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.

** 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 Madoka 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]].

* In Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', 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.

* 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 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 is shown]] 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 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]]

* Twice in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Blendin's Game. Dipper and Mabel win the time wish and feel bad for Blendin, so they use their wish for him to have his job back and to have hair. 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 ''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 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]].

* 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...

* ''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 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.

* 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 another episode Jack attempts to rescue a trapped fairy that can grant any one wish ''(Including sending him home).'' When he is unable to free her ''(and himself as well)'' he says "I wish we were free".

* {{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]].

** 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.

* Twice in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Blendin's Game. Dipper and Mabel win the time wish and feel bad for Blendin, so they use their wish for him to have his job back and to have hair. 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/AnatoliaStory'', Yuri is taken by the Black Prince as a prisoner of war, along with a good many other Hatusu soldiers. The Black Prince makes a deal with Yuri: if she can defeat a lion in combat, he will grant any request. If she succeeded, he expected her to request her freedom, with the plan that he would send soldiers to kill her in the desert as she was returning to Prince Kail. Instead, [[GuileHero Yuri]] guesses his plan and instead requests that he treat the prisoners of war humanely.

* The key to the defeat of Neron in DC's ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'' CrisisCrossover: when [[Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] wishes for nothing more than Neron to knock it off, that instantly defeats the demon, because GoodHurtsEvil.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. [[BittersweetEnding Fate]] [[TearJerker Route.]]. Shidou wishes to [[spoiler:not to make a wish. The [[ArtifactOfDoom wish-granting artifact]] is [[JackassGenie cursed to cause destruction with every wish]], so the hero and his LoveInterest destroy the artifact, thereby saving the lives of probably the entire city. Unfortunately, the ArtifactOfDoom was the only thing keeping the LadyOfWar Saber in the modern era.]] She only has time to [[DyingDeclarationOfLove admit that she returns Shirou's love]] before being swept back to her time period and falls asleep, hoping that she will be able to see Shirou again. As history demands, Saber (who is revealed to be [[SheIsTheKing Queen Arthur]] of the Round Table) dies in her sleep, [[spoiler:[[TogetherInDeath though they get together again in Avalon for eternity]]]].

** Played With in Rebellion: [[note: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 Madoka 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]].

* In ''PuzzleBooble Galaxy/Space Bust A Move'', Bub and Bob's fairy assistant Snown performs a HeroicSacrifice to stop the BigBad. Having used up most of her magic to save the day, she starts to fade away in exhaustion though grants Bub and Bob one final wish of their choice in her dying breath. As they think, she notices she's stopped fading away. Bub and Bob take pride in their wish as the fully recovered Snown dances happily.

* 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]].
* 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 led some to theorize that it's not actually possible to make a wish selfless enough to satisfy the Skull Heart.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. [[BittersweetEnding Fate]] [[TearJerker Route.]]. Shidou wishes to [[spoiler:not to make a wish. The [[ArtifactOfDoom wish-granting artifact]] is [[JackassGenie cursed to cause destruction with every wish]], so the hero and his LoveInterest destroy the artifact, thereby saving the lives of probably the entire city. Unfortunately, the ArtifactOfDoom was the only thing keeping the LadyOfWar Saber in the modern era.]] She only has time to [[DyingDeclarationOfLove admit that she returns Shirou's love]] before being swept back to her time period and falls asleep, hoping that she will be able to see Shirou again. [[TearJerker As history demands, Saber (who is revealed to be [[SheIsTheKing Queen Arthur]] of the Round Table) dies in her sleep]], [[spoiler:[[TogetherInDeath though they get together again in Avalon for eternity]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateBookOfSpells'': In "Once in a Blue Moon", Zarlak finds a magic ring that he can use to wish himself back into the surface but first he must let the main heroes use it to have one wish granted for each one. Fortunately, Zarlak [[NiceJobFixingItVillain summons the ring back before Gus has a chance to make his wish]] and must figure out a way to force him to make a wish. Gus wishes the ring will never be used for evil.

* ''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. 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/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. 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, as that's all she ever wanted, and also to be out of the blizzard. 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/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.

* Twice in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Blendin's Game. Dipper and Mabel win the time wish and feel bad for Blendin, so they use their wish for him to have his job back and to have hair. Then Soos, instead of using his wish to meet his dad (who never came to his birthday parties), 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 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.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. [[BittersweetEnding Fate]] [[TearJerker Route.]] That is all. Well, actually it isn't. It's a little different from the other wishes on this page, as the wish made is to [[spoiler:not to make a wish. The [[ArtifactOfDoom wish-granting artifact]] is [[JackassGenie cursed to cause destruction with every wish]], so the hero and his LoveInterest destroy the artifact, thereby saving the lives of probably the entire city. Unfortunately, the ArtifactOfDoom was the only thing keeping the LadyOfWar Saber in the modern era.]] She only has time to [[DyingDeclarationOfLove admit that she returns Shirou's love]] before being swept back to her time period and falls asleep, hoping that she will be able to see Shirou again. [[TearJerker She dies in her sleep]], [[spoiler:[[TogetherInDeath though they get together again in Avalon for eternity]]]].
** [[spoiler:Archer]] made one such wish [[spoiler:in his backstory]] by making a BargainWithHeaven, promising his eternal servitude to Gaia for the power to save a handful of people he was currently trying to rescue for no other reason than his inherent selflessness. [[spoiler:'Backfire' does not even ''begin'' to explain how utterly screwed over he ended because of this, and the game further deconstructs the mentality behind making this sort of wish by showing that Archer's selflessness ended up turning him into a bitter, hollow shell of a man who has lost his free will and is reduced to a bundle of self-loathing, who nonetheless cannot stop trying to save people because that's just the sort of man he is.]]

'''Bruce:''' No. [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy 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.\\

* ''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, 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).

* In Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin [[FreeingTheGenie uses his third wish to liberate Genie]] instead of wishing to be a prince, losing his chance to marry Jasmine. This turns out to be the show of character that proves to Jasmine and the Sultan that Aladdin would indeed make a worthy husband, so [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem the Sultan changes the law to let Jasmine marry whoever she wants]]. It also gives the genie opportunity and cause to help Aladdin throughout the sequels.
* In Disney's ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', 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.

* ''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 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.]]

** It is especially true in the 70s animated adaptation, in which the girl sees the boy several times and teases him... before he decides ScrewThisImGoingHome and picks up his crutch. The sight causes her to say "I wish for him to be healthy again."

** 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 "I wish for him to be healthy again."

** 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