History Main / SelflessWish

* An old story has the Devil walking the earth, granting a nobody of a man a wish, with the perpetual underlying fear that this will be the one who, with an utterly selfless wish, will send him back to captivity in Hell. The little man wishes that, with no change whatever to himself, that he would become the most spiteful, mean, self-centered man on earth. The Devil screams.

Often, if the original wish wasn't [[MundaneWish something completely frivolous]], [[SweetAndSourGrapes the character will (one way or another) be granted it anyway]].

Often, if the original wish wasn't something completely frivolous, [[SweetAndSourGrapes the character will (one way or another) be granted it anyway]].

* The whole thing with summoning the Beast Gods in ''FushigiYuugi'' is this. You get 3 wishes, but there's a catch: you have to be strong-willed and pure enough not to let the Beast God you summon consume your soul, if you're the priestess. Typically, this means using the wishes to help others, not for your own happiness (the exception, of course being, perhaps a wish to get home safely.)

* Deconstructed in ''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 save 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 reavealing 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 ''{{DragonBall}}'' Goku and the gang make those kinds of wishes all the time. From bringing people back to life to restoring the earth to normal after it got blon up! Subverted by many badguy's that make selfish wishes for things like immortality and what not.

* The whole thing with summoning the Beast Gods in ''FushigiYuugi'' is this. You get 3 wishes, but there's a catch: you have to be strong-willed and pure enough not to let the Beast God you summon consume your soul, if you're the priestess. Typically, this means using the wishes to help others, not for your own happiness (the exception, of course being, perhaps a wish to get home safely.)

** In the final episode, [[spoiler:Madoka herself makes one for the sake of every magical girl in every world, past and present. It goes a ''lot'' better than Kyouko's wish ever did, though it also wasn't without a cost]].

* In PuellaMagiMadokaMagica, [[spoiler:Kyouko]] made one for her father in exchange for becoming a MagicalGirl. Because this series [[GenreDeconstruction is to]] the Magical Girl Genre as NeonGenesisEvangelion is to the SuperRobot Genre, [[{{Understatement}} it went badly]].

* In PuellaMagiMadokaMagica, [[spoiler:Kyouko]] made one for her father in exchange for becoming a MagicalGirl. Because this series [[GenreDeconstruction is to]] the Magical Girl Genre as NeonGenesisEvangelion is to the SuperRobot Genre, [[{{Understatement it went badly]].

* In ''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.

* The whole thing with summoning the Beast Gods in ''FushigiYuugi'' is this. You get 3 wishes, but there's a catch: you have to be strong-willed and pure enough not to let the Beast God you summon consume your soul, if you're the priestess. Typically, this means using the wishes to help others, not for your own happiness (the exception, of course being, perhaps a wish to get home safely.) Oh, and then there's the whole Virgin Power thing in a Blue Bishounen Ghetto, where the priestess almost inevitably has feelings for at least one of the guys (and others may be trying to get her to lose her Virgin Power so they can achieve their own ends without her in the way.)

* In ''SamuraiJack'', there was a wishing well guarded by three extremely powerful masked archers. After Jack defeats them, and is about to wish to return home, the archers tell him that the well is cursed: they wished to become great warriors and the well forced them to become its guardians. Jack then wishes for the well to destroy itself.

* In ''SamuraiJack'', there was a wishing well guarded by three extremely powerful demonic archers. After Jack defeats them, and is about to wish to return home, the archers tell him that the well is cursed: they wished to become great warriors and the well forced them to become its guardians. Jack then wishes for the well to destroy itself.

* In ''SamuraiJack'', there was an evil wishing well. Rather than wish to return home, Jack wished to destroy the demon.

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin uses his third wish to liberate Genie. This turns out to be the show of character that proves to Jasmine and the Sultan that Aladdin would indeed make a worthy husband.

Examples:

* In ''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.
* In DianaWynneJones' ''Deep Secret'', Maree loses [[spoiler:half of her soul]] and she and her cousin Nick have to undergo a dangerous journey in order to gain one wish each (so she can ask for it back). Instead, she wishes that her father be cured of cancer, so Nick, in turn, has to give up what ''he'' was going to wish for and use his wish to help Maree.
* The 2000 remake of ''{{Bedazzled}}'' 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]].
* In an episode of ''{{Catscratch}}'', Gordon sets out to defeat the Kracken in combat so it will grant him his wish (to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything have a bigger tail]]). When they find the Kracken, however, it rips of Mr. Blik's tail in the ensuing fight. When Gordon eventually wins, he wishes for his brother to get his tail back instead.
* In Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's ''RoadsidePicnic'', the hero does this at the end of the story.
* An old folktale has a guy who wants to ask one question, going to see a wise something-or-other who will answer three. On the way, he comes across three people in trouble, and ends up asking their questions instead of his own. As a result, he ends up fabulously wealthy and gets a girl.
* In ''SamuraiJack'', there was an evil wishing well. Rather than wish to return home, Jack wished to destroy the demon.

