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1->''"It seems as if the whole world is conspiring against me!"''
2-->-- '''Charlie Brown''', ''WesternAnimation/ThePeanutsMovie''
3
4Most of us believe that our decisions have some influence on our lives. We think we are in control, but sometimes, there's the sneaking suspicion that an influence [[FinaglesLaw doesn't like us]], or maybe [[TheChewToy it does like us, but only in an abusive way]]. Their destiny is to be the universe's ButtMonkey to an extreme degree until the day they die. These characters don't just suspect, they ''know''.
5
6For some strange reason, they find their lives governed by events and rules that defy coincidence and logical explanation. They might figure out some of the "rules", like the what and the where, but the how and the why is a complete mystery.
7
8The nature of such a situation allows a certain flexibility to writers, as they don't have to think too hard about why this is happening or if the character's [[GenreBlindness belief in their situation is correct]], allowing them to [[{{Handwave}} focus on the immediate story]].
9
10Often includes a SmiteMeOMightySmiter. May overlap with PowersThatBe, but a real confirmation or sign is not necessary. All that is necessary is the belief that a specific entity or group is working on the character. It may also overlap CantGetAwayWithNuthin, if the character interprets the situation as an active, immutable force on them personally, rather than "how the world works" for everyone. If there's more than one cosmic entity and the other one guides another character into antagonizing the first, it's a CosmicChessGame. If the cosmic entity is incomprehensible and it brought a grand scale horror upon the universe, it's a CosmicHorrorStory.
11
12Compare BornUnlucky, WeirdnessMagnet, NoFourthWall, {{Hellistics}}, and TraumaCongaLine. May be caused by a TrumanShowPlot. PlayedForLaughs with TheChewToy. For a more subjective version, see DesignatedMonkey. Would often includes elements of ContrivedCoincidence and TemptingFate. If the character arguably deserves mistreatment by the universe, they might be the victim of LaserGuidedKarma, an IneffectualSympatheticVillain, or a JerkassWoobie.
13
14Opposite trope of KarmaHoudini on the karmic scale. Frequently the target of a KarmicMisfire.
15
16Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease This trope obviously shouldn't present real-life examples.
17
18----
19!!Examples:
20
21[[foldercontrol]]
22
23[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
24* ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'':
25** Keiichi Morisato starts this way by [[UnluckyEverydude being born under an unlucky star]] (the Star of Misfortune). Even after getting a [[MagicalGirlfriend goddess for a girlfriend]], his luck is still remarkably poor; it's just that Belldandy is now around to smooth out the worst parts.
26** This was stretched into a plot point about a [[PlagueOfGoodFortune thermodynamic-like Conservation of Happiness]], where any unnatural attempt to shift luck is dangerous because it has to go to or leave somewhere else.
27** "Urd", "Skuld" and ''"Verdandi"'' are the names of the Three Norse Goddesses of fate.
28* In ''Manga/{{Arachnid}}'', Alice Fujii is kidnapped and trained by an assassin named Kumo who she is then forced to kill. The Organization he was a part of makes her the target of a CarnivalOfKillers and as she endures battle after battle it suddenly hits her -- what if her mother's suicide, the root of all her troubles, was staged by them? She eventually learns their Boss is [[spoiler:her bully-turned-friend Yoriko, an ageless mind-controlling telepath who forced Alice's father to abandon his family before she was born just to order him to kill them later anyway. Because he manages to resist coming after Alice, Yoriko just starts raising her to become his replacement]]. By the time of the sequel ''Manga/{{Blattodea}}'', Alice has lost nearly everything and struggles for a year in an apocalypse of rape-powered zombies until she's saved just so she can join the Organization. As the new Boss, but it still doesn't make her any happy.
29* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': In this world, is the destiny of mankind controlled by some transcendental entity or law? Is it like the hand of God hovering above? At least it is true that man has no control, even over his own will.
30** As if the EldritchAbomination Godhand (which can warp reality if needed) weren't enough, a chapter removed from the main storyline [[spoiler: states that The Idea of Evil, aka God, is the sole driving force behind every single horrible event in the series. He is very good at that, because in the manga there's like at least 10 horrible events each chapter, ranging from an absurdly huge amount of explicit rape to misery beyond belief. He might not be a case of GodIsEvil though, since he sadly [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve needs evil to exist]].]] The really sad thing is that [[spoiler:the Idea of Evil was subconsciously created by humans, for humans. Humanity as a whole doesn't want to admit that their suffering has no greater meaning or that they have no one to blame for it but themselves. The Godhand, the Idea of Evil, and the very concept of "destiny" they embody is just an excuse for humanity to deny responsibility for themselves.]]
31* Strength (aka [[spoiler:the ''real'' Yuu Koutari)]] in the 2012 anime adaptation of ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' is revealed to be this: [[spoiler:Beneath her ill-tempered and [[AxCrazy psychotic]] attitude is a victim of bullying and ParentalNeglect. Her DarkAndTroubledPast is so bad, she switched places with ''her Other Self'' just to escape the horrible things happened to her in the real world.]]
32* ''Anime/CodeGeass'':
33** The universe hates [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge]] so much that he has to [[spoiler:"convince" God]] just to get a BittersweetEnding... [[spoiler:which he doesn't even live long enough to experience.]] On a meta note, the writing staff of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has often proclaimed their love for the show's protagonist Lelouch...and then they smack him with DiabolusExMachina after DiabolusExMachina, causing everyone connected to him to suffer, including [[spoiler:Shirley (loses father, goes through severe emotional torment, dies), Euphemia (accidentally mind controlled, reputation destroyed, killed), and C.C. (loses powers and memories up to the age of 10)]]. They insist that they do this out of affection, wanting Lelouch to learn AnAesop about appreciating what you have in life; the Japanese fandom responded by coining the term "Lulu Quality" to refer to such treatment.
34** [[Characters/CodeGeassSuzakuKururugi Suzaku Kururugi]] has his share too. Seeing his father was about to drive Japan into a war they couldn't win[[note]]His father was of the opinion he'd sooner see Japan destroyed than annexed to Britannia; he knew they were coming for the [[{{Unobtanium}} Sakuradite]].[[/note]], he decides to [[spoiler: kill him to stop the war and save lives. This haunts him as he grows up and he becomes very suicidal for it.]] Then he meets Euphemia, who is revealed to be a princess of Britannia, and they quickly fell in love, which leads to him stopping being suicidal and forming a plan to make the world a better place. But on the day this plan was initiated (the creation of SAZ) [[spoiler: she gets ordered by Lelouch (although accidentally) to kill all the Japanese people present. After the massacre Lelouch kills her,]] sending Suzaku into despair. The last nail was the F.R.E.I.J.A. incident which [[spoiler: was caused due to his "live" geass being activated and making him fire a nuclear weapon killing millions of people]]. In the end one can argue that he didn't get a happy ending because [[spoiler: Susaku Kururugui is now a dead man and he is trapped into the Zero persona.]]
35* Mitsuo in ''Manga/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'', who eventually had all other {{Butt Monkey}}s' mishaps misattributed to him; even one of those "other Butt Monkeys" sincerely believed it was Mitsuo, not him, who did it.
36* ''Manga/DeathNote'': Despite dismissing the possibility that Kira is a god early on, L repeatedly ponders the possibility that he is this. He's right: the plot was kicked off because Ryuk got bored.
37* ''Franchise/{{Devilman}}'': Literally for Satan, as revealed in the ''Amon'' manga, he is forced to suffer for eternity, [[spoiler: living and experiencing again and again the death of the one he loves most in an infinite timeloop and not realising he is trapped in said loop until it is too late; all that because he led the demons against God and God hates demons]].
38* Poor Pedro of ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' ends up a Cosmic Plaything. After getting killed early in the series, he's revived and spends several episodes as the boy toy for the Great Will of the Macrocosm. Cue a few of his many [[BigNo Big Nos]].
39* ''Manga/FairyTail'': "The Black Wizard" Zeref, the BigBad of the series. Simply for the crime of studying taboo magic [[spoiler:in order to bring his dead little brother back to life]], one of the JerkassGods, Ankhseram, cursed him with (almost) CompleteImmortality and an InstantDeathRadius. If he valued life, everything around him would die; if he didn't value life, he could control his powers but he would probably end up killing people anyway. To top it off, it was a curse of contradictions, causing him to suffer a SplitPersonality that made him suffer severe mood swings. He went into a complete downward spiral, always suffering, never finding relief in death. [[spoiler:What finally broke him was Mavis. She suffered the same curse he had, and being the only one to understand his pain, suggested they give EternalLove a shot. Her kindness and empathy caused him to fall in love with her, and they kissed. However, since the curse is that of contradictions, and because Ankhseram seems to revel in his pain, his love for her broke her curse and she died, cruelly and tragically destroying the only shred of happiness he's had in his entire life]]. One really can't blame him for snapping after that.
40* The cast of ''Anime/HareGuu'' were in a strange place metaphysically already, but then the god-like Guu shows an interest in them and it gets much weirder.
41* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'': Hayate isn't quite sure ''why'' the universe hates him so much, but he knows it's true. His friends know it's true. His poor luck is so infamous that Wataru is able to successfully gamble by betting on the exact opposite of what Hayate would pick. A major contributing factor can be his tendency to say the wrong thing at the right moment to get him brutally assaulted. [[spoiler: This may actually come from Athena giving him a 'lesson' which 'his body never forgot (hint: it involved swords and it wasn't fun) after neglecting to tell her about his kiss with Izumi when he left the castle.]] Since then his compulsive habit to be stupidly honest overrides his sense of self preservation.
42* The titular character of ''Manga/ImGreatPriestImhotep'' suffers this to an incredible extent. First of, he suffered from ParentalAbandonment twice and [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation his incredible genius only helps in making him feel all the lonelier]] through the majority of his childhood. One day, he becomes friends with Djoser, the incredibly idealistic PrincelyYoungMan, [[OnlyFriend marking the first time Im ever formed a friendship]]. Sadly, it was not meant to last as Djoser was born with "the soul of the sun" within him. This meant it was Djoser's turn to be sacrificed for the sake of the world, as the ritual to keep the dark forces of hell at bay can only be conducted by sacrificing a heart of a person born with "the soul of the sun", a rite that has to be carried out once every few centuries. [[spoiler: Stuck in a SadisticChoice between letting his friend be sacrificed or the LegionsOfHell razing the world, Imhotep tried to TakeAThirdOption and destroy the miasma by using a high-degree spell that is basically CessationOfExistence weaponized. However, TheOrder seen it coming from miles away and use a shapeshifter to surprise both Djoser and Imhotep. When Imhotep finally menages to free himself from his prison, he desperately tries and [[EpicFail fails]] to save Djoser. [[GoneHorriblyWrong Instead]], [[CreateYourOwnVillain he is presented]] to a [[SarcasmMode lovely]] shot of [[FanDisservice Djoser's pierced torso]] ([[NauseaFuel at the sight which he vomited]]), as Djoser questions Im WasItAllALie. Djoser than declares his desire to destroy the gods who made a fate like his possible in the first place using [[TheHeartless the magai]], malevolent creatures who mimic the gods in appearance and abilities. After a fierce battle, Imhotep succeeds in defeating him, but the magai are already scattered around the world, bringing death and misery wherever they go. As punishment, Im was [[AndIMustScream imprisoned for the next 3000 years]] until he was released, only to discover that Djoser still ain't dead and that rather than dealing with the magai, Ennead brought him back for the (primary) purpose of killing his best friend - ''again''. To rub salt on the wound, wherever he goes, Im [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten ends up frequently receiving a lot of hate]] from almost whoever he meets in the Amen Priest Association and others who know of the magai, as many of them have lost their loved ones because of the magai]]. Thankfully, some characters, such as Hinome, Anubis and [[CharacterDevelopment later on]] [[spoiler: Harugo]] seem determined to help him overcome his misery, much to Imhotep's [[WeReallyDoCare surprise]] [[YouAreNotAlone and]] [[TearsOfJoy joy]].
43* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
44** Good God, Naruto. When Naruto was a minute old--not a year, a MINUTE old--he was threatened by [[spoiler:Obito]] TWICE. The result of the attack made Naruto an orphan, a social pariah to the adults with the added bonus of the [[AnimalisticAbomination Nine-Tailed Fox, Kurama]] sealed inside of him. Probably due to the fact he never had any real training and said monster inside of him messing with his energy, he performed horribly in school, causing no one respect to him. Just when he made friends, his best friend goes crazy and tries to kill him. Just when you think things couldn't get worse, we learn that there are 10 hyper powerful ninja after him. And if he tries to use the Fox's powers, he slowly weakens the seal and causes enough damage to himself that he loses years off his lifespan and is a danger to everyone around him.
45** The majority of the villains qualify too. Most are people who started out good until various unfortunate events drove them past their DespairEventHorizon.
46** It turns out that ''all'' of the misery the world has suffered since the Sage of Six Path's time can be traced back to [[spoiler:Black Zetsu]].
47* The universe of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' seems to have it out for Shinji Ikari. Even in the reboots of the series, every time things begin to look up for this poor kid, or he tries to do anything heroic or badass, something always happens to [[YankTheDogsChain smack him right back down]] and push him into another HeroicBSOD if not worse.
48* Tomoko from ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular''. The world obviously hates her, though it's hard to say that she doesn't at least deserve some of it thanks to her overly judgemental attitude. The moment she gains some self-awareness of her faults and tries to not be so judgmental anymore, the universe seems to ease up on her... only to decide it should spread out the torment to her new friends as well.
49* The entire main cast of ''Manga/OnePiece'', a.k.a. the Straw Hat Pirates. It almost seems like having a sad past is an actual requirement to join the crew. From [[spoiler:staying alone on an empty ship for 50 years, to seeing their idol sacrifice their ability to fight to save them, to having their most significant person die (three of them lost their mothers before their very eyes, one saw the death of his adoptive father from a distance, one learned the rival that drove him so hard to train died in an accident, and one saw his mentor condemned to death, and the latter two were at least partially due to their actions),]] every character has had his/her own share of trauma. But perhaps by having this and other things in common, they find themselves bonding together as TrueCompanions.
50* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'' [[spoiler:everyone but Drosselmeyer]] is a Cosmic Plaything. [[spoiler:Drosselmeyer is the writer that happens to be pulling the strings.]]
