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11[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zeus_pjgg.png]]]]
12[[caption-width-right:350:Chariot insurance covers ''most'' acts of gods.]]
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18->'''Priest of Offler:''' Offler is a vengeful god!\
19'''Hughnon Ridicully:''' Trigger happy is what he is.
20-->-- ''Literature/FeetOfClay''
21
22Annoying the Lord of the cosmos with such things as blasphemy, [[AGodAmI declaring yourself a god]], [[ScrewDestiny refusing to go along]] with BecauseDestinySaysSo, and [[FlatEarthAtheist refusing to believe in him despite all evidence to the contrary]] tends to be a good way to [[DivinePunishment incur his wrath.]]
23
24The most common form of this aforementioned wrath? [[ShockAndAwe A lightning bolt to the face.]]
25
26Said lightning tends to come out of nowhere (even indoors) and sends the very clear message that the big guy upstairs is not to be trifled with. A GodOfThunder is almost always throwing these out. If GodIsEvil, this could happen to anyone ForTheEvulz. If GodIsGood, then only the wicked will live in fear of it.
27
28Occurs in both Myth/ClassicalMythology and Literature/TheBible, making this OlderThanFeudalism.
29
30In TabletopGames, this may be used as a more localized form of RocksFallEveryoneDies, designed to let the GameMaster strike down the annoying {{Munchkin}} ruining the game without too much collateral damage.
31
32In a commonly seen sub-trope, a character will [[IGaveMyWord swear]] that if they're lying, [[SmiteMeOMightySmiter may God strike them down]]. God, of course, immediately obliges. Closely related to HeavenAbove, since if the sky is divine, then lightning from it will be considered godly too. Compare HolyHandGrenade and DeathFromAbove. Not to be confused with DramaticThunder. Unrelated to PersonalRaincloud, though that often involves bespoke lightning bolts as well. A possible final result of GodIsDispleased. GaiasVengeance could involve lightning bolts, but in that trope the "divine" being is usually less personified.
33
34[[noreallife]]
35----
36!!Examples
37
38[[foldercontrol]]
39
40[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
41* In ''Literature/TheCircumstancesLeadingToWaltrautesMarriage'', Waltraute often zaps people who piss her off. It's PlayedForLaughs.
42* In ''Anime/ExcelSaga'', as [[KidsAreCruel cruel children]] pelt a Puchuu to death with rocks.
43-->'''Puchuu:''' [[RocksFallEveryoneDies Taste divine retribution!]]
44* In ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance'', Colin [=MacLeod=] gets struck by lightning when he picks up a sword on HolyGround.
45* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Subverted, as [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane God]] fails to hit [[spoiler:Takano]]. Turned around in the final arc, when [[spoiler:Takano gets her chance to kill a god, and also misses]].
46* In ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'', Sasuke tries to avenge his clan by killing Itachi this way. Bonus points for the beast the thunder represents. It doesn't work, but Itachi admitted that if he hadn't had Susanoo, he'd have died.
47* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
48** Eneru, thanks to his electric powers, mind-reading ability and god complex, kills anybody who goes against him with a lightning bolt.
49** Early on the series, Luffy is saved from a public execution when his executioner gets struck by lightning. Following that, attempts to light his ship on fire are foiled by rain and a strong tailwind allows Luffy and his crew to get away, prompting local marines to question if some divine force wanted to make sure Luffy survives. [[spoiler:It's implied that a man later revealed to be Luffy's father caused the bizarre storm.]]
50** Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, has Zeus, a living storm cloud created from her Soul-Soul Fruit powers, who can bring down lightning whenever he or Big Mom wants. During the escape from Totland, Zeus ages so many of Nami's "Whether Eggs" that he becomes huge, and Nami brings down a massive pillar of lightning down on Big Mom!
51* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': In the Alicization arc, Kirito cites this trope when he confronts Alice about the supposed righteousness of the Axiom Church and its high cleric Administrator.
52-->'''Kirito''': Who gets to decide whether Administrator or whoever dictates the laws is in the right or not? The gods? Then why don't they strike me down right here and now with some kind of divine bolt?
53* In ''Manga/WildWind'', in exchange for God not killing the manbeasts, Olgrius gets hit by divine lightning, physically scarring him (and his descendants) for life.
54* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', attempting to use a counterfeit Egyptian God Card results in the real god striking whoever did it with lightning. This also happened to Joey for attempting to save Odion who got struck.
55* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', Team Ragnarok's Dragan plays a card called Polar God King Thor, which is basically the card incarnation of [[Myth/NorseMythology the Norse god himself]]. Whenever Thor is destroyed by the opponent, he revives himself and gives a couple of bolts to his enemy which not only inflict damage to their life points, but also inflicts ''real damage''. Jack got hit by this ''twice''.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Art]]
59* In ''Art/TheApotheosisOfWashington'', Freedom's Eagle shows the tyrants whose side Heaven is on by shooting lightning from his arrows straight at 'em.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Card Games]]
63* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' features divine smiting on a number of cards, like [[https://scryfall.com/card/mir/12/divine-retribution Divine Retribution]] and [[https://scryfall.com/card/ema/38/wrath-of-god Wrath of God.]] Special mention to [[https://scryfall.com/card/jou/151/keranos-god-of-storms Keranos, God of Storms,]] who frequently hurls lightningbolts at people, making him one of the few cards to be able to call down ''multiple'' bolts of divine retribution.
64* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Divine_Wrath Divine Wrath]] punishes an opponent's monster for activating its effect, and its artwork represents a bolt surging from the sky to strike down an unfortunate creature. Another card called Divine Punishment does the same thing but doesn't require a payment to activate and also works on traps and spells, but only works if the field spell Sanctuary in the Sky is in play, and shows the sanctuary sending down bolts of lightning. Also, Solemn Strike depicts a divine figure using one to strike down Condemned Maiden for her use of the Forbidden items.
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Comedy]]
68* A Creator/MartinMull routine features a lounge-style song called "I Want To Be God". It's interrupted about halfway through by an irritated God, who is implied to threaten Mull with this (the deity's dialogue is rendered as thunder).
69[[/folder]]
70
71[[folder:Comic Books]]
72* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}''
73** Cacofonix occasionally has his [[DreadfulMusician musical performances]] interrupted by divine lightning, if one of the villagers (especially [[TheBlacksmith Fulliautomatix]]) isn't faster.
74** Played with at the end of ''Asterix and the Soothsayer'', when fraudulent soothsayer Prolix swears never to tell another fortune again. Cue him fleeing as a thunderstorm breaks out, with requisite lightning.
75* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
76** ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Inverted with Atrocitus, the head Red Lantern. Even the Spectre, God's current hand of vengeance, can't do anything to him because his mission is considered a holy one by the Almighty. And this happens after Atrocitus melts a busload of convicts with his red plasma weapon. Yeah.
77** ''ComicBook/WonderGirl'': Cassandra Sandsmark can channel her father Zeus' lightning, but can only do so consistently when she's furious, making it demi-devine retribution.
78* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
79** ''ComicBook/{{Storm|MarvelComics}}'': Storm isn't an actual goddess, but her mutant power gives her the ability to smite enemies with massive bolts of lightning from the sky if she's sufficiently mad.
80** ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Thor, naturally, can control and summon lightning and makes use of it to strike down evildoers.
81* ''ComicBook/{{Morbius}}'': In ''Vampire Tales'' #10, Morbius meets a woman who cares for him and tries to instill him with faith. After she is killed and Morbius has slaughtered those responsible in revenge, he yells that the only faith he'll believe in is that which strikes him dead where he stands. A bolt of lightning strikes at his feet, exploding the body of one of the woman's killers.
82* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'': Huitzilopochtli's are technically [[ThePowerOfTheSun concentrated sunlight]] but otherwise fit the trope.
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Comic Strips]]
86* ''ComicStrip/{{BC}}'' often features these, accompanied by the word "ZOT".
87* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin laments the ''absence'' of this trope in "RealLife":
88--> It's hard to be religious when [[TheBully certain people]] are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
89* ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'': In ''A Prehistory of the the Far Side'', Gary Larson mentions this while talking about including God in his comics. One comic in particular, captioned, "God as a kid tries to make a chicken in his room" features an {{Ash Face}}d kid post chemistry-set explosion surrounded by tons of feathers.
90-->"I was mostly worried about the last cartoon shown here. Not because of readers, who for the most part found it to be a light and silly drawing, but because I started to feel like I was bucking for a lightning bolt to come out of the sky and turn me into something like the kid here."
91* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason once sculpted a nativity scene out of snow where his "savior of Christmas" in the crib isn't the baby Jesus, but a baby credit card instead. As he's showing it to Peter, he looks up in time to see storm clouds suddenly forming out of nowhere.
92** Referenced in the second arc to feature Peter minding Fauntleroy (a [[TheNapoleon tiny and fiercely territorial]] dog). In that arc's first strip (published July 29, 2002), he tells Paige that he swore if he ever said "yes" to dog-sitting the little psycho again, may he be struck by lightning. He then tells her to let him know if any storm clouds appear.
