Bruce discovers that not only has [[spoiler:Gotham become a safer city with more policemen, to the extent Bruce is now free to act largely on a global scale, but he is now happily married to fellow vigilante Selina Kyle, and that Harlequin is now sane. However best of all Bruce and Alfred [[TearJerker discover that in this new world Thomas and Martha Wayne are still alive, and Bruce breaks down in tears seeing them again]]]].

* The 2000 remake of ''Film/{{Bedazzled|2000}}'' had Brendan Fraser's character using his last wish on IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy. This ends up [[spoiler:saving his soul since the fine print of his DealWithTheDevil says that any Selfless Wish renders the whole contract null and void. A character (implied to be an aspect of God) claims it's not actually possible to sell a soul . . . the point of the wishes is to allow their recipient to damn themselves by what they wish for. The two explanations could both apply, since the Devil is an UnreliableNarrator who has been lying or twisting the truth throughout the film]].

* Subverted at the end of ''[[Film/TheNeverEndingStory The NeverEnding Story II: The Second Chapter]]'' with Bastion's final wish from Auryn: [[spoiler:for [[BigBad Xayide]] to have a heart. Not only is it CruelMercy at best since it forces her to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone feel the gravity of all her evil deeds]], but as the human personification of [[ThePowerOfTheVoid emptyness]] it proves outright ''fatal'' to her]].

* The story of Countess Cathleen (according to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, source tracing is problematic) who supposedly made a DealWithTheDevil in order to feed starving people, and because her intentions were completely selfless, her soul was safe.

* [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor Deconstructed]] in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. It's something of a theme in the series that there is ''no such thing as a selfless wish''. Everyone who makes a wish for someone else's happiness is also unconsciously hoping that it will also benefit themselves, even if only indirectly -- a fact which Mami ([[spoiler:wishes for herself to be saved, later she laments that she could have used the wish to save her parents as well]]), Sayaka ([[spoiler:wants to be loved by the [[IllGirl Ill Boy]] she uses her wish for, a fact that Mami herself points out]]), Kyoko ([[spoiler:wants to save herself and her family from destitution]]), and Homura ([[spoiler:wants to be the one who rescues Madoka from death]]) all fall afoul of. Also, because [[EquivalentExchange hope and despair balance out to zero]], seeing the chance for that selfish expectation slipping away with the equivalent rising happiness already given to someone else sends a Magical Girl deeper into despair -- which is exactly what Kyubey wants, as this [[spoiler:gives him plenty of grief seeds to eat when the Magical Girl witches out and is killed by her former comrades, and the emotional energy from the fall to despair is being used to defy the advance of entropy and try to avert the heat death of the universe]]. [[spoiler:[[DeconReconSwitch Then reconstructed at the end: Madoka's TRULY selfless wish becomes the most powerful force ever to exist, because she manages to learn from the examples of the other three, and knows exactly what she wants -- a better world for everyone, even if she has to be erased out of their memories to do so.]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'' plays this for laughs and [[AffectionateParody plays it straight at the same time]]. Wakko wishes for two ha'pennies, which at first seems [[WastefulWishing wasteful]], but his town is so poor they'll take any source of money, and they grant the wishes of all the characters in ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}''. With those two ha'pennies, Wakko pays for [[IllGirl Dot's]] operation, then Scratchensniff uses the same ha'penny to hire Rita and Runt into his elixir making business, and gives them the home they've been searching for all those seasons, Slappy's tree blooms again, Skippy finally gets new friends, Buttons is finally rewarded for saving Mindy, the Goodfeathers get the respect they deserve, Hello Nurse gets appreciated for her brains. Pinky gets to spend more time with Phar Fignewton, and while Brain [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption still doesn't get to rule the world]], he ends up becoming the Warners [[EvilChancellor Prime Minister, which suits him fine]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Dandelion}}'', [[spoiler:all five animals-turned-human-men are participating in a game set up by the Wizard in which the person who gets Heejae, the game's protagonist, to fall in love with him will have a wish of his granted by the Wizard. Of these five people, Jieun is the only one whose wish is to have ''another'' person's wish granted; specifically, the wish of his knight Jihae who he feels guilt for clinging to so selfishly that he didn't warn him that the woman he loved was planning to commit suicide. Coincidentally ([[LaserGuidedKarma or not]]), Jieun also happens to be the only character who gets an unambiguously happy ending with Heejae]].

* In "Wally Saves the Trollidays" on ''WesternAnimation/{{Wallykazam}}'', Bobgoblin uses up almost all the Trolliday wishes in the sack, leaving just one, which is given to Wally. He's upset that nobody else will get to have any wishes, so he uses his wish to wish for the sack to be filled with wishes again. It's never said, but something like this presumably ''only'' could work if the wish were selfless. When the wishes are given out and he gets another, he uses it to wish for a sled for his dragon Norville, while Norville wishes for one for Wally. Bobgoblin gets another wish too and wishes that everyone has a happy Trollidays... and for another [[NiceHat big purple hat]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': Gehrman wishes that the Beasts can be freed from the plagued city Yharnam and the Hunters can be freed from the Hunter's Dream, he has [[UpToEleven gone so far]] that he poses a SelfSacrificeScheme to become a surrogate host of a [[EldritchAbomination nightmare]] and offers {{Mercy Kill}}ing to everyone he came across.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut,'' [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny]] dies before the halfway point of the movie, goes to Hell and meets [[AntiVillain Satan]] and his BastardBoyfriend, [[ManipulativeBastard Saddam Hussein]], who are planning to take over the Earth. When they succeed at the end, Kenny is able to climb out of Hell with their army. Throughout the film, though, he encourages Satan to stand up to Saddam, which he [[TheDogBitesBack eventually does]]. For helping him, Satan offers Kenny any wish, and he requests that Satan [[ResetButton undo every ill effect of the American-Canadian War]], even though technically this means he'll have to go back to Hell with the other damned. [[spoiler:The final scene of the movie shows him ascending to Heaven instead.]]

* ''Series/FullHouse'': In "The House Meets the Mouse", after spending the entire episode abusing her wishes as "princess for a day", Michelle uses her third wish to make Stephanie princess for the rest of the day. As a reward for her generous act, she and her whole family are invited to ride in the Magic Kingdom parade.