51* ''Everyone'' save Kyubey in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' could be considered this, but special mention goes to Sayaka Miki. Even before she becomes a magical girl, the universe seems intent on beating her to the ground. [[spoiler:Starting with seeing her mentor get gruesomely killed in front of her, which Sayaka blames herself for because if she had contracted earlier Mami might not have died. Then, the guy she has had a crush on since childhood and been trying to help and comfort ever since he suffered a car accident breaks down and accuses her of wanting him to suffer, causing her to [[DealWithTheDevil Contract]] to help him. Sayaka proceeds to develop a rivalry with another magical girl who's much more powerful and experienced than her, until they both learn that Magical Girls are essentially [[OurLichesAreDifferent liches piloting meat puppets]]. And ''then'', one of her best friends confesses that she wants to ask out the same guy Sayaka sacrificed her humanity for, which Sayaka lets her because she doesn't feel like she deserves him when she's not even human anymore. All the above misery ultimately culminates in Sayaka [[FateWorseThanDeath succumbing to despair and transforming into a Witch]], who is then killed in a murder-suicide by the magical girl she had a rivalry with. Even after the universe is reset courtesy of Madoka, Sayaka is the only magical girl who remains dead (albeit by her own choice)]]. The creators have stated that ''any'' timeline Sayaka contracts in will result in her death.
52** In TheMovie, [[spoiler:Sayaka is BackFromTheDead, but ''still'' hasn't had enough suffering apparently, since the movie ends with the girl Sayaka was trying to save ripping her out of Heaven as an unintended side effect of doing the same to Madoka, which Sayaka is rather furious about]].
53* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', Ranma Saotome ends in such [[HilarityEnsues hilarious situations]] that he could only be part of a cosmic joke.
54* ''Manga/RaveMaster'': It is genuinely one of the founding rules of the universe that the Raregroove bloodline be screwed over in each generation. It also pits them against the Symphonias and the Raregrooves are always destined to lose. [[spoiler:[[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished All because one of their ancestors used time travel to prevent the extinction of the human race]].]]
55* Miyuki in ''Anime/SmilePrecure'' for the entirety of episode 13.
56* ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'': Seina Yamada. He has a quantified "bad luck field" that means that his life is constantly peppered with accidents, misfortune, and other nastiness. Considering the power and age of the Jurai royal family, he can be considered Seto's personal plaything.
57* Kaneki Ken from ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', even stating that if someone were to write a story with him as a protagonist, it would be a [[TragicHero tragedy]]. He's absolutely correct in this assessment, with his entire life being nothing but a progression of tragic events starting from his early childhood. His father died before he could remember, and his mother worked herself to death trying to support her ungrateful, greedy sister. His aunt repaid this kindness by abusing Kaneki once he was taken in by her family, and by the time he starts college, Hide is literally the only person in his life that cares about him. It seems like he's finally getting a break when the cute girl at the coffee shop agrees to go out with him, but she ends their date by trying to eat him and he's only saved when she's crushed by several tons of steel bars. He soon finds out the doctor gave him an unconventional organ transplant, turning him into a HalfHumanHybrid with a HorrorHunger. [[BreakTheCutie And]] [[TraumaCongaLine it]] [[ColdBloodedTorture just]] [[SanitySlippage keeps]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity getting]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone worse]] [[ShootTheShaggyDog after]] [[UncertainDoom that]]. [[spoiler: As of the finale of the first series, his LoveInterest has rejected him after a massive ReasonYouSuckSpeech, his attempt to rescue his mentor and friends ended in utter failure, he [[UncertainDoom may]] have eaten his best friend after finally reconciling with him, his WorthyOpponent is mortally wounded by his SuperPoweredEvilSide, and he ends up on the receiving end of a CurbStompBattle from [[TheDreaded Arima]]. It is left ambiguous whether he was captured or merely died a meaningless death. What is worse, it is then revealed all his misfortune in the series was the result of a massive prank by a gang of Ghoul pranksters, with two of his greatest allies turning out to be members. They've been manipulating and stringing him along the whole time for their own amusement, and laugh over his apparent death]]. It isn't an exaggeration to state that the universe hates him.
58* Moroboshi Ataru of ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' was [[BornUnlucky born on the second unluckiest day in the Japanese calendar]]: The thirteenth of April[[note]]Some sources say it was also a Friday like April 13, 1962[[/note]], the [[FourIsDeath fourth]] month of the year, as well as the day remembering the death of Bhudda. His name means "hit by a shooting star", which would take phenomenally bad luck.
59* ''Literature/WelcomeToTheNHK'': While he lives in a painfully mundane world, this is the mental illness of the main character: he ''thinks'' he is the target of this type of cosmic conspiracy.
60* Used several ways in ''Manga/XxxHolic'':
61** Watanuki is a WeirdnessMagnet, as his blood is delicious to supernatural creatures and thus draws them to him, much to his displeasure. Doumeki is the opposite of this, as his exorcism/purification powers are so strong his mere presence is a deterrent to the types of creepies that plague Watanuki. Pity Watanuki claims so strenuously he HATES Doumeki... All of this is eventually {{justified|Trope}}. [[spoiler:Turns out the supernatural creatures are attracted to him because he's subconsciously suicidal for remarkably spoilerific reasons, which attracts them like a lightbulb attracts moths]].
62** [[spoiler:Himawari]] turns everyone she touches or looks at towards very bad luck; she's never directly affected, and she herself isn't supernatural. Being associated (or even seen) with her has caused: [[spoiler: a girl who liked her to commit suicide, a compulsive liar to get hit by a bus, her grandmother to die, her teacher to get stabbed, her neighbor's house to burn down, a kekkai to be broken during a ritual, a college student to discover (and eventually be killed by) a [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor monkey paw]], and Watanuki to fall out of a window and require ''two'' [[DealWithTheDevil trades]] to save his life and he still loses movement in his finger.]] No one can say why she's like this, and wish-granting sorceress Yuuko tells Watanuki that the only thing that can take away her curse is by trading [[spoiler:all the happiness she will ever feel]]. [[spoiler: Himawari ''unconsciously'' exerts her effect on others (minus her own parents, her pet bird, which is from another dimension, and Doumeki, who wouldn't care anyway)]].
63* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'': It's protagonist Yuya, fits here. Yuya starts the series as a serious StepfordSmiler due to being bullied for 3 years of his life because of his disappeared dad and it only gets worse from there. Yuya is forced to see a [[spoiler:brutal interdimensional war using dueling as it center, which completely contradicts his belief that dueling should only be used for fun. He struggles to find an answer as one of his friends is proven to be TheMole, he discovers he has 2 IdenticalStranger(and 1 more that he hasn't met yet) which ends with one of them dying and fusing with him which results in a SuperPoweredEvilSide that he struggle to control that makes him break his ideals. When he finally gets a hold of all that, he learns his best friend, Yuzu is missing causing due to the war. He travels across dimensions to find her only to end up in a city where compassion is nearly dead and he ends up breaking his own ideals to survive]].
64* ''Anime/ZombieLandSaga'': Poor, young [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]]. [[spoiler: Her whole life before death was a string of misfortunes that inhibited any progress for a successful life. Her pursuits in athletics, education, and so on were all halted by seemingly random phenomena like injury and illness, and then right when her life turned around she was killed by a truck. Even after becoming a zombie and idol, all sorts of nonsensical events like natural disasters and the shenanigans of her fellow idols start to wear down her confidence once again.]] [[spoiler:The fact that this is all due in part to the curse of Saga makes this trope more literal than it seems.]]
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Comic Books]]
68* ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'': Animal Man is a combination of this and the MetaGuy; he realizes that he's a fictional character, at the whims of his writers. However, this awareness decreases and increases over time (naturally, due to the aforementioned whims).
69* ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'':
70** Whether from [[TraumaCongaLine constant tragedy]] or the Gods themselves, he's had to put up with a lot of crap, both pre- and post-Flashpoint. It's little wonder he's a little [[{{Pun}} crabby]]. Mera, his wife, isn't too far behind.
71** In ''ComicBook/AquamanSwordOfAtlantis'', Artie Joe got dragged into worldspanning adventures and mythology just because he shared the same name as the original Aquaman and happened to be near where King Shark was being attacked.
72* ''ComicBook/TheBeano'': Calamity James is a character whose main trait is his extreme [[BornUnlucky unluckiness]]. James knows how unlucky he is but is unable to stop it, and whatever he does is doomed to end in disaster.
73* ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'': Then there's DC Comics' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pariah_%28comics%29 Pariah]].
74* ''ComicBook/{{Deadman}}'': Deadman's actions generally revolve around the whim of some higher being, whether it's Rama Kushna or the White Lantern Entity.
75* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': Deadpool doesn't really mind being a Cosmic Plaything so much when it's Death wanting to use him as a willing boy-toy. He's not so happy, however, when it's Thanos making him immortal so that he can't steal Thanos's love interest.
76* ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'': Whenever the Grey Ravens' plans come close to fruition, Diabolik shows up from nowhere, kills as many of them as he can find, robs them blind, and generally beheads their organization. Given they're extremely unsympathetic WesternTerrorists of fascist leanings, we CallItKarma.
77* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' has two kinds of inversion. John Constantine uses karma to be in the right place at the right time, for instance when he needs to slip onto an air plane without being seen. Yet his life is frequently made miserable by tragedy striking those close to him.
78* ''ComicStrip/{{Nodwick}}'': The title character is referred to by the gods as a "destiny sponge". The more he suffers, the less others have to. This makes him sort of a martyr, who then gets resurrected so he can be martyred again, who gets resurrected again so that he can be martyred a third time, and so on, and so on.
79* ''ComicBook/PS238'': Charles Brigman has [[http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/07162008 officially]] [[http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/07302008 become]] a Cosmic Plaything.
80* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Spider-Man is Marvel's ultimate Cosmic Plaything. Sure, he is TheEveryman. But apparently part of why he's so relatable is because nothing goes his way. Even in the video games and the movies.
81* ''ComicBook/{{Squee}}'': The titular character would simply not be himself if he weren't suffering every second of his existence. Of course, this is a bit DarkerAndEdgier in that Squee is [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood six years old]].
82** To elaborate: Squee is the son of a druggie Mom and a Dad who actively despises him (and sometimes just watches his birth video in reverse), the neighbor of a [[ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac homicidal maniac]], the best friend of - literally - TheAntichrist, the repeat victim of bullies and alien abductions, and ultimately winds up committed to a BedlamHouse. Not to mention that he's haunted by a ghost and ''something'' in his [[SealedEvilInATeddyBear teddy bear]].
83* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
84** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': As [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]]'s Pre-Crisis origin no longer worked with Diana's new backstory Donna was given a new one ([[ContinuitySnarl/DonnaTroy or two]]), then got married and had a kid, and was widowed and outlived her very young kid, then Dark Angel erased her from the memories of her loved ones so she could force Donna to live out multiple nightmarish lives, then her soul was damaged so badly her mind had to be reconstructed using Diana and Wally's memories of her.
85** ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'' turns the Olympians' champions, like Hippolyta, into their playthings. Their free will is incredibly limited and they are forced to do things they dislike or are horrified by and spend eons watching their loved ones die and their people become more isolated and less knowledgeable about the fact that they've been prevented from interacting with the wider world. In the end only the broken hearted and horrified Hippolyta, who is left floating in a bubble in space surrounded by the corpses of her people, is left.
86** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanWarbringer'': Because Alia is the Warbringer, multiple factions are either trying to kill her or to save her, all with their own agenda. Even the oracle and several goddesses have a hand in this. Alia herself is just a normal seventeen year old girl who wants to live her life, though.
87* ''ComicBook/XMen'': ''ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}'' has the worst of luck among the X-Men. It's like his secondary power.
88[[/folder]]
89
90[[folder:Comic Strips]]
91* As the page quote and the page image of ButtMonkey make very clear, [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]].
92* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' is an interesting case. For him, he's only a Cosmic Plaything [[RunningGag on Mondays]], [[HatingOnMonday hence his hatred]]. Otherwise, it's his owner [[ButtMonkey Jon]] who just merely borders this trope.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Fan Works]]
96* ''ABackwardsGrin'': If the fact that she's in [[SelfInsertFic this situation]] in the first place isn't enough, Mawile reflects on this in Chapter 4 after she coincidentally crosses paths with Ash and Paul simultaneously. Of course, she still has no idea why.
97* In ''Fanfic/BrilliantLightsWillCeaseToBurn'', Izuku feels like this due to the nearly constant craziness in his life between being the Cardcaptor, having all sorts of responsibilities, and becoming a vigilante by accident.
98-->There is no god. Except there is a god, and not just one god, and they’re all laughing. Izuku’s life is just one poorly written sitcom, and everyone’s having a good time except for him.
99* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' is pretty much what it looks like when most of the cast is this and the cosmic player, Doctor Strange, is one of the main characters.
100** Harry is mainly Doctor Strange's plaything, the centrepiece of his epic scale scheming against Thanos - he's been at it for [[spoiler: 500,000 years]], at a conservative estimate - and since he's a prolific time traveller, his machinations cover ''billions'' of years. However, at the very least, [[spoiler: the Phoenix]] also has an intense interest in him, and cooperates with Strange, since they're working to compatible ends. And then there's a lot of other people who want to hijack his powers and destiny.
101** Harry Dresden is an example as in canon, with the interest of Queen Mab, the Archangel Uriel, and several other power players, having been born at a specific time for a specific reason. He is also one of Strange's pawns, and the effects on his life are detailed much more thoroughly than most.
102** Carol Danvers also has this to an extent; partly because Strange also has a plan for her, but also because [[Franchise/GreenLantern a certain enchanted object]] has taken a liking to her.
103* ''WebVideo/DeathNoteTheAbridgedSeriesKpts4tv'': [[Manga/DeathNote Light]] is this, sometimes ''[[IHaveYouNowMyPretty literally.]]'' Also [[spoiler: Mikami]], [[RageAgainstTheAuthor the writer really has it in for him.]] And L [[spoiler: [[FirstLawOfResurrection who is resurrected]] [[TheyKilledKennyAgain just to be killed off again.]]]]
104* ''Fanfic/HolidayVacation'': Lampshaded when Tsukasa slips on wet concrete and sprains her ankle while thinking about her relationship with Miyuki.
105* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21393373/chapters/50964985 Level Up]]'': Izuku has a Quirk that gives him a SuddenGameInterface. However, the interface hates him, and the spats against Izuku got so bad that some fans feared that the author would have One For All go to someone else after Izuku was given All Might's hair. ''And the fears were justified.''
106* ''Fanfic/NotThisTimeFate'': Jaune is stuck in a variation of GroundhogDayLoop - well, more like a year or two - in which he has to see all of his friends die over and over again with no end in sight. [[spoiler: He turns out to be a literal example, as his misfortune is caused by some metaphysical manifestation of fate, which is constantly trying to steer him towards some unknown goal.]]