93-->'''Paige:''' It's a rough economy; I'm sure the Big Guy understands.
94* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': Subverted. Garfield does the lying variant, but as soon as he says "may lightning strike", he notices storm clouds rumbling overhead. He quickly changes the end of his sentence to "...the dog next door". Cue the sound effect of an off-panel "Kerpow!" followed by a "[[OhCrap Yip]]!"
95[[/folder]]
96
97[[folder:Fan Works]]
98* ''Fanfic/BequeathedFromPaleEstates'': One of Stevron's grandchildren and a Frey cousin are hit by lightning when trying to cover up the fake weirwood trees. Stevron believes it's because the Old Gods took offense at being mocked.
99* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': [=StarClan=] (the cumulative entity of the Clan cats' [[AncestorVeneration ancestors]] in 'Literature/WarriorCats'') explicitly has the power to do that here, leading to Ripplestar and Mudclaw's deaths, rather than it being MaybeMagicMaybeMundane as in canon (though they do so by striking a tree with lightning and crushing them with it rather than striking the cats directly). Darkstar gets hit by one too but survives and works after that to make it up to [=StarClan=].
100* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Kelvin the Labradoodle implies that this will happen to Mittens in "The Seer" via Bolt as payback for how the cat has treated Kelvin's pigeon friends, and lampshaded as such.
101* ''Fanfic/{{Constellations}}'': The first time Lung visits the Pawprint Shrine, he becomes incensed by an ArmorPiercingQuestion from Taylor, and backhands her to the ground. Moments later, the clouds open up to reveal a patch of clear sky above him, like an eye glaring down on him, and from that empty sky a lightning bolt strikes him, melting his mask and knocking him out.
102--> '''Lung:''' This insult... will not be borne. Lee. Dispose of her. Let everyone know that such trespass shall not go unnoticed.\
103'''Oni Lee:''' I think...That it has been noticed.\
104''BOOM!''
105* ''Fanfic/GoldenUniverseGaiden'': Yellow Diamond was able to single-handedly bring down Peridot's ship with a few well-placed bolts of electricity.
106* ''LPS: Galebreak REDONE'', on Website/DeviantArt, has characters enjoying very loud and annoying music on their vacation and getting interrupted in this manner.
107-->[[spoiler: Unicron:]] "MORTAL PARASITES! MAKE THAT RACKET STOP!" (grabs a lighthouse and tries to squish everybody before the music finally stops)
108* ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9314404/10/Madoka-Crisis-Magica Madoka Crisis Magica]]'': When Homura tries to reset time, the Fan Fiction God appears and blasts her with lightning as punishment.
109* ''Fanfic/SecurityWorm'': In Chapter 54, one drops down from the sky to obliterate [[spoiler:the statue of Mike]] that he expressly did not want. Since this happens after his death, the reader can infer whatever they want from that.
110* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSevenKingdoms'': William calls down a storm on the Iron Fleet... while the ships the latter are fighting are left untouched.
111* ''Fanfic/TravelsThroughAzerothAndOutland'': Surrounded by the god-killing priests of Zul'drak, the Zandalari priestess Mumbwe calls down an avatar of her god. In minutes, the sanctuary is drenched with the blood and shredded flesh of her enemies.
112* ''Fanfic/VictoryAtOstagar'': The Divine attempts to [[spoiler:excommunicate Bronwyn and the Grand Cleric of Ferelden for political reasons]], and the lightning that strikes the Cathedral shortly afterward is widely interpreted as this.
113* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': Grayven's visit to the island of the Amazons ends up with him getting struck by Zeus. He walks it off.
114[[/folder]]
115
116[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
117* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHeadDoAmerica'': When the title duo have spent several minutes taking confessions and assigning ridiculous penances (after mistaking the confessional for the toilet), they get hit as soon as they leave the church.
118* ''WesternAnimation/TheChristmasTree'': Near the end , [[spoiler:Mrs. Mavilda]] suddenly gets struck by one while [[spoiler:[[ChildhoodMemoryDemolitionTeam trying to cut down Mrs. Hopewell]]]]. It's a rather unusual example of this trope because not only was [[spoiler:SantaClaus the one who summoned the lightning]], but the victim seems almost completely unscathed afterward.
119* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:
120** ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'': At the climax of the film when Queen Grimhilde is about to kill the dwarfs by sending a boulder tumbling towards them, a bolt of lightning strikes right next to her and causes her to fall to her death and be eaten by vultures. While it isn't clear if the lightning bolt actually was DivineIntervention or just a lucky coincidence, it certainly was [[LaserGuidedKarma a well-deserved punishment for what she did]].
121** ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'': Zeus does this, [[ForTheEvulz mostly because he's bored]]. [[JerkassGods This is not out-of-character for him as depicted in most of the original myths, either.]]
122** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Phil initially refuses to tutor Herc, not believing he's the son of Zeus -- and failing to see the ominous black clouds gathering above him. Moments later, the now {{Ash Face}}d satyr wisely reconsiders.
123* ''WesternAnimation/JonahAVeggieTalesMovie'': Used in an ArtShift ImagineSpot where the narrator describes what a WretchedHive Ninevah is and how everyone else is eager for God to wipe it from the face of the earth. We then see a storm cloud annihilate the city with a powerful lightning bolt -- except for one [[OhCrap very frightened]] Ninevite survivor, who starts loudly babbling in a panic [[BlackComedy before another smaller bolt finishes him off too]].
124[[/folder]]
125
126[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
127* In ''Film/TheBadSeed1956'', [[EnfanteTerrible Rhonda]] (who literally gets away with murder in [[AdaptationalKarma all other versions of the story]]) stands out in the open with a fishing rod during a storm as she is celebrating her victory and is struck by lightning in the last scene of the film. It is widely believed that this ending was added because the film was done during the time of UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode.
128* The GeneralRipper main villain in ''Film/BuryMeHigh'' was killed by a stray bolt of lightning from the heavens in the peak of fighting the heroes. Apparently it's retribution for his attempts to convert the Feng Shui of the local hills to ensure his permanent power as a dictator and, some Feng Shui mumbo-jumbo. ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext, for real.
129* In ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}'', Bishop Pickering is winning a BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame during a heavy rainstorm, at one point declaring, "[[TemptingFate The Good Lord would never disrupt the best game of my life]]." When he misses his final putt on the 18th hole, he [[SmiteMeOMightySmiter shakes his fist at the sky]] yelling, "[[UnusualEuphemism Oh, rat farts]]!" Cue lightning bolt.
130* ''Film/ClashOfTheTitans2010'': King Acrisius [[OffingTheOffspring tosses his wife and Perseus into the sea]]. He decides this would be a great time to tell Zeus (Perseus's real father) to suck it. Zeus does not hesitate to respond.
131* ''Film/TheColourOfMagic'': Lampshaded by Rincewind to Twoflower with a simile that goes as follows: "If complete and utter chaos was lightning, then being tied to you is like being on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor and shouting 'All gods are idiots!'"
132* ''Film/LittleWorldOfDonCamillo'': Downplayed to Thunderclap of Divine Warning. The titular priest regularly speaks with Jesus and does what he can to make life miserable for the communist mayor of the Italian village under their responsibility. When Don Camillo takes it a bit too far and is told to knock it off, his response is cut short by a thundercrack in the distance on a beautiful day.
133* ''Film/EZMoney'': This happens when a man in a phone booth talking on a phone states "May God strike me down if I'm not at work." He gets his wish.
134* ''Film/InternationalGuerillas'': The BigBad gets his comeuppance by being [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eoNLlHzPhI lasered to death by giant flying Qur'ans]].
135* ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'':
136-->'''General (Graham Chapman):''' Well, of course, warfare isn't all fun. Right -- stop that! It's all very well to laugh at the military, but when one considers the meaning of life, it is a struggle between alternative viewpoints of life itself. And without the ability to defend one's own viewpoint against other perhaps more aggressive ideologies, then reasonableness and moderation could, quite simply, disappear! That is why we'll always need an army, and may God strike me down were it to be otherwise.\
137''(a lightning bolt destroys the general; cut to outside, where the Hand of God rises into the clouds; a sergeant major stands before his troops)''\
138'''Sergeant Major (Michael Palin):''' DON'T STAND THERE GAWPING LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THE HAND O' GOD BEFORE!
139* ''Film/PatayinMoSaSindakSiBarbara'': The vengeful spirit of a very jealous woman is dealt with this way when God decides she has sinned enough already [[spoiler: and strikes two separate lightning bolts at her grave and at the mirror Barbara was using for a forced suicide. The spirit is damned to hell as a result.]]
140* ''Film/{{Purgatory}}'': The townsfolk of Refuge are pacifistic. When the sheriff can't keep people from throwing knives at the church door in any other way, he just stands in front of it. The bandit cocking his arm back to throw is suddenly struck by lightning and killed, and a storm starts. The bandits don't take the hint, but insist on playing with the VillainBall.
