Line #134 Main/GettingSickDeliberately


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9	[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/{{Futurama}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bendervirus_4.png]]]]
10
11	->''"I try to give myself a disease on a regular basis so that I can build up an immunity to it. As I always say 'A disease a day keeps the doctor away'."''
12	-->-- '''Colin Weatherby''', ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'', "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E4AWalkOnTheWildside A Walk on the Wildside]]"
13
14	A character may sometimes attempt to get themselves sick deliberately in fiction. When this occurs, it's usually for a couple of reasons:
15
16	* To get themselves out of something that they don't want to do e.g school or work [[DraftDodging or war]].
17	* To build up a resistance to a disease, which would make it an example of AcquiredPoisonImmunity.
18	* Alternatively, they will sometimes try to get sick [[AttentionWhore so that they can get attention]].
19
20	This may drive the plot of a SickEpisode and ChickenpoxEpisode. It may also backfire on the person if the virus proves to be dangerous. Alternatively, they may be forced to go anyway, leading to them having to [[WorkingThroughTheCold work through the sickness]]. Can lead to a ContaminationSituation depending on the circumstances. Can be used to invoke OutSick. Sometimes the character who gets sick on purpose [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor finds out the hard way that being sick is not fun]]. This can also backfire if the character doesn't realize how long it takes to get sick after exposure to an illness, prompting them to miss out on something they actually ''wanted'' to do because they thought they'd get sick and recover sooner.
21
22	See PlayingSick for when a person merely pretends to be sick to get out of an obligation. See also SkippingSchool, where a character uses an excuse to avoid a day of school. Compare IntentionalWeightGain. Compare/Contrast ShareTheSickness for characters who try to spread their disease to other people. Contrast with MunchausenSyndrome. See also SelfPoisoningGambit and DeliberateInjuryGambit.
23
24	TruthInTelevision: There have been examples of scientists deliberately infecting themselves with a disease. This is usually so that they can [[ProfessorGuineaPig try antibiotics on themselves]] or to otherwise prove a theory that they suspect is in play.
25
26	----
27	!!Examples:
28
29	[[foldercontrol]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* One ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' strip have Nobisuke Nobi having a terrible cold during one autumn morning but insists on going to work because of an important business meeting, resulting in Doraemon bringing out the gadget-of-the-week, the Sickness-Transferring Phone, which allows [[EmpathicHealer a sickly person to swap their illness with a healthy one]]. Nobita volunteers to get sick in his father's place, with intentions of spreading the disease to either one of his bullies, but ultimately couldn't get himself to do so when Gian - Nobita's usual bully and intended target - ''actually'' expresses concern over Nobita for once. Doraemon and Nobita (borderline delirious because of his fever) eventually runs into one of their neighbors who's strolling around bare-chested and in shorts despite the cold weather - it turns out, said neighbor was trying to get sick on purpose in order to get himself close to a nurse he had a crush on, so Nobita transfers his fever to the neighbor instead.
33	* Wanting to be doted on, Kanna attempts this in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid Kanna's Daily Life'', after Saikawa gets sick and she helps take care of her. It doesn't work because Kanna's dragon biology prevents all illnesses.
34	* In ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}'', Yuuko is already getting over a cold and discovers that she has an exam tomorrow, after missing three days of school. She tries to give herself another cold to buy time by sitting in a tub full of ice water. It doesn't work.
35	* ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'': In chapter 25, Tomoki gets sick with a cold, stirring jealousy in Tomoko. She decides to spend time in his room under the guise of nursing him so she can catch his cold and skip her school week. Unfortunately, Tomoko only starts getting sick right before the weekend, as she didn't consider how long it takes to catch a cold. This story was adapted into the third episode of the anime.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
39	* In ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf: Joys of Seasons'' episode 96, everyone in the Green Green Grassland starts catching the flu, causing them to be placed into quarantine and resulting in Wolffy being separated from his wife Wolnie. To reunite with her, Wolffy tries jumping into an infected river, eating Paddi (who had visited the quarantine zone earlier), and making his own virus to get himself sick. The third one works and gets him quarantined, [[spoiler:but that's after Wolnie has already recovered and left it, meaning they're still separated]].