107* ''Fanfic/SuddenContact'': Liara really gets the short end of the stick. [[spoiler:First captured and indoctrinated by Sovereign, then captured by the Zerg and infested...]]
108* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Spectra's life is pretty much just one catastrophe after another, starting with the day of her birth when her parents were executed for bank robbery and the magistrate punished her with a cursed necklace of nudity, assuming she'd follow in their criminal footsteps and use her changeling abilities for evil if given the chance. After growing up on the streets, she works her way out of poverty by becoming a prostitute for the seedy local circus, and seems to finally get her first break when a celestial makes her his warlock patron...until he starts teleporting her to dangerous foreign places and forcing her to complete cryptic missions for him or else he won't send her home. And her actions during these missions are starting to catch the attention of very powerful factions who don't realize she's acting entirely out of survival, and increasingly have bones to pick with her for messing up their plans. In general, no matter what situation she finds herself in, it's often incredibly unpleasant, entirely not her fault, and only ever getting worse...
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111[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
112* ''Film/TheMothmanProphecies'': John believes that he and his wife were TooHappyToLive, therefore:
113-->'''John:''' Two weeks ago, we were house hunting. One day you're just driving along in your car, and the universe just points at you and says, "Ah, there you are: a happy couple. I've been looking for you. I've been looking for you."
114* Inverted in ''Film/BruceAlmighty'', in which the titular character treats everyone else this way after being given [[GodForADay the power of God]]. Even if he likes you, he's still going to screw with you, albeit in ways that might be fun. [[note]]After all, who wouldn't like to be given spontaneous orgasms and have their every prayer answered with an instant and unconditional "yes"?[[/note]] And if you've made him mad...well, "God help you" doesn't exactly cover it. [[note]]Having a monkey force its way in and out of your butt, being made to lose control of your body (And in a deleted scene, set on fire twice and given a nose bleed!) just because you were given the promotion Bruce wanted, to name a few.[[/note]]
115** In a funny way, the whole plot is set in motion with Bruce believing he's one himself- that God likes toying with him "Like a mean kid with a magnifying glass" and that he just wants to 'burn his feelers off and watch him squirm'
116* Larry Gopnik of ''Film/ASeriousMan''. It ''is'' based on the Book of Job, after all.
117* The trailer for ''Film/{{Vamp}}'' contained the following litany of the protagonist's experiences that evening:
118--> "Tonight, I was nearly hung. I got into a fight with a psychotic albino. I ate a cockroach, my best friend disappeared, and just now I was almost assassinated by a runaway elevator. I've had a bad day!"
119* When Jack Slater, the titular ''Film/LastActionHero'', finally confronts the actor who plays him (Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger) in the real world, he gives the actor a long, angry rant about how Schwarzenegger ruined Slater's life by putting him through hell. It might have been entertaining to the audience, but having his son die, having his marriage ruined, and being subjected to gunfight after gunfight after gunfight was less than fun for the fictional character.
120-->'''Jack:''' "Let us push his son off the building. You will have eternal nightmares, but you are fictional, so who cares?"
121* In Italy this kind of character is known as "The Fantozzi", after the protagonist of his namesake books and [[Film/{{Fantozzi}} film series]]. He's so unlucky that when his 1870 incarnation in Rome finally found a patron in a cardinal and got his own apartment in the city's walls, [[UsefulNotes/WarsOfItalianIndependence the Royal Italian Army blew a hole in his dining room and conquered the Papal States]], thus making him lose his patron and replacing him with someone that despised Fantozzi.
122* Deconstructed with Kylo Ren [[spoiler:a.k.a. Ben Solo]] of ''Franchise/StarWars''. As various supplemental material reveals, he's been through ''hell'' his entire life, and it's been disastrous on his mental and emotional health. From being stalked by Snoke since infancy, to [[Literature/StarWarsLastShot being traumatized and almost killed as a toddler]], to being emotionally neglected by his parents, to [[spoiler:almost being killed by his uncle]], Kylo went through so much crap it led to his turn to the dark side and PsychopathicManchild mindset. [[TraumaCongaLine And that's just before the movies start]].
123* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:'' Wanda Maximoff. The poor woman seems to exists just to suffer one misery after another. From losing her parents, brother, lover and sons, to being neglected by her teammates to the point of feeling alone, to being corrupted by an evil book, it's no surprise that she [[SanitySlippage ends going crazy]]. [[spoiler:And the fact that, as the Scarlet Witch, she's the ChosenOne of a Demon Lord, and destined to either rule or destroy the Multiverse, seems to have a hand on it.]]
124* ''Film/FlodderInAmerika'': The second movie in particular makes it seem like the universe just has it out for Sjakie. He loses the Flodder family at the airport, then a traffic jam in New York City makes it take him the rest of the day to reach his local contact's downtown office. He arrives past closing time, forcing him to sleep in a brothel. After he's discussed the Flodders' disappearance with them the next day, he loses his glasses and gets his hands stuck in a storm drain before he's mugged. Every passerby ignores him until a homeless person helps him get out after about a day, but Sjakie is subsequently imprisoned after a riot breaks out in a food court. Finally, he's hit by a car and then mistaken for a gender reassigment patient at the hospital.
125[[/folder]]
126
127[[folder:Literature]]
128* Revealed in a later book in ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}''. An entity called The Ellimist was known to be playing games for a while with an entity named Crayak, but the Ellimist eventually revealed that five of the six main characters were specifically chosen to fight the Yeerks.
129* The basic premise of the children's book ''Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day''.
130* Shadow in ''Literature/AmericanGods'', more directly than usual. The book starts with him being released from prison a few days early! [[YankTheDogsChain Because]] his wife was killed in a car accident. Along with his best friend, who he was also counting on to hire him. Because they were committing adultery in a moving car. He quickly gets hired by [[Myth/NorseMythology Mr. Wednesday]], who drags him around the country recruiting gods for a ResourceWar over [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly belief]], and more of the gods than not decide to make him their new ButtMonkey. Finally things settle down briefly, only for [[spoiler:the [[HumanSacrifice kobold]] of the town where he's staying to more or less metaphysically dox him, landing him in jail again]]. Then in very quick succession, [[spoiler:he sees Mr. Wednesday get shot, finds out his old cellmate [[LouisCypher Low Key]] is working for the opposition, and volunteers for the vigil only to discover it consists of [[Myth/NorseMythology hanging on the World Tree for nine days and nights]] with no food or water, which kills him]]. He goes through [[spoiler:afterlife judgment by Anubis and chooses no afterlife at all--he just wants to [[DeathSeeker stop existing entirely]]]]. But he can't even manage that because [[spoiler:the Old Gods vs. New Gods war is still on and it turns out [[ArcWords it was a two-man con]] by [[BigBadFriend Loki and Wednesday]] to gain power for themselves at the expense of ''all'' other gods. Oh, and [[LukeIAmYourFather Wednesday is also his father]]]]. After all this is over, he goes and nearly gets himself killed ''twice'', [[spoiler:first by the kobold and then by Czernobog]], neither of which actually kills him. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And then the Icelandic Odin wants to chat with him on his vacation in Reykjavik]].
131* In ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma's [[AntiMagic power to negate supernatural/magical effects]] also negates his ''luck''. He's definitely BlessedWithSuck with that one.
132* ''Literature/TheCircleOpens'': The idea is alluded to by Tris in ''Shatterglass'' while she's trying to comfort a grieving child. She says it's much nicer to think that the gods are giving you hardships to make you stronger than it happening for no reason at all.
133* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'':
134** Greg.
135*** In ''Old School'', Grandpa chooses Greg's bed and Greg must sleep with Manny.
136*** In ''The Ugly Truth'', the Jeffersons hire someone to be Rowley's replacement friend.
137** The Heffleys as a whole seem to be this. For the crime of wanting to enjoy their vacation, renovate their house, and move to a nicer house, they get utterly screwed over because of pure bad luck.
138* Rincewind from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series is knowingly favored of The Lady (that is, of Luck), resulting in an amazing capacity for survival... but also what he calls "preemptive karma;" if it even looks as if something good will happen to him in the future, his karma will ensure that something bad happens immediately, and continues happening so the good things never come around. It doesn't help that being the Lady's favored puts you on the top of Fate's most-hated list. A side-effect of the conflict between Luck and Fate is that even Death himself does not know when Rincewind is going to die.\
139\
140 The only reason that the last statement is true is because of this: Due to the machinations of the Lady, and counter-machinations of Fate, Rincewind has been bounced through time and space so often, the most impressive fact of his life is that he has yet to run into himself. Finding the start, let alone end, of a life like that is damnably hard, even for Death. (Although Rincewind would be (dis)pleased to learn that Death has taken such a personal interest in him that his lifetimer is kept on Death's desk, much as a butterfly collector would keep an interesting specimen. The shape is akin to what you might expect if a drunken glassblower went about making a normal egg-timer, and had a continuous case of hiccups.)\
141\
142So, when the wizards bring him back and make him comfortable, it scares him more than anything. Because things only stop going wrong when Fate is lining up an even bigger punch. But this seems to have come to an end as of ''Literature/TheLastHero'' where [[spoiler:he accepts the fact he will be on the mission to save the world but clearly states he doesn't wish to volunteer. He simply knows by some machination of him hiding he would end up on the ship, or someone would remember his relationship with the people dooming the world and would be forced to join the mission. So he is just cutting out the middle part and volunteering for the mission even though he doesn't want to.]]
143** While Rincewind is the best-known and the one whose relationship with the deity "playing" him is most often explored, it's evident that other characters in the ''Discworld'' novels are also literally being used as cosmic playing pieces. One example where this fact is central to the novel's climax is the standalone book ''Literature/SmallGods''.
144* [[spoiler:Randolph Carter]] from Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'' is this. [[spoiler:It turns out the city Carter had been searching for the whole time was actually just jumbled up memories of Boston.]]
145* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden's being manipulated and shoved around by multiple god-like entities for their own occasionally overlapping, still mostly unrevealed agendas. The fairy Queen Mab and his godmother Leanansidhe have overlapping-but-not-quite endgames, his mother gave birth to him for a specific reason, the angel Uriel chose him as a champion and probably has a specific goal in mind for him, occasionally Odin will manipulate him for his own means. Harry's been born with unique powers and is hinted at having a special destiny, so any powerful enough supernatural entity that he attracts the attention of wants to hijack or use that.
146* Robert Heinlein’s late period novel ''Literature/JobAComedyOfJustice'' starts off as a parody of the Book of Job, with a stereotypical Heinlein character (white male optimistic survivor, with a true love not entirely unlike Heinlein’s wife Virginia) getting the rug pulled out from under him repeatedly by Cosmic Forces. Then it gets weird.
147* Much of Creator/MichaelMoorcock's work, and all his ''Eternal Champion'' stories, are focused on this concept. The Champion labors, usually unknowingly, toward a balance between the opposing forces of Chaos and Law. Ultimately, the [[spoiler: Champions actually destroy the Balance, sort-of, creating a supposed world free of destiny, where people have free will. At least, that was the version in the Count Brass books.]] The most famous Champion is Elric, who is dedicated to a god of Chaos, carries an [[ArtifactOfDoom intelligent sword that doesn't always do as he wishes]], and generally is the focus of all the higher-up manipulations. In ''Stormbringer'' he gets [[spoiler:missives from Fate every so often, telling him to just do stuff, including killing a dead god]].
148* Inverted by the titular main character in ''Literature/GoblinSlayer''. [[spoiler:Considering the whole thing is based on a tabletop gaming session]], everyone's fate is determined by chance. But Goblin Slayer is too meticulous to leave anything to chance; he always has contingency plans, and as the Tagline puts it, "He does not let anyone roll the dice." He's just an unremarkable NPC in the grand scheme of things, but his tendency to defy bad dice rolls and turn the table in one fell swoop makes the gods extremely fond of his antics (well, one of them; [[KillerGameMaster the other]] isn't so happy), as not even they can predict where his adventure might end.
149* Most of the protagonists in the novels and stories of Creator/KurtVonnegut, perhaps most notably Billy Pilgrim in ''Literature/SlaughterhouseFive''.
150* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': The title character causes this trope for her entire circle of friends, but for Mikuru Asahina most of all. You know the universe hates you when getting groped on a daily basis by God is among the least of your problems.
151* ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxyTrilogy'': Arthur Dent is the ''epitome'' of this trope, being laughed at as an absurdity by the man who once knew all the truth in the universe, having his home (both house and planet) destroyed by [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Bureaucrats]], having his girlfriend blip out of existence for no reason, accidentally killing the same man in each of his reincarnations, the list goes on.
152** You think ''Arthur's'' got it bad? Consider Agrajag, who is the "same man" referred to above.
153** "Oh, that's just perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the universe has that."
154** Also Rob [=McKenna=], the trucker who was a rain god and had absolutely no idea? All he knew was that he constantly had a literal raincloud over his head. And had catalogued two hundred and thirty-one separate types of rain. The clouds loved him and want to be near him, but he didn't see it that way.
155*** His status as a rain attractor was recognized internationally, as several nations and major airports ''paid him to stay away at all times.''
156* Stanley Yelnats of ''Literature/{{Holes}}'', thanks to his no-good, dirty-rotten, pig-stealing great-great-grandfather.
157%%* ''Literature/JobAComedyOfJustice'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein takes "Job" to a new level; you could rename the trope after this book.
158* ''Literature/KokoroConnect'': A cosmic entity possesses the body of their teacher and flat out tells them that it plans to experiment with them.
159* ''Literature/LabyrinthsOfEcho'' got "being a rather blunt tool of the fate" as almost the defining quality of the series' protagonist. He [[WildMagic interacts with magic in abnormal ways half of the time]] and constantly happens to fall into situations where he sees as the only sane thing to do something ranging from outlandish to [[AchievementsInIgnorance considered impossible even theoretically by anyone more competent]]. He's beaten with this to the point that in the second book of eight they already had such a dialogue:
160-->'''Juffin''': ...How do you do, Sir Max?\
161'''Max''': Normally, perhaps. (shrugs in bewilderment) Just now [[spoiler:gave an order of extermination of a whole people... and helped two lovebirds to reunite]]. Nice, isn't?\
162'''Juffin''': Yup, not bad. Normal workdays of a normal Arbiter... You don't plan to make a tragedy out of this, right?
163* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
164** In ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', Ganoes Paran suffers one misfortune after another, as the gods squabble over him constantly. The universe has a perverse sense of humour, however, and in later books he ends up as the guy setting the rules for said gods.
165** Toc the Younger never seems to catch a break--in his first appearance alone, he loses an eye and is tossed into the Warren of Chaos to die. In each subsequent appearance, something catastrophic happens to him, and all of it PlayedForDrama. Only with his last appearance does something go his way.
