History Main / SelflessWish

* A couple of episodes of ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' (classic series) utilize this:

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'' 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. Cricket decides to use this wish to get Tilly back on the nice list, as that's all she ever wanted. On Christmas Day, Cricket discovers not only Tilly got presents, but himself as well, because of his selfless act of putting other's needs before his, which therefore considers him nice.

** The whole thing with summoning the Beast Gods is this. The Priestess who summons the Beast God she represents gets three wishes, but there's a catch: she must be strong-willed and pure enough not to let the Beast God summon consume her soul. Typically, this means using the wishes to help others, not for her own happiness (the exception, of course being, perhaps a wish to get home safely). The biggest examples are:

** 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.

* 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 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.
** 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 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 standinng 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.]]

-->"Salon staff, let us all get along with each other, so that for the next year, no one feels neglected. That is my Blume decree."

* One story in ''ComicBook/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.

* ''[[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]]]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie'', the babies are more than willing to make one after spending most of the movie looking for the magical "lizard" that they believe will grant them a wish, allowing them to go home. At the climax of the movie, they're set upon by a hungry wolf, but Spike appears, and manages to drag the wolf into the river below, apparently sacrificing himself in the process. Believing they found the "lizard", Tommy steps forward.

* 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.]]

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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 cartoons, since the girl repeatedly teases the boy for just sitting around reading instead of running around and playing... and then sees him walking around on a crutch. The sight causes her to say

* 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 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 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.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'', the Skull Heart can grant a woman their wish, but if it isn't a Selfless Wish they will turn into the next Skullgirl. And the Skull Heart is VERY strict about what counts as selfless: 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.]] This has lead some to theorize that it's not actually possible to make a wish selfless enough to satisfy the Skull Heart.

* Urchin of ''Sakana Yama'' gets a grand total of seven wishes from a genie he befriends, and uses all of them selflessly to help his friends. The genie is so stunned at Urchin's generosity that he grants Urchin unlimited wishes. However, since Urchin is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} in a cast full of them, the genie never outright tells him this.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{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 ''WesternAnimation/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 (who have reverted to human form) 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 and not endanger anyone again.[[spoiler: In the fifth season, it's revealed that the curse on the well was Aku's doing, so in hindsight, it's a really good thing that Jack didn't use the well to wish himself back to his original time period]].

* {{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 later. 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/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 ''[[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove again]]''[[note]]although this time he did it deliberately[[/note]] and substituing 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.]]

* 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 Valentines 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 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 when there was a [[WhenThePlanetsAlign when there was a full moon on Valentines 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.)

* The prophecy in ''Literature/TheMistborneTrilogy'' 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.]]

* A version of this also features as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. 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.

** 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 saving 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.]]

* A version of this also features as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}. A short called "Seven wishes" features a girl named Jenny being given a magic flower that grants seven wishes, and each wish takes up one of its seven petals. Throughout the short, she teases a kid named Victor who is sitting on a bench reading a book instead of running around and playing. After several small wish-related adventures, she finally is reduced to just one wish and taunts Victor one time. Victor gets tired of her teasing, finally closes his book, then pulls out a pair of crutches from under the bench and starts to walk home. Jenny then uses her last wish for Victor to be healthy again.

* In ''Film/Dragonheart Battle for the Heartfire'', the dragon Drago blames himself for King Gareth's family being fractured- [[spoiler:Gareth's wife died due to her bond with a dragon, which drove away Gareth's son Walter]]- and Drago fears he will be refused entry into the Dragons' Heaven as the result. When Walter's children Edric and Mehgan are discovered, Drago takes it upon himself to heal the rift between them and their family, eventually [[spoiler:earning himself a place in the stars when he allows himself to die because the alternative is to let Mehgan die of her wounds and the two siblings be separated again]].

'''Bruce:''' No. I want her to be happy, no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now, through Your eyes.\\

* 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, he would become the most spiteful, mean, self-centered man on earth. The Devil screams. [[note]]It's because he was a good person who wanted the world to be better. The only way to make him the most spiteful, mean and self-centered man on earth without changing him is to make everyone ''else'' less spiteful, mean, and self-centered than a man who was willing to give up a wish to make the world a better place for everyone. That would make a much nicer world, meaning the Devil not only has to go back to hell, but also has to contend with a much purer planet Earth.[[/note]]

* ''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 Heypenny 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 Minster, which suits him fine]].

** In the prequel ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'', Takiko [[spoiler: doesn't manage to stop Genbu to consume her soul since she has heavy self-worth issues ''and'' is dying already. She ''does'' hold on enough to make two of her wishes, which are all completely selfless and dedicated to help the land of Hokkan plus 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 crowns in her making two very selfish wishes (including one ''specifically'' made to separate Miaka from Tamahome) and, once she realizes the damage she has caused, make 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.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/WakkosWish'' plays this for laughs and [[AffectionateParody plays it straight at the same time]]. Wakko wishes for two haypenny's, 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 heypenny's, Wakko pays for [[IllGirl Dot's]] operation, then Scratchensniff uses the same Heypenny 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 Minster, which suits him fine]].

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'', the Harbinger of the End pits Velvet and the others against [[spoiler:[[VideoGames/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.]]

* 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 '''must''' learn the location of a CosmicKeystone from her. What does he do? He asks his friends to be released... aware that the witch needs him to know the answer.

* In Irish folklore, there's a character named 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.

A character has one thing that he 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.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The whole thing with summoning the Beast Gods in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' is this. The Priestess who summons the Beast God she represents gets three wishes, but there's a catch: she must be strong-willed and pure enough not to let the Beast God summon consume her soul. Typically, this means using the wishes to help others, not for her own happiness (the exception, of course being, perhaps a wish to get home safely). The biggest examples are:

* In one story of ''Manga/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 fiancée, 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 guaranteed to become president and Nancy was technically now his fiancée. The Kirin saw that he passed the test and granted him everything.

* 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.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'''s first arc, all the characters are there for an ulterior wish[[note]]Bulma for a boyfriend, Oolong for treasure and riches, Yamcha to not be scared of women[[/note]]. 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.
** 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![[note]]For his part, Goku was never looking for a wish, he was searching for the Four Star Ball that Gohan had in his possession[[/note]]

* One story in ''Comicbook/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.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* 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.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

--> '''Lisa:''' I wish for world peace.
--> '''Homer:''' Lisa! That was very selfish of you!
* In ''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 ''WesternAnimation/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 (who have reverted to human form) 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 and not endanger anyone again.[[spoiler: In the fifth season, it's revealed that the curse on the well was Aku's doing, so in hindsight, it's a really good thing that Jack didn't use the well to wish himself back to his original time period.

* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Thomas Aquinas tells the story of [[Literature/BooksOfKings King Solomon]] with particular emphasis on how selfless it wad 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 ''WesternAnimation/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 (who have reverted to human form) 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 and not endanger anyone again.

* ''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 LemonadeStand 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. (Giving tickets was not an option because all tickets had already been sold)

* ''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 lama ''[[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove again]]''[[note]]although this time he did it deliberately[[/note]] and substituing 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.]]