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Comic Books]]
43	* ''ComicBook/{{Futurama}}'': The strip "Night of the Automated Dead" has Bender infect himself with a robo-cold so that he can get sick days off work. However, his attempts fail even after being fully exposed so he files a complaint with Planet Express. As it turns, the virus has started to mutate within him, turning it into a virus that creates RoboticUndead.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
47	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': In one strip, Calvin remembers that there's a test in school he didn't study for, so he [[CatchYourDeathOfCold opens the window so that he'll catch a cold]].
48	* ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot:'' One time when Paige got sick with the flu, she had Peter sitting by her bedside for an uncomfortably long time.
49	-->'''Paige:''' I appreciate your concern, but...
50	-->'''Peter:''' Concern, nothing. I've got a math test tomorrow.
51	-->'''Jason:''' ''(entering the room)'' Time's up. It's my turn.
52	* ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'': Faced with the prospect of a test he hadn't studied for the next morning, Jeremy starts [[CatchYourDeathOfCold dancing around the yard at night in his underwear in order to catch a cold]] and stay home.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Fan Works]]
56	* ''Fanfic/AngerManagement'': Lynn eats a sandwich that she knows has gone bad so that she'll [[TheFoodPoisoningIncident get food poisoning]] and clog the toilet, then she can piss Lincoln off.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
60	* ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason'': In the second movie, Roberto is having a PottyEmergency, so Fifi [[IntentionalMessMaking forces himself to throw up on their owner's lap]] ([[VomitDiscretionShot offscreen]]) to make her pull over.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
64	* ''Film/TheGauntlet'' has Detective Shockley be sent to Las Vegas to retrieve a witness from the city jail. The witness is Gus Mally, who knows that she has been marked for murder, so she put cigarette ashes in her coffee to make herself too sick to travel. Shockley sees right through her ruse and allows her a few hours to recover before hauling her tail back to Phoenix, Arizona.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Literature]]
68	* In ''Literature/AndyGriffithsJustSeries'', Andy doesn't want to be in the school play of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' since he's being cast as Romeo and his best ([[IncompatibleOrientation male]]) friend Danny is being cast as Juliet. At one point, he deliberately gives himself a stomach bug to get out of acting in the play, but he recovers in time.
69	* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': In "Old School", when the students hear that they can be sent home from Hardscrabble Farms early if they're sick, they try to think of ways to make themselves ill. Melinda eats a lot of [[LethalChef the chef's awful stew]] to give herself indigestion and she gets to go home. Julian eats an entire stick of deodorant and he also gets to go home, though by the time his mother comes to pick him up, he seems to have gotten better.
70	* ''Literature/DirtyBertie'': The book ''Germs'' has Bertie's sister falling ill with [[ChickenpoxEpisode chickenpox]], which leads to Bertie attempting to give himself chickenpox so that he doesn't have to go to school. He is eventually able to catch it... [[ShaggyDogStory during the weekend, which defeats the purpose of getting it that way.]]
71	* ''Literature/TheGreatBrain'': In the first book, JD purposely sneaks into a friend's house in order to get infected with measles. He knows doing so will make his mother force both of his brothers to allow themselves to be infected off of him. He plans to get better first and then make fun of them for being sick as revenge for all the times they got sick first and then did the same to him with previous diseases.
72	* ''Literature/{{Holes}}'': Life at the Camp Green Lake juvenile detention centre is so terrible that some of the children deliberately get bitten by [[WesternRattlers rattlesnakes]] or stung by scorpions so they can be evacuated to the hospital.
73	* ''Literature/MyBigFatZombieGoldfish'': In the first book, Tom attempts this trope when he's about to eat a green egg to [[TheFoodPoisoningIncident get food poisoning]] so that he won't have to leave Frankie home alone at the hands of [[BigBrotherBully Mark]]. However, Mark grabs the egg and eats it (though he doesn't get sick).