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin uses his third wish to liberate Genie. This turns out to be the show of character that proves to Jasmine and the Sultan that Aladdin would indeed make a worthy husband.
* This is a major theme in ''The Forbidden Door''. 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.]]
* One story in ''SonicTheComic'' had Tails meet up with an anthromorphic 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.

A character has one thing that they want more than anything else in the world. They want it so badly that they go through great trials for [[MakeAWish the chance to be granted a single wish]]. (Or they may stumble across the means of making the wish by accident, as long as it's been clearly established that there's something they really want for themselves.) But when the time finally comes to make their wish, they decide to forgo their chance of getting what they want and instead ask for something on behalf of someone else.

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* The 2000 remake of {{Bedazzled}} 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 SelflessWish renders the whole contract null and void]].
* In an episode of {{Catscratch}}, Gordon sets out to defeat the Kracken in combat so it will grant him his wish (to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything have a bigger tail]]) When they find the Kracken, however, it rips of Mr. Blik's tail in the ensuing fight. When Gordon eventually wins, he wishes for his brother to get his tail back instead.
* In Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's ''RoadsidePicnic'' the protagonist does this at the end of the story.
* An old folktale has a guy who wants to ask 1 question, going to see a wise something-or-other who will answer 3. On the way, he comes across three people in trouble, and ends up asking their questions instead of his own. As a result, he ends up fabulously wealthy and gets a girl.
* In SamuraiJack there was an evil wishing well. Rather than wish to return home, Jack wished to destroy the demon.
* In {{Inuyasha}} ''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). So, this is the subversion (wish totally declined). It sets up the ending, where Kagome (with Inuyasha) are trapped in the Jewel. Like Kikyo before her, Kagome doesn't make the selfish wish, but [[spoiler:wished for the Jewel to cease to exist]]. She and Inuyasha get home safely anyway.
* In Disney's {{Disney/Aladdin}}, Aladdin uses his third wish to set free Genie. This turns out to be the show of character that proves to Jasmine and the Sultan that Aladdin would indeed make a worthy husband.

* One story in SonicTheComic had Tails meet up with an anthromorphic 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.
* The whole thing with summoning the Beast Gods in FushigiYuugi is this. You get 3 wishes, but there's a catch: you have to be strong-willed and pure enough not to let the Beast God you summon consume your soul, if you're the priestess. Typically, this means using the wishes to help others, not for your own happiness (the exception, of course being, perhaps a wish to get home safely.) Oh, and then there's the whole Virgin Power thing in a Blue Bishounen Ghetto, where the priestess almost inevitably has feelings for at least one of the guys (and others may be trying to get her to lose her Virgin Power so they can achieve their own ends without her in the way.)
* In one story of PetshopOfHorrors, there was a man Roger running for president, though charismatic he was also arrogant and ungrateful, in contrast to his kind assistant Kelly who lacked Roger's charm. Kelly was in love with Roger's fiance Nancy but they couldn't be together. But then Roger received a Kirin a powerful beast that could grant wishes. On the ride home, Kelly saw a bus full of children in danger and quickly stopped the bus from going over the cliff, but at the cost of his car going over. That was when the Kirin asked Kelly his wish. For a moment, Kelly thought of wealth, power and fame, but remembered Nancy and simply wanted to see her smile again. When he woke up, he was confused why Nancy was calling him Roger and telling him that Kelly was dead. Then he found out that he was in Roger's body. Because of his Heroic Sacrifice, he was guarenteed to become president and Nancy was technically now his fiance. The Kirin saw that he passed the test and granted him everything.
* In Irish folklore, there's a character Kitty O'Shea who supposedly made a DealWithTheDevil in order to feed starving people, and because her intentions were completely selfless, her soul was safe.
* SusanCooper's ''TheDarkIsRising'' series novel ''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 she's 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 her by returning the artifact to her.

A character has one thing that they want more than anything else in the world. They want it so badly that they go through great trials for the chance to be granted a single wish. (Or they may stumble across the means of making the wish by accident, as long as it's been clearly established that there's something they really want for themselves.) But when the time finally comes to make their wish, they decide to forgo their chance of getting what they want and instead ask for something on behalf of someone else.