166** The series is quite fond of those, as ''Literature/MidnightTides'' introduces the reader to Udinaas, who starts out [[HappinessInSlavery quite content with life]]. It could be worse, anyway. Needless to say, it doesn't last. He gets caught up in one plan gone horribly wrong after another, with gods and those that fancy themselves as such poking around in his brain and life like it's cheese.
167** ''Literature/HouseOfChains'' introduces Trull Sengar who has to watch his entire people, family and life get destroyed and turned upside down, only to then get kicked around and used by the PowersThatBe. He knows it and cannot even do anything against it. At the end he even [[spoiler: dies because a god can't help himself but nudge fate as is his nature and Trull gets stabbed by a thug [[TragicHero while standing above the corpse of his dead brother]]]].
168** There is also Icarium Lifestealer, a Cosmic Plaything gone horribly wrong. The gods and other powers ''tried'' to break him and make him a weapon they could wield at will, but he snapped and now they have to make sure he never, ''ever'' [[UnstoppableRage loses his temper]].
169* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', this is explicitly the result of accumulating karmic debt-the universe acts to right the balance by making things difficult for you in any way that it can, in the most inconvenient of ways. Sufficiently talented [[KarmaHoudini Karma Houdinis]], however, can evade the universe's backlash and survive long enough to bear children unto whom they pass the debt. Blake Thorburn is the heir to one such line, and as a result he's forced into increasingly chaotic situations as the universe applies itself to righting his karmic balance.
170* Eugenides of Megan Whalen Turner's ''Literature/TheQueensThief'' series is one of these. The eponymous Thief, he is named for - and protected by - the God of Thieves, and is generally jerked around by the gods to serve their ends. Sometimes he finds it frustrating, other times he is more pragmatic about it; as he says himself, "If I am the pawn of the gods, it is because they know me so well, not because they make my mind up for me."
171* Seems to be the case for the two protagonists of ''Literature/RavellingWrath''. Not only is one of them seemingly required to kill the other due to their status as representatives of the (very real) gods, they have been drafted in service to their theocracy's deities despite the fact that [[StarCrossedLovers they are in a relationship]].
172* ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'': [=FitzChivalry=] Farseer of the ''Farseer'' and ''Tawny Man'' trilogies. Described as [[spoiler:Fool's]] "[[BlessedWithSuck Catalyst]]", which means he exists largely to ScrewDestiny. As [[spoiler:Fool]] puts it, [[spoiler:the world is like a wheel caught in a circular rut, and will follow that rut, digging itself in deeper; only a White Prophet like the Fool can see this course of fate, and more importantly, where a wedge -- the Catalyst -- can be placed to pop that wheel out of that rut and onto a new path. Coincidentally, and to stretch the metaphor a little further, that means the wedge gets run over by the wheel. Hard. And repeatedly, if the first attempt didn't work, making it worse as the rut gets deeper.]] Fitz definitely has the worst time overall of anyone in the series, getting ''at best'' a BittersweetEnding at the end of ''Farseer'', though he just manages to scrape something better out of ''Tawny Man''.
173* ''Literature/ReZero'': Subaru just can't catch a break, as exemplified by the fact that his life is essentially a series of time loops wherein horrible things happen which end in him and his friends dying painful deaths. Sure, eventually he's able to figure out a new solution... but that only nets him a new checkpoint to respawn at when things escalate once again a few days later. And he can't tell anyone about his "Return by Death" curse either, leaving him to suffer the mental pain of it all alone.
174* K.J. Parker's ''Literature/TheScavengerTrilogy''. [[spoiler: Poldarn: events are possibly being manipulated by the god of the same name to teach him a lesson. Out of jealous love or for revenge.]]
175* Raymond Jardine from ''Literature/ASemesterInTheLifeOfAGarbageBag'' considers himself this. Sean, initially skeptical of and frustrated by Raymond's attitude, comes to realize that Raymond really does have [[BornUnlucky terrible luck]].
176* Túrin from ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' (Children of Húrin). Morgoth cursed his entire family. Actually, Tolkien claimed it wasn't precisely a curse, since Morgoth was the source of all evil in the world anyhow.
177-->"Sit now there, and look out upon the lands where evil and despair shall come upon those whom thou lovest. Thou hast dared to mock me, and to question the power of Melkor, Master of the Fates of Arda. Therefore [[ToThePain with my eyes thou shalt see]], and with my ears thou shalt hear, and never shalt thou [[AndIMustScream move from this place]] until all is fulfilled unto its bitter end."
178* ''Literature/TheSisterVerseAndTheTalonsOfRuin'' has John, who is reincarnated through trillions of agonizing lifetimes by the reality-warping villain. He's like a [[VideoGame/TheSims Sims]] character being tortured by an incredibly sadistic player.
179* Just living in the CrapSackWorld of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' counts, frankly. Slave/thrall, commoner to noble, you're going to get put through [[DysfunctionJunction the wringer]]. And, being at the top of the heap isn't all that much more secure than being stuck suffering at the bottom, even if it comes with perks. Worse, because being noble means politics (and politics + time = history), any of your accidents, screw-ups, mishaps and absolutely all of the malicious slander you get associated with will get recorded for posterity. Others will judge you well after you've died, and party games will be played ragdolling your name across witty banter. Usually entirely stripped of context, too. Yay. At least smallfolk generally don't get their horrible, insignificant and political unremarkable lives recorded for others to go all schadenfreude over; except as the occasional named face briefly highlighted as part of a rioting mob, or as a lesson advising against overly swift rises in personal status. Yay?
180** Subversion: Dolorous Edd constantly complains that he is this trope, but compared to what's happened to most other characters in the story, he's actually rather better off... Even if he is freezing his butt off on the Wall facing down armies.
181** If you think that being a Targaryen, Stark, Lannister or Baratheon is akin to wearing a cosmic bullseye along with the titles, try learning to play the lute and singing to make a living. Seriously, don't learn how to play songs, don't gossip, don't flirt with every woman who comes into the vicinity and don't, for the love of little apples, try to dabble in politics yourself. Furthermore, avoid gaining powerful political patrons who appreciate your art and who you think will set you up for life. Being a WanderingMinstrel bodes ''nothing'' but ill. Straight as a die [[FateWorseThanDeath Bad]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath Things]] ''will'' happen to you as you get used up and ''crushed'' by the machinations going on around you. You have been warned.
182** Go on, outright scheme to become the [[StandardHeroReward illustrious]] [[HighTurnOverRate Lord]] [[TheMillstone of]] [[AwesomeButImpractical Harrenhal]]. No, really: [[WhiteElephant go on]]. [[SchmuckBait We dare you.]]
183** OK, [[SmugSnake Theon Greyjoy]] is [[AssholeVictim not a nice guy]] and often paints his own target for the world to aim at (both accidentally and deliberately), but... ''nobody'' deserves a [[HumiliationConga conga]] [[TraumaCongaLine line]] of ''that'' length.
184* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': By the later books of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', each of the three main characters is wholly aware that anywhere and everywhere they go, they are going to find themselves in danger that can't be solved easily, no matter how innocent their current surroundings are. Zak and Hoole even lampshade it.
185* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Kaladin. His entire life has been one crisis to the next, from normal childhood problems with parental expectations, to running afoul of a noble who tried to squeeze his father for everything he had, to following his brother to war, to ''losing'' his brother to war, to watching his entire squad die, to being branded a slave, and then being tossed into a job that is nothing but a succession of literal and explicit suicide missions. It gets to the point that he is convinced that someone or something ''must'' be toying with him. An important part of his characterization is learning to accept [[IShouldHaveBeenBetter that he can save people if he tries]], [[WarIsHell but he still can't save everyone]].
186* Deconstructed in ''Literature/{{Thirsty}}''. It ''blows'' having [[spoiler:your entire life written by a sadistic EldritchAbomination]].
187* Standard for the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' books by Creator/TamoraPierce.
188** Alanna is chosen by the Great Mother Goddess in ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness''. Later books retcon things a little to give the Mother Goddess a motive - by supporting Alanna challenging womens' rigidly defined roles in society, worship of the Goddess will include those aspects of herself that aren't only domestic and nurturing. Also, someone has to kill Duke Roger again.
189** Daine is watched over by the Badger God in ''Literature/TheImmortals'' and has an unusual strength in wild magic. In ''Wolf-Speaker'' animal gods have her wolf friends ask for her help. The animal gods want Daine to try to make the Long Lake valley into a place where humans, animals, and Immortals can all live in peace. Daine isn't happy about this, but they do at least lay things on the table and she does make enough friends that she wants to help them. In ''Emperor Mage'' Daine is chosen by a much more capricious and [[JerkassGods cruel]] goddess, the Graveyard Hag, who makes things a lot more difficult. [[spoiler:Later Daine discovers that her magic and interest to so many gods is because she's a half-goddess herself. When she's pregnant, the kid starts shapeshifting in utero.]]
190** Keladry eventually becomes the titular ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' thanks to the Chamber of the Ordeal, who points her towards a necromancer and says "fix this". Then she gets orders to run a refugee camp, which gives her a good deal of anxiety about being able to complete her quest. [[spoiler:When said necromancer attacks her camp and abducts its children en masse, she realizes that's the opportunity the Chamber predicted.]]
191** In the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'', [[GreatGazoo Kyprioth]] arranges events to have Aly captured by slave-takers and sold to a very specific family in the Copper Isles to fulfill TheProphecy (that he came up with) and defeat Mithros and the Goddess. She takes it in stride and with a good deal of snark.
192** ''Literature/BekaCooper'' is a chosen of the [[GrimReaper Black God]]. It actually helps her quite a lot in her police work — hearing ghosts is useful for solving murders, and the "dust spinners" let her hear conversations that happened several hours before. The Black God is also the [[DontFearTheReaper kindest god]], so she doesn't mind being his instrument.
193* ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'': The main character Kyousuke is very much a literal example of this trope. In the past, he managed to make [[spoiler:the White Queen]], an all-powerful EldritchAbomination, fall in love with him. Due to her killing countless people and causing the [[CrapsackWorld current state of the world]], he now wants nothing to do with her. However, she will [[{{Yandere}} do anything and everything to get him back]], including inflicting all manner of suffering on him.
194* ''Literature/WorldEndWhatDoYouDoAtTheEndOfTheWorldAreYouBusyWillYouSaveUs'': [[FailureHero Willem Kmetsch]] is without a doubt one of the most unfortunate light novel protagonists in history. After promising to return home to his adopted family, he was frozen in time for 500 years. Upon awakening he discovers that the rest of mankind was wiped out by the [[EldritchAbomination 17 Beasts]] shortly after he was frozen. The last living human is then forced to live in a world where humanity is reviled for their alledged role in the beasts' emergence. Fortunately, he has a chance encounter with a young fairy named Chtholly, and the two eventually fall in love. He also manages to find himself a new family, similar to the one from his past life. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Chtholly is a literal TykeBomb with an extremely short lifespan, and she dies despite Willem's best efforts. Around this time, Willem also discovers that the monsters that destroyed all life on the surface were originally human, meaning that his old friends and family have been the cause of so much suffering in the present]]. Things only spiral downward from there. [[spoiler:He ends up being forced to relive the destruction of his old hometown by an EldritchAbomination seeking to break his mind. As it turns out, the creature is none other than Willem's {{Childhood Friend|s}}, who had never stopped waiting for him to return home. Willem can only apologize for never coming home as he performs a MercyKill on the unfortunate beast. To make matters worse, the EldritchAbomination inhabiting her decides to use him as its new vessel and he begins turning into a beast himself. The process is only stopped by advanced magic which seals away all of his memories, preventing him from ever seeing his new family again, lest the seal on the beast weaken. Willem tries to live a normal, if amnesiac, life with this reprieve. However, events conspire to present Willem with a choice between letting those he once cared about suffer a FateWorseThanDeath or completely give in to his inner beast. Willem chooses to unleash the monster inside of him and thus turn himself into the series' final antagonist, allowing himself to be killed in a SuicideByCop scenario. Fortunately, he's NotQuiteDead and is able to return sometime later. The amount of suffering he goes through makes the [[EarnYourHappyEnding ending]] all the more satisfying.]]
195* ''Literature/WorldOfTheFiveGods'':
196** Cazaril, the hero of ''The Curse of Chalion''. A god using you as a tool isn't nearly as fun as it sounds.
197** Then there's Ista, heroine of ''Paladin of Souls'', who ''knows'' she's a tool of the gods, and resents it deeply.
198[[/folder]]
199
200[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
201* The titular character of ''Series/{{Angel}}''. His overall story arc seems to underscore the fact that ThePowersThatBe enjoy playing with him.
202* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
203** Londo Mollari claims that he is this on a couple occasions. In one episode in the fifth season, he comments that he would have thought that the universe would say "Well, we've had our little fun with Londo Mollari" and moved on to torturing someone else by now. Of course, he tends to ignore the fact that many of the bad things that occur to him are the direct result of his own decisions, and a lot of things he complains about affect more people that just him.
204** Marcus lampshades this at one point by stating it's probably better to be this then to actually deserve the punishments life hands your way.
205--->'''Marcus''': I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, "Wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them?" So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.
206* ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'': Cory had an interesting take on why he couldn't get away with things.
207** Turned on its head in B & B's B'n B when Cory gets caught up in Shawns scheme to turn Feeny's house into a Bed and Breakfast for the weekend while he's away. In this instance Cory actually wants to get caught because he believes he should because thats how things in his world should work, but he thinks the universe is determined that they get away with it and after catching break after break as Feeny returns.
208* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
209** Xander Harris is used so often in this fashion that he finally declares to everyone that he's sick of being the one "with the Bug Eating and the funny syphilis", and that he's not going to let the universe do it to him anymore. And for the most part, from that point on in the series, the universe doesn't. He is also the TropeNamer for ButtMonkey, describing himself.
210** The series makes in clear that the universe has it in for Buffy and for most of the characters in general. No two ways about it.
211** Spike especially becomes this from season 4 onwards: After being captured by the demon-hunting Initiative which impales a chip into the once bloodthirsty vampire that prevents him from hurting humans, his life gets an odd turn as he constantly finds himself in weird and often humanilating situations, being the one who suffers most from the shenenigans the Scoobys find themselfes in.
212* Series/{{Chuck}} sometimes thinks this. With the amount of bad luck he has, it's hard to blame him. His best friend got him kicked out of Stanford, then sent him top secret government files that put his life in danger countless times. Then did the second part again.
213-->'''Chuck:''' This place has it in for me.
214* ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm:'' The world just seems to have it out for Creator/LarryDavid, even if he's completely innocent and minding his own business, In nearly every episode, Larry's either being insulted, betrayed, pummeled, attacked, and even '''hunted down by the Islamic government.'''
215* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
216** A casual viewer could be forgiven for assuming that the writers had some kind of deep-rooted sadistic hatred for the Doctor. [[TheWoobie And]] [[BreakTheCutie they]] [[YankTheDogsChain might]] [[CartwrightCurse be]] [[TearJerker right]].
217*** Perhaps the Doctor himself, arguably being led around the universe by the [[TimeMachine TARDIS]] against his will.
218---->'''The Doctor:''' You ''never'' took me where I wanted to go!\
219'''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The TARDIS]]:''' No, but I always took you where you ''needed'' to go!\
220'''The Doctor:''' You did.
221*** In the classic series, the Doctor would get very annoyed whenever the Time Lords would send him off on some mission to avoid publicly interfering in the affairs of other planets.
222*** Often PlayedForLaughs at the start of an episode, where the Doctor hops out of the TARDIS and says something along the lines of "VIVA LAS VEGAS!" [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E8ColdWar to the inside of a submarine]].
223** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric The Curse of Fenric]]", it's revealed that Ace was just a pawn in a game between the Doctor and [[OmnicidalManiac Fenric]].
224** Rory Williams. It really seems like the universe just wants him to roll over and die. But it enjoys screwing with him too much to allow him to do that. First, his girlfriend/fiancée/wife runs off with another man. Later, he has died at least once, debatably twice, had his stag party ruined by the man with whom his fiancée ran off, was erased from existence, turned to plastic, had his fiancée forget him, shot his fiancée against his will, then guarded said fiancée for almost 2000 years. [[TheyKilledKenny He then dies another three times]]. Then his wife gets kidnapped. And then their daughter is stolen and becomes a psychopath. On the other hand, all this cosmic torture turned him into a grade-a badass capable of [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds facing down and intimidating a battalion of Cybermen without flinching]].
225* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'': While not a central premise, Drew once famously theorized on-show, "I always get screwed by the system. That's my place in the universe. I'm the system's bitch."
226** One episode revealed that the source of Drew's misfortunes might not be so cosmic after all, as he discovers several men from his work have formed a conspiracy to make his life miserable. Apart from that, there was always Mimi…
227* ''Series/EarlyEdition'': The main character receives a cat and tomorrow's newspaper for no known reason.
228* ''Series/{{Eastenders}}'': '''''Ronnie Mitchell'''''. Her life was one horrible event after another, and just as it seemed like she was [[HopeSpot finally getting a happy ending after so much abuse]], she drowned trying to save her sister.
229* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Stannis Baratheon to the Red God. Melisandre stated that her visions told her that Stannis was the Prince Who Was Promised and she genuinely did believe he met the conditions as per her visions. Stannis initially doubted this himself but sponsored her out of hope for some measure to create loyalty among his small group of supporters, but gradually came to believe that it was his destiny to protect the North from the White Walkers and liberate Winterfell. In the end, it turned out that Melisandre was terribly mistaken. It would be Jon Snow's destiny instead. Another example is the fact that when young Shireen was affected by grayscale, Stannis went out of his way to save her life and did the best he could to give her a normal and happy childhood. In the end, he was made to believe that he had to sacrifice and undo one of the few noble and good actions of his life.
230* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'': Sofia addressed this a couple of times:
231** In the episode "Two Rode Together" Dorothy and Sophia go to Walt Disney World for vacation. Sophia wants to ride Space Mountain but Dorothy wants to have quality time by looking at photographs. Sophia tries to sneak out and hopes nothing can stop her but it starts raining.
232--->'''Sophia:''' Why do you always take her side?
233** In the episode "Ebb Tide" Sophia rents out a room, while Dorothy goes with Blanche to her Big Daddy's funeral, so she could buy a big screen TV. The renters accidentally breaks Blanche's plate and is force to pay for a new plate. Blanche comes home and breaks the plate.
234--->'''Sophia:''' What is this, sarcasm?
235* ''Series/{{Journeyman}}'': This show owed a great debt to ''Quantum Leap'', and it's no surprise that Dan Vasser is also a Cosmic Plaything.
236* ''Series/KirbyBuckets''' sister Dawn literally believes that the universe hates her. While one might think those are just the mad ravings of a vengeful and bitter teenage girl, the events of the show mostly prove her right. Did her family miss the opportunity to win a nice new beach house? It's her fault. Did Kirby take his family on a vacation to a dangerous labyrinth run by a hamster? Well it's better than Dawn's vacation because it didn't rain. Did her brother and his friends get trapped in an alternate dimension? Also her fault. Return Principal Mitchell's robot to the school? It'll hack into your phone and tell your crush you have athlete's foot. Save Principal Mitchell's life? He'll just be upset it wasn't a dog who saved him.
237* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'''s Al Bundy sometimes addresses {{God}} in the context of being a Cosmic Plaything, usually in a sarcastic way whenever God seems to be inflicting misery on him for fun or tearfully asking just why God is picking on him in particular when nothing seems to be going right. He attributes this to The Bundy Curse. Supposedly, it only affects male Bundys, but it appears to have the ability to rub off onto family, friends, and passers-by when it's narratively convenient.
238%%* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'': The entire premise of the show.
239* ''Series/JoanOfArcadia'': This is precisely how [[DeadpanSnarker Joan]] sees her relationship with God. She would be thrilled if He stopped popping in into her life for rarely-explained reasons. For proof, two of the six [[WildMassGuessing WMG]] spectulate that the 'God' of the show is some kind of trickster.
240* Alvarez from ''Series/{{Oz}}'' is constantly having something horrible happen to him for no real reason. While some of his suffering can be attributed to his impulsiveness, most of the time it appears to be completely random; "highlights" include getting stabbed for no reason on his first day in the prison, having his baby die in his arms, having to watch his grandfather slowly die after developing Alzheimer's Syndrome, having the leader of the Latinos inexplicably despise him and [[UriahGambit keep trying to get him killed]], having severe depression that often leads him to self-harm and even suicide attempts, and being [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes thrown into solitary confinement multiple times, in spite of the fact that his greatest fear is being locked up there.]]
241* ''Series/QuantumLeap'': In later seasons, Sam theorizes strongly why he keeps appearing in situations he must correct for the better.
242** Lampshaded a bit -- in one episode, Sam has to make it rain to fix his host's life. He can't just randomly make it rain... So in a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, he [[SmiteMeOhMightySmiter calls God out]] on it:
243--->'''Sam:''' I don't know who's runnin' this show. I don't know why I was chosen. I bounce around from place to place. I do everything I'm supposed to do, at least the best way I can, but I don't know how to do this one. I mean, you gotta help me. I figure you owe me, for a couple of times, anyway. You make it rain. You hear me? You make it rain!
244** In the series finale, [[spoiler:a bartender that is heavily implied to be {{God}} in human form shows Sam that he's done a lot of good. Sam then realizes that the reason he hasn't been able to leap back home is because he doesn't really want to stop helping people. God wasn't the one responsible for Sam's situation. Sam was always the master of his own fate.]]
245* ''Series/RoboCopTheSeries'' wasn't kind to its version of Anne Lews, Lisa Madigan. Over the course of the series, she had a drug problem while trying to lose weight ("Trouble in Delta City"), was knocked out and had her gun stolen to kill someone ("When Justice Fails"), and was almost paralyzed for life ("Nano"). The episode "Midnight Minus One" also implies she came from a broken home.
246* ''[[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Sabrina]]'' becomes the target of the Fates for an episode for saving someone from their fated death. While confronting them she learns that her life is considered regular entertainment for them, its tapestry full of twists and snarls because of it, one section in particular covered in salt and butter from popcorn. After they fail to kill her in freak accidents, they decide to kill someone she loves and, failing at that from her intervention, she believes they made him propose to her.
247* Definitely ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. Few episodes passed by without one of the characters getting involved in some sort of misfortune, ultimately insulting someone and ruining something. The very last episodes looks back on all of the misfortunes they've caused themselves.
248* ''Series/{{Soap}}'': While [[DrowningMySorrows drowning his sorrows]] with Danny, Jodie, Chuck and Bob, Burt breaks down how this trope works.
249--> '''Burt''': You see, what happens in life is this: Something bad happens to you and you say, "Oh, god! Look at this bad thing that just happened to me." Then you figure it's over and it will all get good again, but then what happens is another bad thing happens and then you say, "Pfft! That was a surprise. I mean, two bad things in a row? But I guess that's it for a while, 'cause I just had my quota of bad." And then what happens is that some awful thing happens to you, like everything gets taken away from you, and you say, "Pfft! Well, that's it. I mean there's nothing else that can happen now. I lost everything!" And then, life plays its "funny trick"... you die.
250--> '''Danny''': Life is unfair to do that!
251* ''Series/StrangeLuck'': The central character, named Chance, appears to be at the center of a vortex of extreme improbability both good and bad, beginning by being the sole survivor of a freak plane crash as a baby.
252* Sam and Dean Winchester on ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' have literally been brought into being for the sole purpose of being playthings for Heaven and Hell. Every single event that has happened in their lives has been orchestrated so that they would [[spoiler:release Lucifer from Hell and start the Apocalypse]]. This knowledge has taken a toll on the brothers, especially [[ShellShockedVeteran Dean]], whose jokes and banter with his brother and friend Castiel hide the fact that he is "dead inside", as [[spoiler:Famine]] described him. This is so prevalent that the trope was cruelly played for laughs in the season three episode "Mystery Spot", where Dean is killed over 100 times in a GroundhogDayLoop caused by a Trickster [[spoiler:who is later revealed to be Gabriel, one of the archangels]]. The Season 14 finale reveals that [[spoiler:'''everyone''' is a Cosmic Plaything of God. And Sam and Dean's refusal to play along anymore has pissed God off enough to throw out his toys by triggering the Apocalypse.]]
253* ''Series/{{Wonderfalls}}'' has "Heroine as a Cosmic Plaything" as a main theme. As Jaye whiningly describes her situation, "I don't have a choice. I'm a puppet. The universe sticks its hand up my butt, and if I don't dance, people get hurt."
254* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "The Goldberg Variations" has a man with incredible luck, but he's aware that for him to benefit from it someone else has to suffer. When he picks a winning scratchcard, he says it's too much for his purpose. Despite his warnings, someone else is happy to take it, and is immediately run over by a bus.
255[[/folder]]
256
257[[folder:Music]]
258* "The Curse" by Music/{{Disturbed}} is about this trope, inspired by the [[BornUnlucky events in singer David Draiman's life]]. On the other hand, its ultimate theme is one of inspiration through hardship.
259* Ironically titled song, "The Lucky One" by Music/{{Celldweller}} invokes this. "My head's caught beneath God's thumb, I guess that makes me the lucky one."
260* Music/SoundHorizon's ''Moira'' revolves around this concept. Thanatos, enraged at how Moira makes every human being her Cosmic Plaything, decides he's going to get his ''[[StartMyOwn own]]'' Cosmic Plaything to turn into a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds and [[RageAgainstTheHeavens pit him against Moira.]]
261* The protagonist of "The Unforgiven" by Music/{{Metallica}} is this to a society making him into something he's not, forcing him into waste away his life.
262* "The Impression That I Get" by Music/TheMightyMightyBosstones is this mixed with LyricalDissonance in the form of an incredibly catchy ska-punk song:
263--> ''Have you ever had the odds stacked up so high\
264You need a strength most don't possess?\
265Or has it ever come down to do or die?\
266You've got to rise above the rest...''
267* The song "Disciple" by Music/{{Slayer}} has lyrics about the Almighty ''wanting'' everyone to be miserable. In fact, the chorus of the song features Tom Araya shouting "God hates us all!" over and over again.
268* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90M7BXFo_Q Devil on my Shoulder]]" by Music/BillyTalent is all about this:
269-->''Follow the rainbow, my lucky omen\
270There ain't no pot of gold, just copper tokens\
271I found the key to life, the lock was broken\
272All my accomplishments, are best left unspoken\
273I dug a hole so deep\
274I'm gonna drown in my mistakes\
275Can't even sell my soul\
276'Cause it ain't worth shit to take''
277* In the ''Music/{{Vocaloid}} song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzHq2fDWH2I The Game of Life]]" the protagonist tells her story of her eleven past life were nothing but whims of capricious god. [[spoiler:In the end, she [[MindScrew may or may not]] be said god.]]
278[[/folder]]
279
280[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
281* ''Literally'' true in [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]]. If some mortal caught the eye of one of the gods, he/she was seduced by them, or just flat out [[RapeAsDrama raped]]. Worse yet, if the god had a spouse, they could make life ''very'' bad for you, up to and including being chased by a giant snake across the continent of Europe. Or worse, if their talents outmatched the gods, or they gave a god an answer they didn't like or gave an award to someone else, they were screwed. And if there was more than one god involved...well, they were screwed either way (just look at UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar). [[FromBadToWorse How can it get worse you say?]] Well, remember the gods could take on any form, [[ParanoiaFuel including that of any person]].
282** ''Theatre/OedipusRex'' makes this OlderThanFeudalism. In fact, the gods seem to have randomly picked him out specifically to be their toy: after hearing Apollo's Oracle prophesy that Oedipus would kill him, his father Laius nails his baby son's feet together and leaves him to die on a mountain. Luckily (?) for Oedipus, he's found and brought up in Corinth, where rumours begin to spread that he's a bastard. He goes to the Oracle for proof and hears that he'll kill his father and marry his mother. Not knowing he's adopted, he decides to do the decent thing and run as far as possible in the other direction...whereupon he unwittingly kills Laius and marries the Queen, Jocasta. And just when everything seems to be going well for him, a plague starts up in Thebes. He tries to fix it...by going to the Oracle, who tell him to find Laius's murderer. To cut a long story short, he does. Jocasta hangs herself, Oedipus stabs his own eyes out with the pins from her brooches, then becomes a beggar. The reason usually given for Oedipus' downfall is that by running away after hearing the prophecy, he was "defying the gods" and had to be punished. But a more likely reason is that Oedipus's father captured a prince who then [[DrivenToSuicide killed himself rather then be a slave]]. (And he wasn't just any old slave to Laius; read "underage gay sex object".) The prince's father then cursed Laius to be killed by his own son. The "marry his mother" part is entirely the result of gods' jerkassness though.