74	* In "The Adventure of the Dying Detective", Literature/SherlockHolmes uses this trope to catch a murderer. While he doesn't let himself be caught by the poison trap the villain sent him, he does make himself genuinely ill by fasting for three days, even doing without tobacco (which is itself a good way to make yourself sick, as anyone who has tried to quit smoking can attest).
75	* Defied in the school story "A Shocking Affair" by Creator/PGWodehouse. HighSchoolHustler Bradshaw bets the narrator that he won't be around to sit the dreaded end-of-term Greek examination. The narrator takes the bet, but stipulates that Bradshaw isn't allowed to use PlayingSick or real illness -- he had previously been known to make himself ill in similar situations.
76	* In the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'', Vanyel sympathizes with his nephew Medren's difficulty in sword fighting practice and thinks the instructor is too hard on him. He deliberately weakens Medren's immune system and has him hang out in the family nursery so he can get "spots" from one of the young children, getting him out of training for a while.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
80	* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': According to "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E4AWalkOnTheWildside A Walk On The Wildside]]", Colin has been giving himself diseases such as Anthrax in a bid to build up immunity to those diseases.
81	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E18KilledByDeath Killed By Death]]", Buffy deliberately infects herself with the flu in order to kill the MonsterOfTheWeek, as it is only visible to someone who is running a high fever.
82	* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'': One episode has La Chilindrina pretending that she's sick with chickenpox and scaring everyone into spreading it to them. El Chavo is the only one who wants to get sick as that would mean getting three meals a day. [[spoiler:At the end, turns out La Chilindrina did have chickenpox for real, and everyone gets it, ''except'' El Chavo]].
83	* On the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "[[Recap/FriendsS4E5TheOneWithJoeysNewGirlfriend The One with Joey's New Girlfriend]]", Phoebe, who has a cold and a hoarse voice, thinks her new singing voice is sexy. When she accidentally gets better, she tries to catch another cold, first from Monica, then from Gunther, so she can get her "sexy phlegm" back.
84	* ''Series/H2OJustAddWater'': In "Under the Weather", a rainstorm traps the girls at Emma's house, which fears them as touching water will trigger their mermaid transformations; to avoid revealing their secret, they use their mermaid powers to magically make themselves deliberately ill.
85	* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': "Sick Days" is about [[PlagueEpisode a flu epidemic at school]]. Moze doesn't want to do an oral report for class, so she tries to get sick so the nurse will send her home early. She drinks from sick kids' juice bottles, uses their chapstick, and even kisses a sick Coconut Head, but remains healthy throughout the day. She has to give the speech, but it ends up being easy... because all the ''other'' kids in her class got sent home sick.
86	* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S1E29AFeasibilityStudy A Feasibility Study]]" and [[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S3E17FeasibilityStudy its 1997 remake]] from [[Series/TheOuterLimits1995 the revival series]] use a HeroicSacrifice version of this trope. In both versions, a human neighbourhood is [[AlienAbduction abducted]] by an alien species who are considering using humans as a SlaveRace. If the current "experiment" succeeds, the aliens will enslave all humanity. The abductees foil the plot by willingly infecting themselves with a fatal alien disease, demonstrating that humans would [[IDieFree choose death over enslavement]], thus saving all of Earth.
87	* ''Series/RedDwarf'': In "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIGunmenOfTheApocalypse Gunmen of the Apocalypse]]", Kryten gives himself the Armageddon virus (which has locked Starbug on a collision course with a lava moon) so that he can analyse it and provide an antidote to it. Unfortunately, he has trouble dealing with it, necessitating the rest of the crew to plug themselves into the [=AR=] machines and go into his dreams to help him.
88	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' released a sketch parodying medicine commercials advising people to give themselves [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID-19]] so they can get out of social obligations, complete with a glossed-over SideEffectsInclude bit that having COVID isn't actually as mild as one may think, even in 2023.
89	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': The Doctor gets tired of dealing with the crew complaining of trivial illnesses so he programs himself to suffer from flu-like symptoms for a limited amount of time to show everyone how easy it is to handle being sick. To teach him a real lesson, Kes secretly programs the symptoms to last longer than they were supposed to. This turns the Doctor into a whiny ManChild.