141* In ''Film/RatRace'', when a mechanic threatens two contestants in a race out of money for car repair. One of the contestants calls him out on how un-Christian it is, to which he laughs and calls out to God to give him a sign of his displeasure. Seconds later, a rocket shoots past (ironically manned by two other contestants), creating a sonic boom that collapses the mechanic's garage.
142* ''Film/ScarsOfDracula'': Dracula is defeated when a lightning bolt from the thunderstorm surrounding his castle strikes the metal rod in his hands, setting him on fire and sending him careening down to ground.
143* In ''Film/TheTerror'', when the protagonist forces the witch to enter the hallowed ground (the graveyard), she is struck by lightning.
144* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': Thor hits Hela with "the biggest lightning bolt in the history of lightning" after Hela mistakenly assumes she has defeated him and gloatingly asks him [[TemptingFate what he was the god of again]].
145* At the start of the Italian SwordAndSandal movie ''Film/SamsonAndHisMightyChallenge'', Zeus sends down a bolt of lightning just to get the attention of his son Hercules, and another one when he insists on [[TwoRoadsBeforeYou riding the wrong way.]] Rebellious demigod that he is, Hercules ignores Dad and decides to ride off and do his own thing.
146
147[[/folder]]
148
149[[folder:Gamebooks]]
150* The ''Literature/CretanChronicles'' series of gamebooks have this as a NonStandardGameOver you can suffer. If your HONOUR score drops too low, then you will be deemed unworthy of your quest, at which point Zeus will fry you with a thunderbolt.
151[[/folder]]
152
153[[folder:Jokes]]
154* A man is playing golf, with a priest serving as his caddy. He misses a putt and mutters "God dammit, I missed," only to be reprimanded by the priest. He apologizes, but misses the very next putt and curses again. The priest warns him that if he takes the lord's name in vain again, a bolt of lightning will strike him and leave him dead on the green. At the third missed putt and blasphemy, thunderclouds form above, and a lightning bolt strikes... [[BaitAndSwitch the priest]], leaving him dead on the green. Then a voice comes from the heavens: "[[HypocriticalHumor God dammit, I missed]]."
155* An old Jewish joke: an observant Jew ventures into a non-kosher deli for the first time and asks timidly: "Erm... how much for the ham?", only to be struck by lightning/ This prompts him to look up to the skies and cry: "Calm down, I was only ''asking''!"
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Literature]]
159%%* ''Literature/TheAccidentalTimeMachine'': "Jesus" uses these via KillSat.
160* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer'': Referenced when Injun Joe lies about the murder he committed, and Tom and Huck, who know the truth, are shocked that one of these ''doesn't'' immediately take him out. Elsewhere in the novel, Tom suffers angst when he thinks a passing thunderstorm was specifically rigged up by God to punish him for not participating in St. Peterburg's recent religious revival.
161* In ''[[http://www.roma1.infn.it/~anzel/answer.html Answer]]'' by Creator/FredricBrown, the newly created DeusEstMachina fries its creator with a lightning bolt (the sky is cloudless!) when he tries to pull the plug.
162* ''Literature/ChaosGods'': Maggie badmouths the Fallen Gods while in the Fallen Lands and gets struck by a bolt of lightning. She immediately protests that the Fallen Gods shouldn't be allowed to strike her with lightning because she's a Blessed of the Sister Gods, only to get struck by lightning again in response.
163* ''Literature/ChroniclesOfBrothers'': Lucifer repeatedly talks up a good fight against God and his estranged brothers in Heaven, challenging Him to do His worst and take his best shot -- only to find God and his brother Christos are only too ready to oblige. Every time. As the series is closely based on the Bible and Christian tradition, of course Lucifer is doomed to be the CurbStomp recipient for all eternity, making Satan look like nothing more than a vainglorious Warner Brothers cartoon character tempting Fate.
164%%* ''Literature/{{Damned}}'': [[spoiler: Archer's death, combined with RedemptionInTheRain.]]
165* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' parodies this from time to time. The gods are petty and unsubtle, and lightning strikes are their favorite way of making a point. As one book puts it, a man who goes around the disc arguing that gods don't exist tends to be found later as a pair of [[SmolderingShoes still-smoking shoes]] next to a sign reading "YES WE DO."
166** ''Literature/FeetOfClay'': Dorfl (a ceramic golem) declares his atheism, and challenges the priests to prove their gods' existence. A lightning bolt later, he notes afterward that being struck by lightning isn't much of a logical argument. He is probably the safest atheist on the Disc, by virtue of being immune to lightning bolts.
167** ''Literature/SmallGods'':
168*** {{Averted|Trope}} with Sergeant Simony. Simony comes face-to-face with the god Om, speaks to him, and ''still'' [[FlatEarthAtheist refuses to accept that he is real]]. Om leaves him alone, as particularly vitriolic and convinced atheists are nearly as valuable to gods as true believers.
169*** "Charcoal" Abraxes is the ''other'' sort of atheist, the kind that says it's not worth worrying about gods at all. His nickname suggests how the gods feel about ''that''.
170*** The book contains the quote "...gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at."
171*** When the Tyrant says trouble started after the Omnian missionary pushed over the statue of Tuvelpit, the Ephebian god of Wine, Vorbis asks mockingly if he was then struck by lightning. The Tyrant says no, he was struck by an amphora of wine, because Tuvelpit was in the crowd and threw it.
172*** For most of the book, Om is too [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly starved of genuine faith]] to manage any lightning bolts, and trapped in the form of a small tortoise. But with the help of an eagle he manages a similar effect [[spoiler: by crashing into the villain's head as he's attempting to execute the hero.]]
173** In one description of the Disc, it mentions that it's the kind of world where gods go around breaking atheists' windows.
174** In the page quote, it's probably worth noting that Offler responded to this accusation by trying to [[IResembleThatRemark hit the speaker with a lightning bolt]]. Fortunately it bent at right angles a few feet above his head and hit the floor instead. Being high priest of Io, [[TopGod chief of the gods]] has perks.
175** In ''Literature/TheLastContinent'', when the God of Evolution is getting "testy", small lightning bolts start arcing near the wizards, while the god apologizes for this autonomous reflex he has very little control over.
176---> '''The Dean:''' Perhaps you could seek treatment for premature incineration?\
177'''Ridcully:''' DEAN!
178* ''Literature/FallenAngel'': The villain has a habit of saying "May God strike me down if I'm lying," whenever someone accuses him of cheating at poker or what have you. He, of course, usually is lying, but nothing happens -- until the end of the book, when he's stolen a magic wishing coin, is promising not to hurt the heroine, and makes his customary pledge. God immediately obliges, killing him instantly.
179* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': Midway through the ''Mage Winds'' trilogy, the protagonists learn that the theocracy of Karse, which has been an enemy of Valdemar for hundreds of years, has very abruptly cleaned up its act and sued for alliance. This occurs entirely thanks to their god, Vkandis, finally getting fed up with his priesthood's corrupt and demon-summoning ways and deciding to answer the invocation at the country's annual high holy ceremony by immolating a good bit of the highest orders of his priesthood -- and that just for starters.
180* ''Literature/HistoriaBrittonum'': Vortigern, having refused to better his sinful ways despite the exhortations of St. Germanus, was killed when "fire fell suddenly from heaven" and burned him with his entire castle. Even before Vortigern, the very same thing happened to the pagan king Benlli, who had refused to admit Germanus to his city.
181* In ''Literature/{{Imajica}}'', this trope ''backfires''. On GOD. [[spoiler:He becomes aware of some other deities in nearby parallel universes and, being [[GodIsEvil a villain]] in this book, tries to destroy these rivals with a god-killing-caliber version of this trope. As He isn't omniscient about things in other universes, He doesn't know that the chain of universes loops around back to its starting point; the other deities dodge the Bolt, it loops around back to God's heaven, and ''kills Him''.]]
182* ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' has a variant where Ivanhoe and Sir Brian De Bois Gilbert (both Catholic, Ivanhoe more so. Brian ignores his vows) are supposed to joust to determine if the falsely accused Rebbecca (Jewish) is nor is not a witch. The audience gets their answer when Brian dies of a heart attack about when he steps into the arena, proving Rebecca's innocence and allowing her to go free.
183%%* ''Literature/JaneEyre,'' at a crucial point in Mr. Rochester's marriage proposal.
184* From the ''Literature/{{Kadingir}}'' series: Being fried by lightning of probably divine origin was [[TheCaligula Mad King Kanota]]'s ultimate fate, right after he blew up his own castle while proclaiming that [[TalkativeLoon no penguin]] [[LaughingMad would sit on his throne]]. His reign is widely regarded as an embarrassment to the Zitis, who would happily forget about his whole existence.
185* ''Literature/LeftBehind'': One of the powers that Nicolae Carpathia gains after being indwelt by Satan himself is the ability to call down lightning to render his enemies to ash.
186* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': ''The Lightning Thief'' revolves around a quest to recover Zeus's stolen "Master Bolt", which he uses to generate his divine retribution.
187* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'': Early on, Sun Jian gets hold of the imperial seal. He uses a more poetic version of the lying line ("If I have the seal and am concealing it from you, may my life be short and my death violent"). [[RocksFallEveryoneDies Guess what happens to him.]]
188* ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'': ''Rakurai'' is this for most people, slaying the [[GodOfEvil Shan-Wei]]'s colony of Alexandria and threatening anybody who'd experiment with forbidden tech with continent-destroying bolt of archangelic retribution. Those who know what Safehold really is (fake church, lost colony in space) know also that ''Rakurai'' is a fine KillSat.
189* ''Literature/{{Samaria}}'': If the population doesn't come together once a year to sing the Gloria, Jovah gets mad and will first destroy a mountain to get their attention, then a major city, and finally the world. Also, anyone who knows the proper prayers can call down thunderbolts. The prayers get used maybe a half dozen times (that we see) in almost a thousand years.
190* [[http://www.onthepremises.com/issue_11/story_11_h1.html "Same-Day Delivery"]]: Though it qualifies as "wizardly" rather than "divine" retribution, mention is made of the "blue bolts from the heavens" from first edition ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. According to the author, this is a deliberate ShoutOut.
191* ''Literature/TheThebaid'':
192** Jupiter complains that dealing divine justice upon humanity has exhausted his supply of thunderbolts, overworked the Cyclops who build them, and worn out the fire they are forged in. For Oedipus' enemies, some subtler form of punishment will have to do.
193** Book X ends with a firsthand account of the bone-melting, wall-crushing power of Jupiter's thunderbolt. After all of Capaneus' arrogance and blasphemies, such an extreme display of divine power the only fitting way he could have been executed.
194* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': In ''Starlight'', this conveniently happens to Mudclaw, a minor villain. [=StarClan=] may or may not have been behind that one, as they have a strict rule of non-interference in the physical plane. It was, in any case, an extremely convenient lightning strike for the Clans: not only was Mudclaw killed, but the lightning felled a tree which created a very handy bridge to a nearby island, neatly resolving the question of where to hold Gatherings.
195[[/folder]]
196
197[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
198* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E8Games Games]]", Belkov relates how he used this trope as a GodGuise with the aid of a remote-controlled laser rifle.
199* In ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'', Lewis thinks he had been touched by God to become a prophet. Then, after he gives a lot of sanctimonious pronouncements, he gets hit by lightning. ''Repeatedly'' hit, each time offering an ever more feeble excuse for the most recent lightning strike. He keeps tempting fate until the third or fourth one, finally being helped inside by his friends, scorched and exclaiming:
200-->'''Lewis:''' Hide me, hide me! God is ''pissed''!
201* ''Series/FamilyMatters'': At the end of "It Didn't Happen One Night", Steve had been trying to take Laura to a cheerleading competition out of town, but after his car broke down, they got stuck overnight in a cheap hotel with only one bed. After the two get into a fight over who gets the bed, they both agree to share, but Steve volunteers to sleep on top of the covers so there won't be any physical contact. After the lights go out, Steve assures Laura that he's had no impure thought of her, and if he's lying may God strike him dead. Cue a very loud clap of thunder and Steve sheepishly adding, "Okay, maybe just one."
202* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'': "Heedless Hearts" opens with Hercules and Iolaus fresh off an adventure in which villagers were so grateful that they opted to build statues of the two heroes. Hercules is humble about the whole thing, but Iolaus remarks their efforts were worthy of an actual shrine. A bolt of lightning immediately strikes the ground a few paces ahead of them. Hercules insists that was a warning shot to clam up, but Iolaus thinks it was just a coincidence. Iolaus intends to prove it by standing in the exact same spot and repeating what he said about the shrine. He gets zapped real good for it and, thanks to LightningCanDoAnything, gains a temporary ability to see the future.
203-->'''Hercules:''' ''[looking up while carrying a fried Iolaus]'' This better be a coincidence.
204* ''Sereis/JandaKembang'': In episode 18, when Rais asks to the sky whether it's okay for him to take some of the money he finds in his passenger's bag, a lightning strikes completely out of nowhere, scaring Rais into doing the right thing.
205* ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'': In the climax of "[[Recap/LittleHouseOnThePrairieS4E15WhisperCountry Whisper Country]]", this is what Mrs. Peal was hoping to summon when -- having been exposed as illiterate -- she holds her Bible up to the tip of her reach, hoping to summon lightning to strike Mary down. It doesn't work.
206* ''Series/MiracleWorkersSeasonOne'': God isn't very bright and has no subtlety so his solution to any obstacle in governing Earth is throwing down lightning bolts or some other terrifying weather phenomenon.
207* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': Late in "Murdoch and the Temple of Death", Dr. Iris Bajali steals the Holy Grail from Station 4 and runs into the driving thunderstorm, pursued by Murdoch. He calls out to her to stop her, and she explains how she can fund her research with the sale of the much sought-after Grail. He tells her it belongs to God, she shouts back, "There is no God," and is struck and killed by a lightning bolt.
208* ''Series/MythQuest'': At one point, Alex needs Thor's hammer and steals it. When Thor finds out, he naturally hurls a few at Alex, but he somehow misses.
209* ''Series/TheRighteousGemstones'': In the first season finale the Gemstones confront Baby Billy about the stolen money in the middle of a rainy field, Baby Billy starts claiming that God sent him the money as payback for Eli taking his sister while brandishing a pitchfork at them, which gets him struck by lightning. He survives, and pretends to reconcile with his in-laws, but then tries to leverage the NearDeathExperience into reinventing himself as "the Electric Preacher."
210* ''Series/{{Rome}}'': At the end of "Egeria", the XIII Legion are being transported to Greece via galley, but are caught in a raging storm. Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus are shown crouched on the open deck, soaked to the skin.
211-->'''Pullo:''' This is cac, this is! I'm wet through!\
212'''Vorenus:''' We're perfectly safe — a very favorable offering was made to Triton[[note]]son of Neptune, god of the Sea[[/note]] before we left.\
213'''Pullo:''' Well, if he can't keep me drier than this, he can suck my cock!\
214''[flash of lightning -- Pullo gets an OhCrap look]''\
215'''Vorenus:''' Why don't you learn to keep your fat mouth shut?!\
216''[mast breaks and the [[{{Cliffhanger}} galley is swamped by a huge wave]].]''
217* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
218** In "[[Recap/StargateSG1S3E8Demons Demons]]", [[SinisterMinister the Canon]] incapacitated SG-1 with a piece of AppliedPhlebotinum that invokes this trope (the planet's population had apparently been kidnapped from western Europe during the Middle Ages). Carter later described it as feeling like being hit by a [[TheParalyzer zat blast]].
219** In "[[Recap/StargateSG1S3E20MaternalInstinct Maternal Instinct]]", a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien blasts attacking Goa'uld forces with lighting. If her version comes with a stun setting, she's not bothering to use it: the Goa'uld ground troops are incinerated, as are a few Death Gliders.
220* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
221** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E2WhoMournsForAdonais Who Mourns for Adonais?]]", Apollo uses this a few times. Since there were no RedShirts around, he decided to pick on Scotty for wearing red.
222** "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E5TheApple The Apple]]". Being a DeusEstMachina Vaal also likes to throw lightning bolts around. A RedShirt is incinerated by one bolt, while Spock [[PlotArmor gets second-degree burns]] from a near miss.
223* ''Series/{{Taxi}}'': In one episode, Louie must go to the hospital for minor surgery and is terrified. He prays to God, promising to be a nicer person, and adds that if a bolt of lightning doesn't come through the window of his room "in the next five seconds", he will consider it a sign the prayer is granted. As it happens, Alex is standing by the window, and surreptitiously steps out of the way, just in case.
224* Invoked in ''Series/WarriorNun'' when Adriel uses his AppliedPhlebotinum to kill [[spoiler:Pope Francesco Duretti]] with a massive lightning strike after the latter fails to hack into his plague generator and publicly expose him as a fraud.
225* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'': In the final episode, after evicting the protagonists from their home, the landlord Mr. Balowski starts advertising the house, declaring it to be "the zaniest house on TV" and proclaims "If I'm wrong, then may God strike me dead!" God himself then hits him with a bolt of lightning from his finger.
226[[/folder]]
227
228[[folder:Music]]
229* Music/AliceCooper: In "Nurse Rozetta", the narrator is struck by a lightning bolt in retribution for being a false prophet.
230* Music/PetShopBoys" "It's A Sin" ends with a final thunderclap after Neil confesses his sins [[GratuitousLatin in Latin]], implying his death by this trope, although [[LyricsVideoMismatch this doesn't actually happen in the video]].
231* Music/PoetsOfTheFall: The cover of the album ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/af/Jealous_Gods_cover.jpg Jealous Gods]]'' alludes to vengeful deities when paired with the title, showing a [[RulesOfTheRoad road sign with a lightning bolt]].