283** Oedipus wasn't the only member of the House of Thebes to be fate's plaything. When the founder of the House Cadmus slew Ares' pet dragon, he was later honored by the gods and married Ares' daughter Harmonia. One of the wedding gifts was a necklace that granted eternal beauty to the wearer but also carried a curse. Said necklace was passed down through the family and brought tragedy to Cadmus' descendants. Nearly every member of the family suffered unfortunate ends. This includes Actaeon, turned into a stag by Artemis and torn apart by his dogs for accidently peeping at her, Semele, mother of Dioynsus who burst into flames from seeing Zeus' true form, Pentheus, who banned the worship of Dioynsus in town but was torn to shreds by his worshippers including his mother and aunts in a fit of madness caused by the worship, Creon (Oedipus' uncle)'s son Haemon, either killed by the Sphinx or killed himself after Antigone killed herself, and Oedipus' four children, his two sons killed each other in battle over rule of the city, the aforementioned Antigone, who defied the law by trying to bury her traitor brother, and was put in jail or buried alive, then committed suicide, and Ismene, either just forgotten about or killed by a warrior.
284** The house of Atreus was pretty bad as well in the The Oresteia. Tantalus killed and cooked his own son, Pelops, to please or trick the gods and might have stolen some of their property. He was sentenced to Tartarus. His son, when put back together, was missing his shoulder blade, so had to be replaced with ivory. Pelops got his wife in a chariot race, with the help of a servant sabotaging the chariot of his master. Pelops didn't fufill his end of the bargin and killed the servant. The servant then laid the curse on the family. Pelop's sister, Niobe, bragged of her 14 children, and all of them were killed by Artemis and Apollo, since she insulted their mother Leto. Niobe was then turned into a rock. Atreus and Thyestes are sons of Pelops. They killed their half-brother in an attempt to get the throne, but were banished for it. Atreus' wife was cheating on him with Thyestes, and they had a struggle for the throne until Atreus found out the infidelity. Atreus killed his nephews and cooked and served them to his brother as revenge. Thysestes then, on advice from the oracle, had sex with his daughter to produce another male heir. The son/grandson Aegisthus was abandoned by his mother and was raised by Atreus. The truth was revealed later, and Aegisthus killed Atreus. Atreus had children before he died, including Agememnon and Menelaus. Menelaus was the husband of Helen of Troy, and her kidnapping by Paris caused UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar. Agememnon's wife cheated on him with Aegisthus and she killed Agmemnon on his return from war, and their son, Orestes, killed her with help of Elektra, his sister.
285** Classical literature in general seems to be like this. For another example, take ''Literature/TheAeneid'': Aeneas, after a giant storm scatters and damages his fleet, pulls into the newly founded city of Carthage. The beautiful queen of Carthage, Dido, rapidly falls in love with him, and everything seems hunky-dory, with his tiny band of Trojans being accepted into civil society. However, the gods send a messenger telling him to go to Italy already, twit. Naturally, he complies, but Dido is driven mad by his abandonment of her and commits suicide, lighting an eternal enmity between Carthage and Rome. This all results from the conflicting schemes of Jupiter, Venus and Juno.
286* Literature/BookOfJob. The Devil makes a bet with God that Job only loves Him because he's got it so good; and if it were all taken away he would RageAgainstTheHeavens. Job persists in his faith, believing that God works InMysteriousWays, and [[KarmicJackpot is rewarded by getting back two or three times what he lost]].
287[[/folder]]
288
289[[folder:Podcasts]]
290* Arthur Lester from ''Podcast/{{Malevolent}}'' finds himself serving as the host to an Entity that robbed him of his eyesight, and it all just gets worse from there, and eventually [[spoiler:is tortured by The King in Yellow in an effort to break his sprits and to separate him from the Entity (who now goes by John). He also meets a strange god-like being that goes by Kayne who seems very interested in him and his story. Near the end of season 3, we learn that John made some sort of deal with Kayne that involves them going to New York]].
291[[/folder]]
292
293[[folder:Poetry]]
294* "A Man Said to the Universe" by Stephen Crane.
295-->''A man said to the universe:\
296"Sir, I exist!"\
297"However," replied the universe,\
298"The fact has not created in me\
299A sense of obligation."''
300[[/folder]]
301
302[[folder:Roleplay]]
303* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', [[MeaningfulName The Guy Who The Gods Like To Pick On, Sr.]] has it pretty rough because for some weird reason the gods really ''do'' like to pick on him all the time. He ends up from one miserable situation into another and can't even kill himself because the gods like to keep him alive just to humiliate him even more in increasingly cruel yet morbidly hilarious ways. His children, Guy Jr. and Gal, are also suffering from this albeit to a slightly lesser extent.
304[[/folder]]
305
306[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
307* Cavity Sam, the patient of the ''TabletopGame/{{Operation}}'' game, has suffered the misfortune of simultaneously having a writer's cramp, brain freeze, wrenched ankle, broken heart, ankle bone connected to the knee bone, water on the knee, etc. Poor guy.
308* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', anyone who worships Tzeentch, the Chaos God of trickery, does so with the constant knowledge that despite his patronage they are nothing more than pawns in one of his elaborate schemes. Beyond that, the lousy state of the galaxy is often attributed to the sheer number of entities -- the Chaos Gods, the C'Tan, Eldar farseers, and the God-Emperor -- playing at {{chessmaster}} and [[GambitPileup getting tangled in each others' plots]]. For more specific examples...
309** The [[MeaningfulName Lamenters]] chapter. The only Space Marine chapter formed during the so-called Cursed Founding to not display obvious mutations or other defects, and indeed seemed to fix the twin flaws of the Red Thirst (a vampiric thirst for blood) and the Black Rage (irretrivable total psychosis caused by a ten thousand year long psychic wound) found in all Literature/{{BloodAngels}} and successors, they nevertheless suffered distrust and prejudice - to the extent that during their debut campaign protecting a world from the forces of Chaos, an allied chapter actually abandoned them, leaving the Lamenters to suffer 80% losses before being rescued by the Literature/{{Ultramarines}} and Literature/WhiteScars. The surviving Lamenters were then lost in [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace the Warp]] and presumed dead for two thousand years. They only re-appeared after fighting the whole way back ''out'', which just made the Imperium distrust them even more. After rebuilding their strength (losing a bit more during a battle where they had to sacrifice hundreds of millions of civilians who they couldn't rescue, making them even more hated after rejecting honors from other Chapters as they felt they failed), the Lamenters were redeployed to the other side of the galaxy as part of a brotherhood of chapters guarding another warp storm. Unfortunately one of their allied chapters (and one of the few who actually showed some amount of brotherhood to them) went renegade and dragged the Lamenters onto the wrong side of a civil war, where the Lamenters once again suffered crippling casualties. After the revolt was put down and the Lamenters (and the Mantis Warriors who were also manipulated) surrendered upon realizing that the chapter they had allied with, the Astral Claws, fell to Chaos during the fighting, it was decided that the Lamenters had acted out of misguided honor, and were given the chance to atone through a century-long penitent crusade... right into the oncoming [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Hive Fleet Kraken]]. The seeming fix of the Red Thirst and Black Rage was also proven false as many brothers succumbed to the curses. Their last report before further contact was lost mentioned that they were down to three heavily-wounded companies.
310*** That said, they are the textbook definition of an IronWoobie, given that the Chapter almost always wins and deals a disproportionate amount of damage to the enemy. Even the mess where they had the sacrficie hundreds of millions was a great strategic victory that ruined the enemy war effort in the sector.
311** '''[[Literature/CiaphasCain COMMISSAR CIAPHAS CAIN,]]''' '''[[FakeUltimateHero HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!]]''' has repeatedly stated in his private memoirs that if the Emperor is truly watching over him, He has a twisted sense of humor.
312* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', The Knights of The Templars of the Everlasting Light, the order is a well known knightly order that's also infamous for being cursed. Their knights fall of their horses unexpectedly, their swords breaks before a killing blow can be delivered, their grand master got dumped on a cart of manure, and their chapter house is swallowed up in a freak earthquake.
313* The TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} RPG has two Disadvantages that sum up this trope: "WeirdnessMagnet," which attracts inconvenient strangeness to the character (the given example includes a talking dog and aliens making a base in the TV set); and "Cursed" which explicitly states "the GM can hose you any time he feels like it, and you have nothing to say about it, because you are Cursed."
314* In ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'', each character has a "Fateful Aura" that turns them into walking {{Weirdness Magnet}}s. Also, the more they use their awesome powers, the more likely they are to tie innocent bystanders into their growing legend. The stronger their Legend, the easier this happens and the more pronounced the effects, which is the main reason the Gods left the mortal world in the first place.
315** It's somewhat more complex than that. Fate is in essence the human desire for things to operate based on rules of Narrative story. Being Fatebound offers benefits... one binds oneself to a particular role, and becomes more likely to succeed when acting in it... while becoming less likely when trying to defy it. The Gods gathered the power of being Fatebound as Heroes to the Mortals to defeat the Titans... then withdrew from the world to let those mortals die out so that they could be who they wanted instead of who the Mortals expected them to be.
316* While we're here, this is no doubt the feeling that afflicts anyone who takes the "Things Don't Go Smooth" disadvantage in ''[[{{Series/Firefly}} Serenity: the RPG]]''. As outlined by Mal:
317-->''I want it to go smooth. Why don't it ever go smooth?''
318* [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Prometheans]] were granted life by the Divine Fire. The catch? The Divine Fire is innately hostile to 'normal' life... and living things ''know this''. Maybe not innately, but deep down, they know it. So a Promethean's life really, really sucks, seeing how every human it meets will eventually [[HatePlague flip out]].
319* One of the Flaws a person with Feylost background in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 5E can have is "I think the whole multiverse is out to get me.". Depending on the DM, that might even be true.
320[[/folder]]
321
322[[folder:Theatre]]
323* ''[[Theatre/AidaJohnRice Aida]]'': In "Written in The Stars", Radames suggests that he and Aida may be this.
324-->'''Radames:''' ''Is is written in the stars? Are we paying for some crime? Is that all that we are good for, just a stretch of mortal time? Or some god's experiment, in which we have no say? In which we're given paradise, but only for a day.''
325[[/folder]]
326
327[[folder:Video Games]]
328* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'': Daniel's entire life -- from his abusive childhood with a chronically ill younger sister all the way up to his experiences during the game itself -- resembles an extremely cruel and miserable practical joke, and this is without taking into account just what he did while in the service of Baron Alexander, or why. Or that he's afraid of the dark in a horror game with the word "Dark" in its title.
329* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' has a couple of optional character Traits that make the player this. "Born Under a Sign" makes both critical successes and critical failures more likely, and "Nietsche Poster Child" makes critical failures more likely but improves experience gain.
330* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'': Taken up to [[SerialEscalation INFINITY]] with Ragna the Bloodedge. It got so bad that the fanbase felt like the only way for him to get his happy ending was by dying and be put out of his misery, [[spoiler:and that's pretty much what happened]].
331* ''VideoGame/ChzoMythos'': ''Everyone'' is [[BigBad Chzo's]] plaything.
332* ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': Nagito Komaeda is UnluckilyLucky to a supernatural degree, living in a constant cycle of extremely bad luck followed by extremely good luck. In elementary school the plane he was on with his parents got hijacked, and then was later struck by a small meteor in mid-flight, which took out the hijackers but also killed his parents, thus leaving him a massive inheritance. Then he was kidnapped for said inheritance but ended up being saved by the police, and also found a winning lottery ticket in the bag the kidnappers stuffed him in. And so on, and so on. This teeter-totter fortune has given him a blind faith in things going his way when he needs them to, and a belief in all his misfortunes being the precursor to good fortune.[[spoiler: It's also made him a DeathSeeker who has never experienced hope for himself despite his obsession with it, because he knows that whenever something good happens to him or he tries to do something good, it'll be ruined by the 'bad luck' part of the cycle.]]
333* ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterz'': Android 21... where do we even begin? She lost her son, was turned into an android by her husband [[spoiler: Doctor Gero]], and was activated long after his death with no recollection of her past life. She tried to make the best of her situation by rebuilding Android 16, who was modeled after her son, but she ends up killing him in all three story arcs. [[spoiler: Her own story arc has 21 kill 16 in a fit of HorrorHunger, crossing into the DespairEventHorizon upon regaining her senses and [[EnemyWithout creating an evil duplicate of herself.]]]] She still attempted to make things right by helping the Z-Fighters stop [[spoiler: the evil 21]], but unfortunately [[spoiler: she still has to pull a HeroicSacrifice to [[TakingYouWithMe destroy them both]], fearing her hunger would resurface again.]] At the end of the day, [[TheWoobie you just can't help but want to give the poor girl a hug]].
334* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': The first two games have the "Jinxed" Trait, which increase the chance of a critical failure for the player and also for anyone nearby. While generally reviled, walkthrough writer Per Jorner has stated that Jinxed could be useful for a "pure (and weird) Hand-to-Hand build."
335* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': [[spoiler:Morgan may have been chosen by the land of Britain in Proper Human History and Gaia in the Lostbelt, but Lostbelt No. 6 shows fate and everyone else was determined to screw Morgan over no matter what she did in every timeline. Even in this world where she was The Chosen One, she tried three times to save Britain via time travel, but failed every attempt because the fairies she was trying to save slaughtered her and her companions. To add insult to injury, she's killed off for good by getting betrayed one last time by her power-hungry subjects looking to carve up her kingdom for their own ends. Even turning into a despot and oppressing those who would betray her did nothing but delay the inevitable. And then Act 3 shows that even in death, life can't help but kick her down one last time. All her preparations for the Cernunnos's awakening still weren't enough to actually defeat him by herself and she very likely would have died from the sheer strain of fighting him, and her country is set on fire, smashed to pieces, sucked into an abyss, and then erased from existence. All that suffering and hard work over the course of thousands of years and failures, and she has nothing to show for it in the end.]]
336* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
337** This time around in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', Cloud increasingly shows frustration with how he doesn't seem to have any control in his life, such as his monologue on the train. [[spoiler:It makes him an easy target for Sephiroth's manipulations since this Sephiroth makes sure to rub it in every single time Cloud fails. Despite hating Sephiroth for killing his mom, he briefly considers joining his enemy when Sephiroth offers to let Cloud make his own fate.]]
338---> [[spoiler: '''Sephiroth''']]: ''[after [[spoiler:Sector 7 is destroyed]]]'' You have failed again, I see.
339** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': [[spoiler:Ardyn]] is methodically driven insane by [[spoiler:the gods, ''intentionally'']], in order to stop a plague through mass genocide.
340** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'': Clive Rosfield is this ''by design'', having a combination of divine good and bad luck that thrusts them into the center of the world stage. He was born a prince, but failed to inherit his bloodline powers, relegating him to a man-at-arms and bodyguard in a world on the brink of collapse. Then somewhere during his childhood, the ''gods'' discovered that he was the ''perfect'' genetic candidate for TheChosenOne, and injected him with the power of a demigod - which drove him into a rabid frenzy and caused him to ''slaughter'' his younger brother and an entire fortress, followed by thirteen years of frontline combat as a disposable battle thrall. Then he gains even more power and goes on an epic quest to save the world - and then [[spoiler:his base is attacked and most of his friends die]]. As it turns out, the gods are ''that'' petty.
341** ''All of reality'' in ''VideoGame/TheFinalFantasyLegend''. [[spoiler:The Creator brought a series of worlds into existence, linked by his Tower. Then he spread a rumor that whoever could reach the top of the Tower would find Paradise. And to make sure people would ''want'' to climb the Tower, he seeded every single world with various calamities and tyrants, most notably Ashura and the Four Fiends. All this because ''he was '''bored'''''.]]
342* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'': While a lot of the misery in his life was his own fault, the rest of the hardships Kratos suffered came from him [[spoiler:being manipulated since childhood by Ares, who wanted to create the perfect warrior to help him destroy Olympus (and kidnapped his MoralityChain brother).]] He never really had a chance.
343* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'': Axl Low is a funny, easy-going British guy who has been forcibly dragged away from his friends and his girlfriend Megumi into a mess of apocalyptic proportions by the machinations of beings who ''aren't even from his own time period''. The poor guy has no interest in any of their crap and just wants to go home, but to have a chance of doing that, he has to reluctantly work to their agendas. Add in the implication that his troubles are being caused by an unknown EvilCounterpart, and he ''really'' has a mess to get sorted out. [[spoiler:''Revelator'' cranks it up further by revealing that poor Axl isn't even human at all[[note]](rather, he's a [[PureMagicBeing sentient bundle of magic energy]] with RealityWarper and TimeMaster powers)[[/note]] and ''probably never was'', and going home ''is'' possible but it means wiping out ''this'' timeline and all his friends with it. Faced with this SadisticChoice in the finale, [[IChooseToStay he chooses]] [[HeroicSacrifice the latter]]. However he hits the KarmicJackpot in ''-STRIVE-'' when in trying to talk I-no out of her FaceHeelTurn, he realizes that she's an older BrokenBird version of Megumi from an AlternateTimeline and she realizes Axl is her disappeared boyfriend William; she uses her last act before being erased from time [[PetTheDog to bring Megumi forward to him]], [[EarnYourHappyEnding finally reuniting the young couple. Yay.]]]]
344* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'': Pit is a ''literal'' Cosmic Plaything, as the ''gods themselves'' make fun of him, whether or not they're on his side.
345* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'': [[spoiler:Everyone but Raziel]] is a plaything of destiny. Ironically enough, the lone exception finds himself being manipulated by everyone else ''because'' he is the only being in existence with true free will.
346* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'': Some fans have started to wonder if Rean Schwarzer is the world's plaything as any attempt he does to do good, ends up screwing him over in the worst possible way.
347* ''VideoGame/TheMaimedGodsSaga'': In this ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' fan campaign, [[spoiler:the plot ends up revolving around a bet made between Tyr (the LawfulGood god of justice) and Malar (the ChaoticEvil god of evil lycanthropes and cannibalism), and the player is unwittingly dragged into it.]]
348* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'': The Security Officer is quite a big example of this trope. His OneManArmy tendencies are used by all sides, [[BlackAndGrayMorality "good" and bad,]] for their own gain, and he basically has no say in what he does. In fact, [[spoiler: the third game is about him [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome wresting control of his own destiny from the outside forces that control his fate.]] While also [[MindScrew jumping across multiple timeline in order to prevent an]] EldritchAbomination [[MindScrew from devouring all of creation]]]]
349* ''VideoGame/Mother3'' has Lucas. [[spoiler:His mother dies, his brother goes missing and turns up as an evil cyborg who later kills himself to join his mother, and his father goes nearly insane with grief. Even the dog is upset about it.]]
350* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': The Great "Warrior" Susano becomes convinced over time that his feats of skill are a result of the gods toying with him. Given that the player ''is'' a god and assists him throughout the game, though, he's not too far off the mark.
351* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'': Done literally in the series, where several of the protagonists and antagonists alike are just pawns used by deities beyond their comprehension to determine the fate of humanity.
352** In ''VideoGame/Persona2'', the heroes and villains are pawns in a cosmic game orchestrated by [[GodOfGood Philemon]] and [[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotep]] to settle a bet on whether humanity will destroy itself or not. Tatsuya in particular has to suffer through two games' worth of struggle to eke out a victory in the end.
353** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'':
354*** [[spoiler:[[RedHerring Taro Namatame]]]], [[spoiler:[[SerialKiller Tohru Adachi]]]], and the protagonist are all pawns in a cosmic game orchestrated by [[spoiler:Izanami]] to determine humanity's truest desires. [[spoiler:Namatame]] in particular gets his warnings about the Midnight Channel dismissed out of hand and gets played like a fiddle by [[spoiler:Adachi]].
355*** [[TheLancer Yosuke's]] ButtMonkey status basically gets upgraded to this in ''VideoGame/Persona4: The Golden''. Specifically, he wonders if he is cursed, or [[GypsyCurse insulted a gypsy]].
356** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', [[TheProtagonist Joker]] and [[spoiler:[[SixthRangerTraitor Goro Akechi]]]] are pawns in a cosmic game orchestrated by [[spoiler:Yaldabaoth]] to determine whose salvation of the world is stronger.
357*** [[spoiler:Akechi]] suffered through a horrendous childhood. [[spoiler:He was abandoned by his father before he was even born]], his mother committed suicide, he became a ward of the court, he was passed around to various foster homes throughout his childhood, he is manipulated by literally ''every faction in the game'', and ultimately ends up DyingAlone in the depths of the Metaverse, his fate known only by the heroes.
358*** Joker is wrongly put in prison for "assaulting" a man violating an innocent women ([[TheFarmerAndTheViper whose testimony helped put him away]]), expelled from his school, taken to court, and sentenced to a year on probation, [[DisproportionateRetribution because he had pissed off the most corrupt and powerful politician in the country]]. ButWaitTheresMore He goes through the entire game with everyone other person ridiculing him. Regardless of what he achieves, what his grades are, or how nice a person he is, to them he will always just be "that punk who assaulted one of the country's most beloved politicians". Then he finally gets revenge on said politician, saves the world, [[spoiler:and is "rewarded" with a month and a half in the slammer for a Christmas present]]. It's just one TraumaCongaLine after another.
359* ''VideoGame/PhantasmagoriaAPuzzleOfFlesh'': Curtis Craig is this. [[spoiler:Literally.]]
360* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': Maggey Byrde is convinced this is her lot in life, dating back to when she fell out of her family's ninth-story apartment at six months old. As she notes, her luck is bad to the point she's never even ''tied'' at TabletopGame/TicTacToe. Being one of the three characters to be the defendant in three separate cases (the others being Maya Fey and Phoenix himself, who also got three times in the hot seat) goes a long way towards backing up that claim.
361* ''VideoGame/PitPeople'': The plot revolves around humble blueberry farmer Horatio getting screwed over by the Narrator [[spoiler:the giant space bear Honey Kiss]] who hates him for no real reason. It starts with the Narrator siccing a bunch of cannibals who want to eat Horatio's son Hansel on him, followed by the Narrator smashing Horatio's house (and his son) when Horatio inconsiderately refuses to die. The Narrator also constantly denigrates Horatio throughout the game.
362* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' has this as a central concept. When forced into several dire scenarios a Sim will actively look towards the player, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential begging for mercy or salvation]]. You are for all intents and purposes their freewill ''and'' deity.
363* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': How much of a Cosmic Plaything are you when "Cosmic Plaything" is pretty much your innate [[BlessedWithSuck special ability]]? No matter what Sagume Kishin says, the universe always conspires to oppose her words through [[RealityWarper any means possible]]. Due to this, she tends to [[TheQuietOne not speak very much]] and [[PowerIncontinence always chooses her words carefully]]... On the plus side she ''has'' found a way to weaponize this power: If she speaks about something bad occurring, it will eventually resolve itself. That said, there's absolutely no guarantee that the situation will necessarily [[OutOfTheFryingPan resolve itself the way Sagume wants it to resolve itself]], though.
364* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': ''Every single character'' is this -- twice over, in fact! Before the game even starts, the universe has spent a very long time under the control of [[spoiler:[[EldritchAbomination Flowey the flower]]]], who has the ability to manipulate time and has RippleEffectProofMemory. Towards the end of the Genocide route, he tells you that, [[spoiler:in an increasingly more desperate attempt to keep himself entertained in the face of [[WhoWantsToLiveForever nigh-immortality]], he's reset the timeline a truly [[TimeAbyss staggering]] amount of times, [[OneHundredPercentCompletion doing everything from helping solve each and every character's problems to killing everybody in cold blood]].]] He tells you that, after a certain point, he's basically stopped seeing people as real people anymore -- at best, they're now actors, with scripted lines and motions to go through, and he's long grown tired of the act. As soon as you show up, however, things suddenly get a lot more interesting for him, because [[spoiler:you, the [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall protagonist/player]], are the new god of this world]], and your abilities now override his own. [[AddressingThePlayer So, what will you do]]? Will you be merciful and lead the suffering cast of characters into the promised land, or will you descend into nihilistic madness like [[spoiler:Flowey]] in your attempts to see everything this game has to offer? Or will you skip over the descent entirely and just JumpOffTheSlipperySlope, killing everything in your path just because you can? Amazingly, this whole thing is done with exceedingly little actual breakage of the fourth wall, since [[DevelopersForesight practically everything the player is capable of doing is integrated into the canonical universe somehow]].
365** This whole mess comes to an important head during the final battle of the Genocide route, where you face off against the game's FourthWallObserver, [[spoiler:Sans]]. Though we never find out exactly how, he is the only character in the game who ''knows'' he's a Cosmic Plaything and uses this to his advantage in several ways. Notably, [[spoiler:he attempts to have an IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight with the ''player'', reminding them of the previous games they've most likely played (who does the Genocide route on the first go, right?) and pulling a number of scathing WhatTheHellPlayer moments.]] The creator of the game seems to be using [[spoiler:Sans]] to make the following argument: in a meta sense, being a video game character in and of itself makes you a Cosmic Plaything, and VideoGameCrueltyPotential is how the "cosmos" indulges in this.
366[[/folder]]
367
368[[folder:Web Animation]]
369* Brolli in ''WebAnimation/DiamondInTheRoughTouhou'' fits. It's PlayedForLaughs in the first part of the series, with him being called out on his stubbornness, and it's PlayedForDrama in the second part, in which he has to solve everything, but can't.
370* Leonard Church from ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' is a subject to so much trauma, humiliation and bad luck that listing it here would be quite hard. He gets accidentaly killed by his teammate, his body is left to rot away and [[spoiler:his ex-girlfriend]] takes his spot on the team. And that's not even the whole first season. Each subsequent one, be it a sequel or a prequel, ads up to his misery until [[spoiler:he makes a one final HeroicSacrifice in Season 13. The only bright side is that it more or less worked... though obviously he would never know it did, much to his dismay.]]
371[[/folder]]
372
373[[folder:Webcomics]]
374* In ''Webcomic/SwordCatPrincess'', Kathryn tries to steer her own life, but [[http://www.swordcatprincess.thecomicseries.com/comics/43 Karma & Fate is working to steer her]] toward where she "must be" to do the most good. Lord Oberon and his sort-of employee, [=MacKnight=] are also [[http://www.swordcatprincess.thecomicseries.com/comics/64/ continuously testing Kathryn]] without her knowledge.
375* ''Webcomic/{{Vexxarr}}''. All ''he'' wants is a long, boring life full of cake and Franchise/{{Halo}}. Instead, the [[TheEmpire Bleen Empire]] (his own species) are trying to [[DisproportionateRetribution kill]] [[YouHaveFailedMe him]], and [[FinaglesLaw everywhere he tries to hide]] has [[AliensAreBastards territorial aliens]], [[AGodAmI Ascended Beings]], [[InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien insufficiently advanced aliens]] and his own incompetence. [[RecklessSidekick And]] [[BumblingSidekick his]] [[AIIsACrapshoot crew]][[DysfunctionJunction mates]].
376* ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'''s Davan and Mike think God has it in for them. They're right; at one point He neglects the backlog of prayers concerning a war in favor of watching horror dawn on Davan's face after the man's latest disaster, and God was pissed that He accidentally let something good happen to Mike.
377* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' has Black Mage. The universe is practically structured to bring as much pain to him as possible, almost justified as it's hinted to be the world's self-preserve mechanism against his destructive powers; this mechanism had to be tweaked to [[TheChewToy never kill him]] when doing that let him take over Hell and [[OmnicidalManiac threaten reality right back]]. The other Light Warriors are also cursed with lives of suck, but to a slightly lesser extent.
378* K from ''Webcomic/{{Blip}}''. It's outright stated that, since [[ImmuneToFate Heaven can't foresee her actions]], they're "censoring" her to insure that she has as little impact as possible on the world.
379** Worse still - the forces of Hell ''want'' her to stir things up and will always make sure that ''interesting things'' happen in her life which Heaven will have to squash down, ensuring that she gets her chain yanked ''her entire life''. She will never be allowed the benefit of dull boredom, always standing on the brink of hope and getting denied before achieving anything remotely fulfilling.
380* It was revealed in ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'' that [[spoiler: King and Tarot are player characters in a cosmic game of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''.]]
381* In ''Webcomic/{{SSDD}}'' the [[MasterComputer Oracle]] ruins certain people's lives for fun. [[SpaceMarine Tessa]] [[ActionGirl Edwards]] being a favorite.
382* Bob from ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is a ''proven'' weirdness magnet. He can attract monsters and such ''just by standing there.'' He has no idea why.
383* Every Lineage Child from ''Webcomic/{{Sire}}'' is one by virtue of "The Binding" a fated narrative that drives their stories and forces them on the road which would confront the morals and obstacles that their Sire/Dam had to face. Fate will outright murder anyone who tries to run away from their story.
384* At one point in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Elan starts coming up with possible ideas of what an inactive spell the Order found could do, such as shrinking the group down or turning them into dinosaurs. Vaarsuvius responds with, "Those ideas are theoretically possible, if, for example, the cosmos hated us. (An idea I am not ready to dismiss, given our adventures thus far.)"