90	* ''Series/Supergirl2015'': When we first meet ComicBook/LexLuthor, he's suffering from cancer, supposedly the result of kryptonite radiation poisoning, and the only thing that can potentially cure him is his estranged sister Lena's research into Harun-El, which she grudgingly agrees to let him help with. As it turns out, though, he actually gave ''himself'' cancer on purpose by walking into a radiation chamber in order to manipulate Lena into letting him work with her, as he needs access to her research for his own purposes.
91	* In one ''Series/YoungSheldon'' episode, Sheldon fakes being ill so he doesn't have to attend school the day mandatory swimming tests happen. After a while, he feels so guilty for lying to his mother that he decides to visit a sick neighbor and make his lie true. He catches the illness, but not until after he's confessed and returned to school.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
95	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Cultists of Nurgle welcome diseases, parasites, and other infections into their bodies, seeing them as gifts from their loving god.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Video Games]]
99	* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': One inmate in the Driftwood prison tried to poison himself just enough that he'd fall sick and be transferred out for treatment. His ghost admits that he misjudged the dosage.
100	* ''VideoGame/{{Grossology}}'': [[DefiedTrope Defied]]; Ralph Alloverem says that you should never force yourself to vomit because it'll cause several complications, such as [[TheToothHurts tooth decay]] and throat pain.
101	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The items Flame Orb and Toxic Orb inflict status conditions on its holder. A Pokémon with the ability Guts will ignore Burn's attack stat drop and raise it instead but is still susceptible to Poison and Burn damage. Pokémon with the Poison Heal ability will regenerate HP instead of have it drained by Toxic Poisoning. Pokémon who are inflicted with a status condition can also use it to prevent a different more crippling ailment from being inflicted on it which is utilized by Magic Guard ability holders, who will only take damage from a direct attack.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Webcomics]]
105	* In [[https://kiwisbybeat.net/minus/part-87 part 87]] of ''Webcomic/{{Minus}}'', minus makes herself sick after learning that when her friend was sick she spent the whole day in bed watching movies - she regrets her decision after throwing up.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Web Originals]]
109	* In ''Blog/CrappyPictures'', one [[https://crappypictures.com/i-hate-well-child-doctor-visits-why-take-my-healthy-kidsthere-of-all-places-im-not-paranoid-no-really-but-i-started-notic/ blog post]] features the blogger taking her four-year-old son to the doctor's. When she mentions that if he touches anything, he may get sick and therefore need to take medicine, the boy licks the arm of the chair, hoping to get sick because he ''likes'' medicine. However, it doesn't work and he's fine.
110	* ''WebVideo/{{Unraveled}}'': In "Calculate your pet's HP with my 100% legitimate formula," Polygon won't let Brian take a three-year leave of absence to stay home and scientifically observe his cat, so Brian eats bad bodega sushi to take a sick day.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Western Animation]]
114	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': The episode "Journey to the Center of Carl" has Jimmy invent the Neutronic Sick Patch to make him and his friends sick enough to miss school, but remove when their parents aren't looking so they can have fun. Unfortunately, the sick patches dissolve into their skin, prompting Jimmy and Sheen to shrink themselves down and travel inside Carl's body to extract mitochondria from the virus and make a vaccine.
115	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrampTwins'': In "Sick Daze", Wayne deliberately makes himself catch a cold to skip school the next day.
116	* In ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK'', the episode "Couldn't Catch a Cold" has Dennis try this, but fail. He wants to catch a cold so he can stay home from school, first trying to catch it from his father, then (after remembering his grandma claim that colds can be caught from being cold or wet) by walking in the rain in summer clothes, swimming, and sleeping with fans on. None of these attempts work, and when he does catch a cold (likely from his father), [[ShaggyDogStory the school had planned a beach trip]].
117	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E18TotalRecall Total Recall"]], after [[ArousedByTheirVoice Lois finds Peter's sick voice to be incredibly sexy]], Peter tries to get sick by licking Lindsey Lohan's fork at a restaurant.