232* On "Cold Wind Blows", the first track on Music/{{Eminem}}'s 2010 album ''Recovery'', Slim Shady gets zapped twice by God and whines in pain, claiming he'll give up - and begs God "forgive me for what my pen do". God warns him that if he doesn't stay on his best behaviour, he'll get sent to Hell. In his ''The Eminem Show'' AlbumClosure in 2002, "My Dad's Gone Crazy", Shady had said he'd get struck by lightning twice at once before he toned his lyrics down, so this serves to signal a change of heart. Sure enough, Shady is PutOnABus for most of ''Recovery''.
233[[/folder]]
234
235[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
236* Mamaragan, the [[Myth/AboriginalAustralianMyths Gunwinggu]] GodOfThunder, usually lives peacefully in a puddle. Should you be wicked, however, its a blast of searing light to your face.
237* In many cultures, including Ancient Hellenic ones, "lightning" is described as "divine fire".
238* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_religion common Indo-European pantheon]] has this as the primary attribute of the sky god ''Dyeus'', from which developed the Greek Zeus, the Hindu Indra, and Norse Tyr; later, other gods got this attribute as religion changed over time (for instance, as Tyr was displaced in the Norse pantheon by Odin and Thor, they took on some of his attributes). However, this god was apparently associated with the daylight sky and the sun foremost; the thunder god aspect acquired by Zeus and Jupiter seems to have been the result of conflation with other gods.
239* Myth/ClassicalMythology: Zeus was well known for throwing lightning bolts. Makes sense, as besides being king of the gods, he was also god of the sky. The story of Ixion — zapped for flagrant abuses of SacredHospitality (e.g. ''[[TooDumbToLive trying to rape Hera while a guest in Zeus' own house]]'') — is probably the most notable.
240** There's also Capaneus, who scaled a ladder during the siege of Thebes while [[BlasphemousBoast boasting that not even the fire of Zeus could stop him]]. [[TooDumbToLive Unsurprisingly]], it did.
241** Phaeton, son of Helios, tried to drive the Sun Chariot but couldn't control it. The runaway course of the Sun had disastrous consequences, until Zeus put a stop to it by unleashing his lightning.
242* Myth/NorseMythology:
243** Thor's thunderbolt hammer, Mjölnir.
244** Odin's spear Gungnir, which is sometimes compared to a thunderbolt and said to never miss.
245* In Myth/HinduMythology, Indra -- King of the Devas -- wields the thunderbolt and tends to throw it at people who might one day be a threat to him.
246* Literature/TheBible:
247** The NIV translation has God raining down lightning strikes during the plague of hail, although another common interpretation of this passage is that the hail itself was on fire. The Abrahamic God otherwise is rarely depicted as using lightning specifically, preferring fire and brimstone.
248** The Prophet Elijah was known to call on God to bring fire from the sky. He called on it to win a contest with the priests of Baal. Later, he called it down on a group of 50 soldiers sent by Ahaziah, who was upset about a prophecy that he wouldn't survive injuries sustained from [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou a nasty fall he'd had]] simply because he'd dared to think of consulting a false god about the matter. Then fire was called down on the 50 soldiers Jezebel sent after that. The Captain of the third group of 50 soldiers asked Elijah not to kill them; but this wouldn't stop them. God changed tactics after that, and Elijah came with them willingly so he could personally confirm the prophecy to Ahaziah, who died shortly after.
249* Ukko Ylijumala (Ukko the High God), the head of the pantheon of gods worshipped in Finland before Christianity, did this. In fact, the Finnish word for thunder is derived from his name.
250* In Chinese traditions, folk tales and mythology, lightning is more often than not a sign of divine retribution for the wicked.
251** Lightning and thunder are personalised as the deities Dianmu ("Lightning Mother") and Leigong ("Thunder Father"). It was said that [[ScienceMarchesOn Dianmu first illuminates the target with lightning so Leigong could strike true with thunder]], as Dianmu was a DeityOfHumanOrigin who was killed by Leigong by mistake before ascending.
252** In ancient times, its said that children who don't show proper filial piety or people who don't repay debts (usually a life debt, which both were rather SeriousBusiness back then) will get struck by lightning as punishment. The phrase "You want to get struck by lightning?!" shows up often in period dramas, although thunder sounding is sometimes used for comedic effect in dramas that occur in present day. Several of the 36 Triad Oaths mention being killed by thunderbolts as punishment for breaking them. These being TheTriadsAndTheTongs, gunshots were often a fair substitute for lightning.
253* Yoruba tradition plays with it. Shango could fry his enemies with lightning but is most known for throwing it at people [[GiveMeASign destined to follow his path.]] He was once a man gifted with the power to wield lightning who shared it with other Orishas after being promoted to their ranks, but because of this, each one of them has a stronger association with something else. Jakuta's [[RocksFallEveryoneDies meteorites]] are what are really associated with divine retribution.
254* Amadioha in Odinani religion if he deems you guilty. He can also send bees.
255* According to hagiography, more than one persecutor of Christian saints and martyrs was killed this way as punishment for their deeds. The most famous example is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Barbara Saint Barbara's father, Dioscorus]]; he had [[OffingTheoffspring his own daughter tortured and executed]] for converting to Christianity [[GirlInTheTower despite him locking her away from the world]], then he was killed by a lightning bolt later that day.
256* [[Myth/CelticMythology Welsh Mythology]]: According to ''Literature/HistoriaBrittonum'', King Vortigern of Britain, having refused to better his sinful life despite the exhortations of Saint Germanus, was killed when "fire fell suddenly from heaven" and burned him with his entire castle. Even before Vortigern, the very same thing happened to the pagan king Benlli, who had refused to admit Germanus to his city.
257* Some modern Biblical scholars believe that what [[WordOfSaintPaul Paul]] experienced on the Road to Damascus (which [[{{Pun}} sparked]] his [[HeelFaithTurn conversion]] to Christianity) was [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane a lightning strike]].
258* In Myth/SlavicMythology, Perun, the local sky, lightning, and fire god (and one of the higher-ranked ones in the whole pantheon) was well-known for flinging these at ''another god of equal rank'' — his arch-rival, Veles, god of magic, water, and earth. Usually, this was done in retribution for Veles stealing Perun's belongings or [[{{Troll}} doing something else to tick Perun off]]. Also, while the bolts were directed at Veles, Perun didn't particularly care for whatever Veles [[TakeCover used as cover]] from the barrage — like, say, trees and houses.
259[[/folder]]
260
261[[folder:Pinball]]
262* ''Pinball/JudgeDredd'': Tapping a red button at the end of the "Safecracker" mission will cause a bolt of lightning to strike the criminal.
263[[/folder]]
264
265[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
266* During the Wrestling/AttitudeEra, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels challenged God to a match. The actual match was just Michaels dodging special effects as God tried to blast him with lightning.
267[[/folder]]
268
269[[folder:Radio]]
270* When the Pope John Paul II visited Australia, comedy duo Radio/MartinMolloy suggested this would be the fate of anyone who hadn't kept up on their Bible study.
271-->'''Pope:''' Heya you! [[JustAStupidAccent Tella me whatta]] happened at the Last Supper.\
272'''Molloy:''' Well I'm sorry your Popeness, but [[ComicallyMissingThePoint I lost my dinner jacket]] and--''ZAPPPP!!!!''
273[[/folder]]
274
275[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
276* ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'': This is a power of the priests of the sun god Praios; they can only harm demons and knock out magic users, though.
277* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
278** Gary Gygax suggested blue bolts from the heavens as a possible punishment for unruly, disruptive or obnoxious characters in the first edition ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' -- there is considerable disagreement about how serious he was, given Gygax's odd sense of humour, but there's no question the text is there and was taken seriously by at least some [=DMs=].
279** A number of priest spells involve directly or indirectly calling down the wrath of your patron deity. The most traditional one is probably Flame Strike, which explicitly calls a column of fire (sometimes with other damage types mixed in, such as [[NonElemental untyped damage]] in 3.5 or [[LightEmUp radiant damage]] in 5th edition) down upon its target area. Call Lightning is another obvious example.
280** ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': Divine retribution via lightning bolt is not that common, as Talos the god of storms is very possessive of his exclusive dominion over lightning in Faerûn. And also an asshole. Inverted in Mulhorand, where the war-god Anhur has been known to publicly strike his ''favored'' followers with spectacular lightning bolts that do them no harm, the better to convince skeptical Mulhorandis that their mission is a holy one.
281** In 5th Edition, clerics with the Tempest Domain gain the ability to strike enemies with retalatory bolts of lightning after being struck with a melee attack.
282* ''TabletopGame/ThePrimalOrder'': A "primal blast", which any deity could spend divine power in the form of "primal flux" to employ, automatically hits and cuts through any and all mortal-level protections like so much tissue paper, simply reducing the target's HitPoints (or equivalent) directly in a suitably flashy display.
283* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
284** During the Arabyan invasions of Estalia and Tilea, an invading force besieged the city of Magritta and managed to push most of the way into the city and cornered a group of Imperial knights come to Tilea's aid against the city's temple of Myrmidia, a war goddess and patron of the invaded nations. The knights were about to be overrun when a sudden earthquake rocked the city, doing no damage beyond toppling a statue of the goddess from the temple roof and sending it crashing on top of the Arabyan emir and his guard, killing them instantly. This ended up turning the tide of the battle, and the knights swore themselves to Myrmidia's faith.
285** Caradryan is the chosen champion of the elven TopGod Asuryan and the Captain of the [[BadassArmy Phoenix Guard]], the guardians of the Shrine of Asuryan on [[{{Atlantis}} Ulthuan]]. If Caradryan is slain before the time Asuryan has appointed for him, Asuryan becomes pissed and wallops the unit responsible with a bout of holy flame. This inflicts D3 Wounds that cannot be armour saved against.
286** ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'': A quote in the section on folk worship in ''Archives of the Empire: Vol III'' is by a man arguing that, since gods depend on the worship of mortals, they should be humanity's servants rather than the other way around. Its attribution is to "Reichardt D'Auckignes, deceased (struck by lightning)".
287[[/folder]]
288
289[[folder:Theatre]]
290* ''Theatre/TheAddingMachine'': When Charles tells Mr. Zero that he's been a slave in all of his incarnations throughout history because he wasn't good for anything else, Zero protests and says that he's had enough of playing the universe's ButtMonkey. A sudden outburst of thunder and flash of lightning intimidates him and he clings to Charles, who reassures him: "Nobody's going to hurt you. It's just their way of telling you they don't like you to talk that way."
291* ''Theatre/TheClouds'': Discussed. In conversation with Socrates, the farmer Strepsiades is baffled by Socrates' proposition that the gods are superstitions, and brings up lightning as evidence for the existence of Zeus, as surely lightning strikes are Zeus hurling his lightning bolts at perjurers. Socrates counters by naming several (according to him) well-known perjurers who never seem to be hit by lightning, and points out that lightning has been known to strike a temple of Zeus and Zeus' own sacred oak trees. He follows up with an (unplausibly convoluted) natural explanation for lightning.
292* ''Theatre/MySisterEileen'': Played with (though without actual lightning) . Wreck's girlfriend Helen bursts out angrily at him after noticing that he's done Eileen's laundry. As Helen hastens to leave with him, he exclaims, "If I ''thought'' about Eileen that way -- may God strike me dead on this spot!" He raises his hand to heaven, and is stunned by a tremendous blast from the subway tunnel under construction. Ruth looks up and says, "He's everywhere, all right."
293[[/folder]]
294
295[[folder:Toys]]
296* [[https://livingdeaddolls.com/lddarchive/exc_020.html Sinister Minister and Bad Habit]] of the Toys/LivingDeadDolls were "righteously struck down by lightning".
297[[/folder]]
298
299[[folder:Video Games]]
300* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'': If you worship Zeus, you get one of these as your one-off God Power. [[BoringButPractical Not as spectacular]] as some of the others (Hera gets a whole lightning ''storm''), but it handily {{One Hit Kill}}s anything except creatures summoned by other God Powers, and Titans. It will still damage Titans for a significant chunk [[OneManArmy considering what Titans are]]. In the ExpansionPack, it gets upgraded to a three-use power.
301* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': One quest requires you to pose as a cleric of Talos. (For the uninitiated, Talos is not just a powerful evil deity, but in fact the god ''of'' lightning.) You're ordered to swear that you worship him, with failure to do so being proof you're an impostor. Actually do it, and you're struck by lightning -- ''indoors''. However, if you're wearing the cloak that reflects lightning, the bolt bounces off and fries the cleric instead. This stops the cutscene dead, allowing you to just take the item you need off his corpse instead of fighting his mooks first. On the other hand, if you actually ''are'' a cleric of Talos, [[DevelopersForesight you can swear your loyalty without harm, and get the item without a fight that way.]]
302* ''VideoGame/BlackAndWhite'': The player can cast two different versions -- a lightning bolt from their hand, or a blast of golden light from the sky which instantly destroys (almost) anything it hits. Enhanced versions also let them use the second variant as a SpamAttack. OhCrap.
303* ''VideoGame/ChoiceOfTheDragon'': If the dragon refuses to let the goblins worship their god, raids the sacred temple for the universe's Gods, and deliberately starts their own cult of worshippers, the universe's Gods will respond with this in accord while [[HaveANiceDeath the narrator berates you for this]].
304* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': Crono's magic is of the light element, and two of the spells he uses are Lightning magic.
305* ''VideoGame/CursedToGolf'' begins with a pro golfer about to win a golfing tournament during a storm, when a lightning bolt hits their club mid-swing and sends them straight into the afterlife, with the promise of a revival if they can beat all of the afterlife's greatest golfers. At the end of the game, they learn that they weren't shocked by the storm, but by the God of Golf himself, because [[spoiler:the golfer used to love golf, but had grown to only care about the prizes and fame, and the God of Golf felt they needed to be humbled in order to regain appreciation for the game itself]].
306* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': The Vestal's Judgment ability calls down a bolt of lightning from the heavens. Unlike her other HolyHandGrenade ranged attacks, it doesn't inflict a stun or debuff; in exchange, it has the lowest damage penalty and heals the Vestal when it hits, also making it better at stress recovery for her (the game checks criticals for the damage and the healing separately, meaning that if one doesn't come up the other might).
307* ''VideoGame/DarkParables'': Thalassa, the sea goddess, takes revenge upon [[spoiler:King Alexandros of Prasino, who captured and imprisoned her; she transforms him into an immortal half-lobster monstrosity, forcing him to live with his condition. Her revenge upon the chancellor who talked the king into doing this is much simpler -- she just drowns him.]]
308* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight, had this as his personal method of attack, which also happened to be the one weakness of the Everlasting Dragons. He shared this ability with his knights as well: many of them wield weapons imbued with electricity, and some are even able to throw lightning bolts much like Gwyn himself, though Gwyn's still tended to be a heck of a lot more potent. In the first game, only the Warriors of Sunlight (ideological descendants of Gwyn's army) still possess this power, but in later games, the Miracles that grant lightning power have become well-known, if somewhat rare, and most high-level clerics and/or holy warriors are able to perform them. [[spoiler:While Gwyn lost this power when he gave up his Lord Soul and Linked the Fire, he wields lightning bolts again when he incarnates one last time within the Soul of Cinder.]]
309* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'': Follow Honda in his plan to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere escape Tokyo]] on day six in, and God exterminates everyone you left inside in such fashion. However, in [[UpdatedRerelease Overclocked]], should this route be chosen, [[spoiler:Belberith, effectively the strongest of the Bel demons, and a Demon Lord of [[LightIsNotGood Light]], absorbs the aforementioned bolt and gets powered up.]]
310* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', the Crusader's Fist of the Heavens ability calls down a bolt of lightning, intended to invoke this. A similar spell is in ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' for Paladins as well, but while it deals lightning damage, its aesthetic is closer to HolyHandGrenade or LightEmUp than it is to ShockAndAwe, unlike ''III'''s version, which is quite clearly and visibly ShockAndAwe.
311* In ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'', a disillusioned cultist decides to declare his complete renouncement of all gods from the top of his own temple. He is immediately struck by a dozen lightning bolts simultaneously.
312-->'''Mooncalf:''' "What were the odds that I'd get hit by lightning just as I renounced all gods?"\
313'''Death:''' [[AC: About one to one, I'd say.]]
314* ''VideoGame/Dota2'': Considering Zeus is one of the playable heroes, this is to be expected. He can either zap individual targets with it using his ''Lightning Bolt'', or take it up a notch by zapping the entire enemy team with his ultimate, the aptly-named ''Thundergod's Wrath''.
315* In ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'', the Treasure Art for completing the Search and Resurrection request implies that [[spoiler:Saint March Rosa]] died due to this [[spoiler:having been felled by a lightning bolt after he started bringing people back from the dead using Medusa's blood that he allegedly got from a goddess]].
316* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}}'' [[spoiler: BigBadWannabe Ulwine Neisbeck claims that not even the gods can't stop her plan. Sadly, the Gods of Aventuria disagree with her.]]
317* ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'': Revenge of Light calls down highly damaging lightning when the blessed player is hit with attacks that deal magic damage.
318* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', the cult leader Carpainter seemingly invokes this trope by trying to obliterate Ness with a lightning bolt. However, the Franklin Badge will [[AttackReflector reflect the lightning back at Carpainter]].
319* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'':
320** The Storm Call Shout summons a thunderstorm that causes lightning to strike in a wide area, dealing a significant amount of damage but potentially striking allied and neutral characters.
321** One mod kills guards with lightning if they dare mention the words "arrow" and "knee" in the same sentence. The mod maker says that "Even the Divines have grown tired."
322* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Video Game!'', one of Peter's fighting levels has God as an NPC. Punching God results in Him calling down a lightning bolt to kill you.
323* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', when Lostbelt Zeus sees that Chaldea has come to Olympus with the intent of destroying both it and him, he responds by unleashing a storm of lightning. While Captain and Da Vinci's preparations enable them to survive, Holmes suspects that this was merely a warning shot. Later, [[spoiler:Peperoncino]] tells [[spoiler:Kadoc]] that if Zeus were to overhear them plotting against him, he would strike them dead with lightning at once for their betrayal.
324* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has the recurring summon [[GrandpaGod Ramuh]], whose SignatureMove is named "Judgment Bolt". In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' he is actually worshiped as a god by the forest-dwelling Sylphs. Despite being much more friendly than most primals, he still threatens to pass Judgment on mortal-kind unless the player can prove they are strong enough to protect the Sylphs.
325* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', this is Azama's personal skill. If you attack him while he is unarmed, "Divine Retribution" activates and returns half of the damage done to the attacker.
326* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'':
327** This is Kojou Sara and Yae Miko’s Elemental Bursts. While Sara calls down a lightning bolt to strike down the enemies of the Raiden Shogun, Miko’s is due to how she’s a sky fox, and she can increase the number of bolts that strike down when she deploys her turrets.
328** This gets {{subverted|trope}} in Arataki Itto’s voice lines. In his voice line about thunder storms, he dares the Raiden Shogun to strike him down. The Shogun however, doesn’t even know who is he.
329* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' has Zeus doing this to ''you'' in two games during the battle with him.
330* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'': Implemented by the dev team as a way to emphasize the fact that being banned does in fact mean you're banned. On logging in, a banned player is treated to the spectacle of the Death God Dhuum rising from the ground and slicing them in half with a giant scythe.
331* In ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'', the rites of kingship exist to give the gods veto power over the candidate clan leaders have chosen to rule the tribe. If the gods approve, the candidate lives and rules; if they don't, this trope happens. Most notably, this happens to TheChosenWannabe [[spoiler: Saraska Bright-Eyes]], if she convinces the player clan or others that she deserves to rule.
332* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, the Guardian battle chip places a statue of a deity on the battlefield. When the statue is attacked, be it by the player or enemy, the offending party is struck by lightning that deals heavy damage and [[ArmorPiercingAttack bypasses guard effects]].
333* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' combines this with with MaybeMagicMaybeMundane. Colonel Volgin, who has electrical powers, tends to chant "Kuwabara, kuwawbara"[[note]]Japanese folklore states that kuwabara, or mulberry, can ward off lightning[[/note]] in the presence of storm clouds, presumably just to be on the safe side. During his final boss fight, in the presence of another nearby storm, Volgin angrily sneers at it, foregoing his chant, and promptly meets his end when a freak lightning strike fries him.
334* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' does this when you fail to solve certain types of puzzles. Or when you attack holy relics. Or some perfectly blank walls. As they lay out in the manual, it's an intentional attempt on the part of the developers to get players out of the TryEverything mentality. In the remake, the player is warned about rooms where this can happen by the presence of an Eye of Divine Retribution.
335* A strange variation of this happens in ''[[VideoGame/{{Pico}} Nene's Interactive Suicide]]''. Should you choose to have Nene pray at her windowsill instead of try to kill herself, her prayers will be answered with God blowing her off the face of the Earth.
336* ''VideoGame/NetHack'': A possible outcome of angering your god . If you've built up enough resistance to lightning to survive the bolt, the god shoots a [[DisintegratorRay disintegration beam]] at you. If you're buffed enough to survive even the disintegration beam, this provokes the response "'''I believe it not!'''"
337* ''VideoGame/NexusClash'': The dev team throws these from time to time as part of bans. Other ban punishments include being swallowed up by the earth, consumed by flames, [[EatenAlive devoured by insects]], and vanishing from existence as if you were never there.
338* ''VideoGame/NinjaShadowOfDarkness'': Whenever you're [[BattleInTheRain fighting enemy ninjas in the rain]], if you happen to see a spark on the ground... RUN! That's where a lightning bolt will strike in a few seconds, which will take away a large chunk of your health.
339* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'': {{Invoked|Trope}} by the Death Bolt spell. It causes a bolt of lightning to fly down from the top of the screen and strike the target. If they fail their save, they're instantly killed. If they make their save, they still take massive damage.
340* ''VideoGame/{{Prodigal}}'' has this as an optional feature of the NewGamePlus, where you can access the Altars to various Gods and anger them by breaking them, increasing the game's difficulty. Breaking Raem's Altar will result in her constantly firing a beam of light at you while exploring dungeons, including during boss battles, giving you an extra projectile to avoid as well as forcing you to keep moving unless you want to get hit.
341* ''VideoGame/TheSims'': This is ultimately the reaction of many players to the [[ArtificialStupidity AI]]. With the Seasons expansion for ''The Sims 2'' and a little planning you can have actual lightning bolts to kill them with. The Nanny NPC's are a particularly common target thanks to their habits of wasting time, setting the kitchen on fire, and stealing from money trees.
342* ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'' has an item called the Lightning Ring which causes powerful lightning to strike special pyramids which Blazer touches, and it has the power to defeat metallic monsters that his sword cannot damage. Considering Blazer is an angel under the service of [[{{God}} the Master]], the implication is that the Master is aiding him this way.
343* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
344** While it's controlled by mortals and not gods, the most famous spell in the series, Indignation, is referred to as the "divine lightning of God" in ninety percent of its incantations, and -- [[PowerUpLetdown with the exception of]] ''[[PowerUpLetdown Legendia]]'' -- it always appears as a single bolt of lightning that hits the ground and sends out an electrical blast which nukes absolutely everything.
345*** In the ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'' remake and ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces F'', the blast radius effectively covers the whole screen.
346*** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', and both ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria Berseria]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria Zestiria]]'' it's a [[LimitBreak Mystic Arte]] that is at least the second mystic arte for the character who gets it and takes a [[GuideDangIt certain amount of work]] to unlock. It's also found in the hands of enemies as this, such as the OptionalBoss of ''Abyss''.
347** ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'' gives [[BlackMagicianGirl Philia]] the Rebirth Crusader [[LimitBreak Blast Calibur]]. She summons a single bolt of lightning to hit [[{{BFS}} Clemente]] like a lightning rod and causes the entire screen to explode.
348** ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'' introduces the Divine Saber spell that hits all enemies in range with multiple bolts of lightning. It retains its [[HolyHandGrenade light element]] even in games with a separate lightning element.
349* ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}'': While not done by a god, whenever the Asuma Ninjas in Wrath of Heaven'' deliver an instant Kill attack (apply named, The Wrath of Heaven,) a bolt of lightening will strike the target. Just make sure you do not miss the target, otherwise your energy will go down to one)
350* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Druids of all classes have a number of spells that are essentially this, such as Moonfire. Priests' Holy Fire ability has a similar graphic. Shamans have various lightning based attacks but their spell that resembles lightning from the skies is cast on themselves to damage/knock away foes surrounding them and give themselves a boost of energy.
351* In ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'', [[spoiler:Marietta]] will use lightning to smite your forces. [[spoiler: She's just doing her job as an angel, defending heaven, which you are about to invade.]]
352[[/folder]]
353
354[[folder:Webcomics]]
355%%* ''Webcomic/CaseyAndAndy'': As Andy puts it, after walking in somewhat charred, "What really sucks is that I was indoors and grounded."
356* ''Webcomic/MenInHats'':
357** [[http://www.meninhats.com/d/20021113.html Sam gets struck by lightining]] -- at least thrice in one week -- for being HolierThanThou.
358** StrawmanNewsMedia [[http://meninhats.com/d/20030910.html invoke this]]:
359--->"Local gay man trapped in storm gets struck by lightning! What is God trying to tell us?"
360* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
361** Banjo the Clown smites people with ''very small'' lightning bolts, [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly since his worshipers can be counted in the single digits]].
362** When Miko goes off the deep end and [[spoiler:murders her liege lord]], [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0407.html the Twelve Gods remove her paladin powers]] through a dramatic bolt of divine energy.
363* In ''Webcomic/{{Pibgorn}}'', when she sings the ''Dies Irae'', it does indeed summon the Day of Wrath [[http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2003/11/24/ in the form of a lightning storm]].
364* Discussed twice in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}''.
365** After Florence refers to humans as her creators, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1100/fv01089.htm Winston assures her he left his lightning bolts at home, so she's safe from smiting.]]
366** When [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2300/fc02292.htm Maxwell Post decides to call Bill Raibert]] about the Gardener in the Dark program, he tries to [[NotInFrontOfTheKid shield the robots from his imminent language]], but one curious robot wants to watch out for lightning.
367--->'''Max''': Please leave. My phone call may involve [[TheseTropesShouldWatchTheirLanguage language]] you don't need to hear.\
368'''Dvorak''': Can I stay? If one of the gods you blaspheme invokes lightning, it is important that we know which one.