385** Descends into CerebusSyndrome as the comic reaches the third act: [[spoiler:Odin made the horrible prophecy that ostracized Durkon (and indirectly led to him being vampirized and sent on a massive killing spree)... because he was driven senile by lack of worship from his favored race in the previous world. This is just ''one'' example of how lack of nutrition from GodsNeedPrayerBadly turns well-meaning Good gods into {{CloudCuckoolander}}s that thoroughly screw with their champions' lives simply because they hold the brain-damaged gods' attention. And of course, since the gods have created ''thousands or even millions of worlds that have all died to the Snarl'', they're kind of bored and pay more attention to their followers... for better or ''worse''.]]
386* The titular character of ''Webcomic/{{Matchu}}'' has been struck by lightning twice in the same day, fallen through weak floors, and had a UFO land on top of him right when he was finally about to talk to his love interest.
387* Howard from ''Webcomic/SketchComedy''. (Also, inverted [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/2012/09/27/susan-ii-power with Susan]].)
388* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'': Wanda sees herself and everybody else as this and believes that one can either embrace destiny or suffer in vain by resisting. The BigBad, Charlie, also suffers from this, but takes the opposite approach. He dedicates every single one of his efforts to stalling a prophecy knowing that Fate, the very GeniusLoci of Erfworld, manipulates events towards trying to kill him.
389* Clover Firelight, from Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic. She even names herself "Fortune's plaything." [[spoiler:Her luck takes a turn for the better later on, when King Eric III of Drostardy realizes that he loves her, and makes her his Queen.]]
390** Jone, initially a CuteMute half-orc, is manipulated by her god into becoming a bloodthirsty psychopath to lead his armies. [[RageAgainstTheHeavens She doesn't appreciate the sentiment]].
391* Karkat Vantas of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is literally cursed to be so unlucky that he causes misfortune just by being associated with him. Everything he does backfires, he gives himself and his ancestor a mutated blood color that can get them killed for having it, [[spoiler: he gives the universe cancer, and he dies twice in one timeline.]]
392[[/folder]]
393
394[[folder:Web Original]]
395* A common pastime of the [[DeusEstMachina Archailects]] in ''Website/OrionsArm'', some think that the only reason they still allow "lower life forms" to exist is for entertainment.
396* Several characters in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' would qualify, including Ayla (probably due to the [[spoiler:curse that transformed him in the first place]]) and Kayda (thanks to the enemies of Pteswani among the Native American spirits), but the clearest case is Josh Gilman, who is the recipient of [[SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious a family curse that made him 'tasty']] a specific EldritchAbomination -- until the spell [[GenderBender transformed Josh into Josie]] made her less palatable.
397* ''Literature/EntirelyPresentingYou'': Anything that could go wrong for Alexis, does. Despite wanting to do good and be a superhero, it seems like for every single good thing she does, two bad things come as a result.
398[[/folder]]
399
400[[folder:Web Videos]]
401* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:
402** WordOfGod said that he was created to always get the short end of the stick and be a victim -- [[JerkassWoobie although he does a lot of crap to balance that out]] -- and the Christmas Special proved that even Ask That Guy would be nicer and better off without him.
403** When he was reviewing ''Care Bears'', he kept wondering why Grumpy Bear was the one always getting the wrong end of the stick or doing hard work and even asking
404--->'''Nostalgia Critic:''' Why does this universe hate him so much?
405%%* The Bullshit Man from ''WebVideo/YouKnowWhatsBullshit''.
406* ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'':
407** Mario to an extent. It seems that no matter how hard he tries, he never makes the voices stop. His life became a nightmare for him after Peach, his former girlfriend, broke up with him over his baldness. Since then, he has been DrivenToSuicide, and Bowser and Chef Pee Pee even planned once to have the latter dressed up as a woman to prevent him from killing himself. This has been done up to "Mario's New Girlfriend!", where he hooked up with Rosalina and have lived a better life since. At least until a handicapped child named Jeffy was dropped off at Mario's door, making his life worse than ever. He has been [[HeroicBSOD broken into sobbing]] several times due to being unable to deal with his situation, to the attempt where he actually killed himself once over Jeffy. Clearly, FailureIsTheOnlyOption for him.
408** Chef Pee Pee gets constantly tortured by Bowser and his son Bowser Junior, especially the latter. However, his ButtMonkey status is taken to extremes in the ''Chef Pee Pee Quits'' series.
409* ''WebVideo/MemeHouse'': [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Joel's]] goal in life is to see Johnny Zest suffer. Johnny has had his house broken into multiple times and has been abused and humiliated by virtually every other character in the series, including ''the grim reaper''. He's also unable to do anything about it as, in one of the most literal examples of the 'plaything' aspect of this trope, he's just a character in a heavily modded copy VideoGame/TheSims4, and Joel is the one playing the game, so Johnny can do nothing to stop the train of abuse that comes his way constantly.
410[[/folder]]
411
412[[folder:Western Animation]]
413* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': [[Characters/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballGumballWatterson Gumball Watterson]] in the entire series, honestly. Half the time he does bring it on himself due to his crazy schemes but other times it seems like the universe just wants to mess with him for no good reason. Case in point, in the episode "The Vegging" when he just wants to not go on any adventures and spend a day doing nothing, the universe [[ExaggeratedTrope goes out of it's way]] to make sure that doesn't happen. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen He was once going to be a black cat to reflect how unlucky he is.]] In "The Curse", he finds himself under a plague of bad luck for no explained reason.
414--> '''Gumball:''' I swear, sometimes it's like the whole universe is against me.
415* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': Carl has been harassed by aliens, haunted by a mechanical ghost, raped by a genetically engineered dog, bought a recorder that took complete control over his body, had his car and house damaged repeatedly, and has even [[TheyKilledKennyAgain died on many occasions]].
416* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZuko Prince Zuko]] has resigned himself to the fact that everything in the universe seems to be working against him and his pursuit of his goals. He copes with this by priding himself on [[{{Determinator}} struggling and fighting for his victories]] with no help from cosmic luck.
417** Well, aside from that time when he snapped, ending up standing on a mountain peak during a storm [[SmiteMeOhMightySmiter screaming for The Universe to try to strike him down like it always does]]...
418** In the tie-in comics this trend continues to the point of CharacterDerailment. Zuko is frequently portrayed as paranoid, weak, and vacillating to the point where he goes to his father for advice on ruling, proving his philosophy of might and absolutism to be superior to Zuko's empathy and understanding. At one point he tries to extend an olive branch to his family during their imprisonment and bring them tea, only for Azula to cause him to tumble on his ass and Ozai to laugh at him. Later on Azula defeats him in a duel, [[BrokenAesop essentially rendering all of Iroh's teachings about inner calm and control meaningless in the face of raw power and ruthlessness]].
419** Whether it's PlayedForLaughs or PlayedForDrama, [[Characters/AvatarTheLastAirbenderSokka Sokka]]. "The universe just loooves proving me wrong, doesn't it?" To the point where this exchange actually comes to his ''advantage.''
420--->'''Sokka:''' ''(as it is raining and he is being heavily soaked)'' Look, I'm gonna make a prediction now. ''(Sarcastically)'' It's going to keep drizzling...''(Beat.)'' See? ''(Everything promptly becomes sunny and sparkly, the clouds vanish, the sun shines warmly and the land is happy again.)''
421--->'''Aang:''' Not everyone has the gift, Sokka.
422* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': "Why universe hate Waspinator?"
423* ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'': Frizz and Nug bemoan this status endlessly. Given they spend each episode shanghied into villainous missions to steal a MacGuffin they don't give a crap about, usually facing the brunt of their abusive boss, the angry heroes, their own bumbling and ''anything else'' that can cause pain for them out there as a result, they're not far off.
424* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' has the three main protagonists, even when they're not doing anything to deserve it. In one episode, they try to get to the candy store because there's a sale on jawbreakers, but the universe throws everything at them from a severe thunderstorm to a ''stampede of chickens''. At that point, Edd gave us this quote:
425-->'''Edd:''' [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE!]] [[StatusQuoIsGod FATE HAS CONSPIRED AGAINST US!]]
426* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has Timmy Turner, the main character. Granted, the prerequsit to have Fairy Godparents in the first place is to be miserable but even then he is tormented constantly. The writers even go so far as subverting the ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' [[ItsAWonderfulPlot trope]] by letting the character of Jorgen Von Strangle tell Timmy that his very existence causes misery for everyone. He is also frequently tormented by Francis TheBully, Vicky his evil babysitter, and Mr. Crocker his SadistTeacher. And that's not including his [[ParentalNeglect neglectful parents.]] Even when Timmy wishes for his situation to improve, he is forced to wish everything back to normal (more often than not because said wishes proceed to make things worse!), a very notorious ResetButton, thus continuing his ongoing misery.
427* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' has Eugene and [[Characters/HeyArnoldHelgaGPataki Helga G. Pataki]]. The former is TheKlutz who always has bad things happening to him even when they should be logically impossible and the latter is an InsecureLoveInterest who never succeeds in winning the affections of Arnold, is treated like dirt by everyone and all of her schemes backfire in hilarious ways (most times deservingly so).
428* ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'': Henry.
429* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Stumpy has constant bad luck and [[YankTheDogsChain any good thing that happens to him is cruelly yanked away]]. One episode revealed that he is a ''literal'' cosmic plaything and that spirits find him highly amusing.
430* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Many characters play with this. While karma does play a lot into their bad luck, the contrived nature of their endless pain and misfortune almost comes off as [[WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck some higher being out there having sadistic fun...]]
431** Wile E. Coyote is a stand out example. While a key rule in his character is that he could stop his pursuits (and thus his abuse) at any time, his schemes to get a basic meal always fail in often the most contrived (and painful) of ways. Even when he anticipates an error in his plan, fate is always a step ahead of him and twists things back in his direction.
432* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': [[Characters/PhineasAndFerbCandaceFlynn Candace Flynn]]. Her relentless quest to "bust" her brothers and prove their outlandish activities to their parents means she gets dragged through the wringer and usually gets within a whisker of succeeding, only to have it all snatched away at the last moment thanks to Dr. Doofenshmirtz's inventions backfiring, leaving her looking crazy. Though like [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Wile E. Coyote]], Candace often brings it upon herself by refusing to give up her obsession, but it does seem that fate is against her: even if ''the entire universe'' has to expand to rob her of validation, it'll happen.
433** Even worse, a number of later episodes have Candace attempting to rid herself of her obsession, which inevitably fail just as badly as her attempts to "bust" Phineas and Ferb. Basically, not only is she [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption not allowed to succeed]], she's not allowed to ''stop trying''.
434** The second film, ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieCandaceAgainstTheUniverse'', deconstructs the trope by showing Candace as completely tired and exhausted from being beaten down by the universe all the time, resulting in her feeling overshadowed by her brothers and in general just feeling like "a tiny meaningless speck in the universe", especially considering that she went through the same busting routine for nearly ''the entire summer''. She finds a kindred spirit in Feebla-Oot's leader, Super Super Big Doctor, because of their similarities and even assumes her brothers are the reason for her being this trope.
435* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'': Egon once commented, "Sometimes I think the universe just waits for me to get cocky."
436* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Frank Grimes, a man who has worked harder and has more logical intelligence than anyone in Springfield and is rewarded with a lifetime of misfortune. He was abandoned by his parents and never got proper school education as a result, having to work at a delivery service just to make a living. He has also been caught in a silo explosion which was followed by a long painful recovery, went through a possible divorce, and lost a job opportunity at the power plant to a dog which led to his run in with Homer and he quickly becomes baffled that Homer has everything a deserving and hardworking man should have despite not deserving it due to his idiotic slothful nature. Frank's obsession with trying to prove how this isn't how life should work [[spoiler:ends with him going crazy and electrocuting himself to death. Even his funeral was as a joke due to Homer's sleeping interrupting the service.]] Yeah, the people behind that episode REALLY didn't like Frank Grimes.
437** [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]] instantly becomes this whenever he enters UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity.
438*** In general, Homer is one of the show's biggest [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkeys]], with a decent chunk of the humor (and sometimes drama) being derived from his stupidity and the various ways that he suffers because of it, usually in the form of physical comedy and public humiliation, among other things.
439** Hans Moleman, whose every waking moment of life seems to be endless misery and pain.
440* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' has the four main characters. [[Characters/SouthParkEricCartman Eric Cartman]] had been anal probed for starters, [[Characters/SouthParkKennyMcCormick Kenny McCormick]] has been killed many times, and [[Characters/SouthParkStanMarsh Stan Marsh]] and [[Characters/SouthParkKyleBroflovski Kyle Broflovski]] would sometimes get ridiculously short ends of the stick, especially Kyle for some reason.
441** Episodes like "Cartmanland" and "[=HUMANCENTiPAD=]" seem to imply that Cartman is God's plaything, receiving what he loves and then having it taken away just to mess with him. ''Definitely'' a case of CallItKarma, though -- "Cartmanland" largely focused on the idea that a universe where Cartman actually got what he wanted would not be just.
442* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
443** [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSquidwardTentacles Squidward Tentacles]]. It seems that the whole universe is out to make him miserable, whether it be his dreams being shattered like glass (no doubt by [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick, or just being [[YankTheDogsChain yanked away by anything]]), or just being hurt for no reason. It's little wonder that fans of the show have declared him TheWoobie.
444** [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSheldonPlankton Sheldon Plankton]]. If, even for the BigBad. It seems that even the most wretched attempts of wanting to steal the Krabby Patty formula, the karma will come back at him with a worse punishment.
445---> '''Customer:''' You think this is funny?
446---> '''Plankton:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhJ72CD2E-M In a cosmic sort of way, yes.]]
447* ''WesternAnimation/SquirrelBoy'': Mr. Robert "Bob" Johnson, Andy's father, is forced to live with an idiotic and annoying pet squirrel who puts his life through Hell, [[BornUnlucky his sudden bad luck]], and is provoked and tormented by pretty much everyone in a universe full of idiots. The short "Bedside Matters" just shows, having him simultaneously run a fever and have ''every bone in his body broken'', all while being "taken care of" by his nurse, Rodney.
448* ''WesternAnimation/TomGoesToTheMayor'': The universe just seems to ''hate'' Tom Peters. He genuinely means well with his ideas and only wants to help make Jefferton a better place, but due to the [[MayorPain the Mayor]] and everyone else in town often going to absurd lengths to take advantage of Tom, sabotage his ideas, and screw him over, combined with his own ExtremeDoormat attitude, circumstances beyond his control, and just plain bad luck, anything that can go wrong for Tom does go wrong. It doesn't help that Creator/TimAndEric [[WordOfGod have confirmed]] that on top of Jefferton being a mishmash of every real-life shithole town they've ever been to, it's also actually Tom's own personal hell; a WorldOfJerkass where everything bad always happens to him.
449[[/folder]]

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