History Main / SuperstitionEpisode

** Triplicate Girl of ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes became Duo Damsel when one of her three selves was killed by Computo the Conqueror. While this was a nightmarish trauma for her that took her years to recover from (and too afraid to fight Computo again), she was never surprised; she had used her power three times that day, something that is considered bad luck on her planet. (Note that her third body was actually NotQuiteDead, and recovered with Braniac-5's help.)

* In the ''Series/{{Castle}}'' episode "All Wrapped Up in Death", Castle becomes convinced he's been cursed by a Mayan mummy from a museum exhibit after he opens its sarcophagus and looks upon its face. The precinct razzes him about it ([[spoiler:removing bolts from his chair so it collapses, then having the bomb squad rig the coffee maker to spew steam at him]]), but when the elevator stops working with Castle inside it, they tell him even they're not that cruel. He gets the curse lifted [[NoodleIncident somehow]] by the end of the episode... then cuts himself with a bread knife.

* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'': In "[[Recap/TangledTheSeriesS2E12Curses Curses!]]", Rapunzel is cursed by Madame Canardist after finding her telescope, which Canardist says is hers but Rapunzel knows that's not true. Rapunzel at first denies curses are real, while Hook Foot believes that every bad thing that happens near Rapunzel is due to the curse. Eventually, Eugene leads Rapunzel to realize that bad things happened because she ''believed'' she was cursed, which allows Rapunzel to get over it.

Though the bad luck often is treated as "real", subversions that attribute it to a mundane cause are common. If the characters have no way to tell if the it's a coincidence or not, the bad luck may be interpreted as MaybeMagicMaybeMundane.

* There's a ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' book where Mary Anne thinks she's gotten a bad luck charm. [[spoiler:It turns out some cruel girls just told her it was bad, and were using it as an excuse to play pranks on her.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Noveltoons}}'' short [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpvd6dS9pM0 "The Stupidstitious Cat"]]. A very superstitious cat wants a bird for breakfast, and Buzzy the Crow is targeted. Buzzy uses the cat's superstition to outwit the cat. [[spoiler:Buzzy then freaks out when he discovers it's friday the thirteenth.]]

[[caption-width-right:344:Jimmy's still rather sore over the [[{{Superdickery}} Father's day incident]].]]

[[caption-width-right:344:Jimmy's still rather sore over the [[Superdickery Father's day incident]].]]