118	* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'': In "Johnnyitis", Johnny consumes an isotope to poison himself so that he won't have to take a test that he neglected to study for. However, this backfires when it's revealed that if he's not cured within four hours, he'll explode and die.
119	* ''WesternAnimation/MaryokuYummy'': In "Hiccles", there's an outbreak of "hiccles" (which are very much like [[HiccupHijinks hiccups]]). Ooka is not happy that she has to help out around town, so she goes outside and starts shouting for hiccles to affect her, to no avail. By the end of the episode, she finally gets them...right after everyone else has recovered, no less. She's even run out of Frizzle Boos (the cure), much to her disappointment.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMightyB'': In "Apoxalypse Now", Bessie tries to catch [[ChickenpoxEpisode chicken pox]] so that she can get the Chickenpox Patch. She ends up unknowingly infecting Ben and [[ShaggyDogStory finds out too late that since she already had chickenpox in the past, she's immune to it now]]. She is then [[LaserGuidedKarma forced to take care of Ben for roping him into her scheme]].
121	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E21MargeInChains Marge In Chains]]'' revolves around an outbreak of Osaka Flu. Bart's temperature is checked by Marge and is informed that he is alright enough for school. He immediately sends signals to his immune system to catch the disease, which leads to this exchange in Bart's stomach:
122	-->'''Antibody''': (in Squeaky Voiced Teen's voice) Sarge, we keep getting orders to let the virus win.
123	-->'''Sergeant''': Hmm. Must be a school day. Lay down your arms!
124	-->(the antibodies immediately fold flat in front of the virus, who starts absorbing them)
125	-->'''Virus''': (with Snake's voice) All right! Let's make some pus!
126	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'', in order to get out of exams, Jude tried to catch a cold on purpose by [[CatchYourDeathOfCold sticking his head in a freezer]].
127	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In "[[Recap/SouthParkS14E3MedicinalFriedChicken Medicinal Fried Chicken]]", Randy deliberately tries to get cancer so that he can legally purchase medicinal marijuana by sitting in a sun for a long time, smoking, and getting x-rays. He then finds out that radiation can cause testicular cancer, so he puts his privates in the microwave. By the next morning, his balls have swelled up enormously and he can finally get some pot.
128	* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaRama'': In "Germ Factory", Duncan and the kids decide to get the stomach flu after Leshawna is out sick so that they don't have to go to school. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor They find out too late that having the stomach flu is pure hell.]]
129	* ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'': In "[[Recap/TuffPuppyS1E16DoomAndGloomLawAndOdor Law and Odor]]", the Stink Bug gathers up everything stinky in Petropolis to create a giant stink bomb called the Air Unfreshener, which he plans to use to make all of Petropolis too stinky to bear. Dudley is unable to stop him due to having a super-sensitive nose. Meanwhile, Keswick is revealed to have gotten sick from licking a handrail at a hospital, rendering him unable to smell anything. When Dudley finds out, he gets Keswick to make him sick so he can't smell anything and will be able to foil the Stink Bug's plan.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Real Life]]
133	* The Marquis de Montespan, less than thrilled that his wife had been chosen to be Louis XIV's mistress, is said to have deliberately gotten himself infected with an STD in the hopes of passing it to his wife and then the king.
134	* The first form of inoculation, developed by Edward Jenner, was to deliberately infect the patient with a case of cowpox, which conferred immunity to the far more serious smallpox due to the close genetic relationship between the two viruses. Jenner was [[OlderThanTheyThink not the first]] to realize that this could be done, but he was the first to prove that it could be done on a large scale, essentially the first clinical trial.
135	* In the days before there was a vaccine, parents would sometimes hold 'chicken pox parties' to get their young children infected with chicken pox, since it was considered inevitable that people would get the disease at some point (before the vaccine was developed roughly 90 percent of people would get chickenpox before age 20) and it is almost always relatively mild in young children, and often much more serious in adolescents and adults, and a single infection is usually enough to prevent a person from getting it again. Anti-vaxxers ''still'' use pox parties instead of just getting the vaccine, but it is now severely frowned upon now that there is a much safer alternative.
136	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GettingSickDeliberately