369%%* ''Webcomic/TheSenkari'': [[http://www.the-senkari.com/2011/12/11/12112011/ Happens off screen to Fraenir]].%%Dead link, no context
370* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': While most of the characters don't worship Senets they are the First Gods and are still worshiped by some surviving cults and the Inak. This means that the stormfolk striking out at the Crescians with lightning is gods attacking them for their hubris in capturing and trying to use some of their fellows, even if the Crescians don't see it that way.
371[[/folder]]
372
373[[folder:Web Original]]
374* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Freeza is on the receiving end for making a BlasphemousBoast.
375-->'''Freeza:''' If I'm really as evil as you say I am, then let God strike me down where I stand. ''[Bolt strikes, Freeza is completely unharmed]'' Ha! Nice try, jackass! Next time, give it your A-game!
376* In ''Literature/FineStructure'', some scientists discover a wide variety of superscience-based technologies. As they apply them, they discover through trial and error that using them is a fast track to being killed in various lightning-related ways, such as reprogramming your teleportation machine to bury you alive. The entity responsible for this is eventually dubbed the "Imprisoning God".
377* In ''WebVideo/MarikPlaysBloodlines'' episode 6, [[TransparentCloset Marik]], [[spoiler:freaked out by a ''very'' angry [[ItMakesSenseInContext Mel Gibson]], admits that he's gay.]] Immediately after, he denies that he's gay, asking god to strike him down if he's lying. Immediately after, an elevator falls from the sky directly towards him, and Marik just barely manages to jump out of the way in time. When he realises it missed him, [[InsaneTrollLogic he claims this is proof that he is straight]].
378* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'':
379** When the Critic claims that Website/ChuckNorrisFacts are a bunch of bullshit, thus God (with Chuck Norris' head) strikes him dead with lightning.
380** He does it again after the Nostalgia Critic states that he prefers the depiction of Him as more of a loving God in ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' as compared to the more vengeful version of God seen in ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956''. At the end of video God makes a cameo to let the Critic know that He really is more the vengeful type, then hits Critic with a lightning bolt.
381* ''WebAnimation/OverSimplified'': In the video on UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, Union and Confederate soldiers are arguing over whose side God is on. When the Union soldier directly asks God whose side He's on, ''both'' soldiers get struck by lightning.
382* Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG: One item says that it's a bad idea to taunt Greek heroes with "Who's your daddy?".
383* This trope is used as the punchline for the Website/CollegeHumor video "If Football Players Were Atheists", where the end of the video has the atheist football player get obliterated by a lightning bolt after stating that God does not exist.
384[[/folder]]
385
386[[folder:Western Animation]]
387* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' has the song "Hello Nurse", in which Yakko and Wakko say of [[LustObject Hello Nurse]] at one point "If she's not everything we've said, then may lightning strike us dead." Cue lightning bolts. Note it doesn't actually ''kill'' them. Simply sends them to the hospital... to be cared for by Hello Nurse!
388* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' has a lightning strike that serve two purposes: as a retort to one of the characters who said [[TemptingFate "and if I am wrong may God strike me down"]] (or something similar) and it also [[spoiler:caused the power to go out for a minute, which saved the life of a wrongly accused man who was on death row]].
389* ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'': In ''Trombone Trouble'', Jupiter and Vulcan send down a thunderbolt to imbue Donald with divine power so he can punish Pete for his terrible trombone playing. [[HilarityEnsues It doesn't end well.]]
390* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS4E3BlindAmbition Blind Ambition]]", God uses this to light a woman's cigarette. Unfortunately, he makes a gesture a second time and blows her up.
391* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': The trope is parodied in one episode. When Quack Quack the indestructible duck decides to leave Smileyland, AxCrazy psychopath Mr. Cat can't control his murderous impulses and decides to attack someone else, deciding on resident ChewToy Stumpy. Just as he's about to bring a chainsaw down on Stumpy's head, he gets struck by lightning. Stumpy joyfully exclaims "God exists!" and then he also gets struck by lightning and decides to stop believing in God.
392* ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'':
393** WesternAnimation/BugsBunny has been subject to the lying version at least twice, once with a bolt of lightning and once with a train. Both times he was underground, and in the latter case there were no train tracks nearby.
394** Foghorn Leghorn once had a moment of starting to assert his statement with a threat of lightning, but as the screen darkens and he hears thunder, he realizes what's happening and doesn't finish the remark.
395* ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'': In the third act of "[[Recap/MrBogusS1E9HipsterTripster Hipster Tripster]]", Bogus, while interacting in an Indian exhibit at the Natural History Museum, finds himself caught in the middle of a thunderstorm, before one of the Indians comes up to him and hands him an umbrella to keep him dry in the rain. However, just seconds after Bogus receives the umbrella, a bolt of lightning shoots out from the sky and strikes the umbrella, destroying it, before Bogus finds himself being chased by lightning bolts.
396* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Friendship is Magic, part 1]]", Nightmare Moon calls down a lightning bolt on the trio of Royal Guards attempting to rush and arrest her.
397* ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'': One episode has this happen to Oscar who refuses to pay what he promised to the church he attends. After refusing he is immediately struck by lightning and burned very badly. He promptly says "Trudy, Write the man a check."
398%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'': Ren calling juju out.
399* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' has a sketch where a little kid is frying ants with a magnifying glass. He laughs "ha ha", and not two seconds later is struck (non-fatally) by a bolt of lightning followed by a much deeper "ha ha".
400* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': In "Zanzibar", when Ed Bighead is confronted by a big unruly mob about how he's now forced to make sure his company's factories stop dumping waste into the water, he tries to sing a song to counter them. [[LaserGuidedKarma Then a hole in the ozone layer opens right over his house and gives him a terrible sunburn]].
401* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': Subverted in an episode where Boris Badenov [[TemptingFate tells the cadre of criminals if he was lying, he'd be struck by lightning]]. It does, but the little rat was [[CrazyPrepared wearing a lightning rod under his hat!]]
402* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
403** One episode tells the story of the Mayflower. During a harsh storm, Reverend Lovejoy is praising God when he gets struck by lightning. He concludes that clearly kissing God's ass is getting him nowhere.
404** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS14E10PrayAnything Pray Anything]]", Homer starts praying for all sorts of things but when he commands God to turn the rain into wine, he gets struck by lightning.
405** After getting the part of Jesus in a Passion play, Homer starts going around in costume to openings of a local loan sharks' businesses, proclaiming them to be honest or his name isn't Jesus H... needless to say, he gets hit, then proceeds to shout at the sky to find out if that's going to happen every time (he's on his fiftieth opening at this point).
406** When Little Miss Springfield Amber Dempsey gets struck by lightning at a store opening, runner-up Lisa is sworn in as the new LMS. [[TemptingFate Krusty teases Lisa with the scepter a couple of times]], before being [[LaserGuidedKarma struck by lightning himself.]]
407--->'''Krusty''': [smoldering] I deserved that.
408* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
409** "[[Recap/SouthParkS7E9ChristianRockHard Christian Rock Hard]]": When Cartman is trying to sign on with a Christian label, he says he's not in it for the money and "If I'm lying, may God strike me down." Butters and Token nervously edge away from him, though nothing comes of it. He wasn't actually lying, though. He wasn't in it for the money, he was in it solely to spite Kyle.
410** "[[Recap/SouthParkS15E1HumancentiPad HumancentiPad]]”: At the end of the episode, Cartman flies off the handle and starts [[SmiteMeOMightySmiter screaming at the sky and trash-talking God]] after the title [=HumanCentiPad=] is taken away from him after Kyle's dad revokes his son's terms and service agreement with Apple by making an account with them. This time, Cartman ''does'' get smited, getting hit by lightning out of the blue and ending up in the hospital with his mom at his side, after all the crap he put her through all episode (up to and including ''false accusations of child molestation'') for the sake of getting it.
411* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'':
412** A subversion appears in "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E1TheAlgaesAlwaysGreenerSpongeGuardOnDuty Spongeguard on Duty]]", where Spongebob repeatedly rewords an oath to avoid this -- first to [[LastSecondWordSwap specify "ice cream truck" instead of "lightning"]] as the thing to hit him with, and then to add "and live" when an ice cream truck falls on him.
413** In the episode "A Friendly Game", [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick's plan to play a game of golf together is ruined by a thunderstorm. Patrick commands the storm to stop (with his putter raised in the air) and is promptly struck by lightning.
414* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'': In "[[Recap/Thundercats1985S01E05PummRa Pumm-Ra]]", Mumm-Ra, disguised as the Thundercat Pumm-Ra, steals the Sword of Omens and tries to use it against Lion-O, despite Lion-O warning him that the Sword cannot be used by evil beings. Mumm-Ra doesn't listen and does the "Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! [=ThunderCats=] Ho!" chant. He is promptly struck by lightning which makes him drop the sword.
415[[/folder]]

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