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11[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/VGCats https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wrong_8.png]]]]
12[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Manga/FullMetalAlchemist Full Metal Botanist.]]]]''
13%%
14->''"[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jKc5wz3Jgw#t=8m11s This is a bad experiment!]] We are bad people!! WHY DID WE USHER FORTH THE GREEN APOCALYPSE!?"''
15-->-- '''[[VideoGame/HalfLife Gordon Freeman]]''' during the [[ApocalypseWow Resonance Cascade]], ''WebVideo/FreemansMind''
16
17This is when a plan, a transformation, an experiment, and the like turn out bad, really bad, and fail tragically.
18
19This can happen in many ways: you set an excellent plan, or you're about to transform into something else, or you got all your test subjects ready and the scientists, doctors, and operators are also ready to perform the [[PlayingWithSyringes unethical experiment]] which is all ForScience, so... WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong
20
21[[TemptingFate Well, let's see here.]]
22
23During their noble quest to advance scientific knowledge or help humanity, or in the middle of the transformation, or when carrying out the plan they spent days working on and perfecting, ''something'' will have gone horribly wrong. The variations and reasons for the failure are also endless.
24
25If someone InUniverse is overconfident enough to ask "WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong" unironically, expect something to Go Horribly Wrong [[TemptingFate the moment the question is asked out loud]].
26
27This is comparable to a FreakLabAccident, except at the beginning of a story. Heck, a lot of SpeculativeFiction serves no purpose ''but'' to have something Go Horribly Wrong.
28
29See also CameBackWrong for when an attempt at bringing someone BackFromTheDead Goes Horribly Wrong. For when an experiment/plan would be successful but is deliberately sabotaged, see SpannerInTheWorks. This may leave the character thinking "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" in more cynical works. When Gone Horribly Wrong results in a project or product being scrapped immediately after its debut, it's a DisastrousDemonstration.
30
31[[GodzillaThreshold Of course]], it can [[FromBadToWorse always get worse]].
32
33Compare with GoneHorriblyRight, where the project/plan/etc in question does whatever thing/task it was intended to do, often with flying colors, but does it in a way that is really, really, really, really so fear-inducingly horrible that they regret even making the project. An EpicFail is this being PlayedForLaughs.
34
35'''Note:''' this is restricted to plans, science-related projects, and transformations only. For when a character turns bad/evil, see FaceHeelTurn, and if they used to be nice during childhood but turned bad then it's UsedToBeASweetKid.
36
37[[noreallife]]
38----
39!!Example subpages:
40
41[[index]]
42* GoneHorriblyWrong/FanWorks
43* GoneHorriblyWrong/{{Literature}}
44* GoneHorriblyWrong/LiveActionTV
45* GoneHorriblyWrong/VideoGames
46* GoneHorriblyWrong/WesternAnimation
47[[/index]]
48
49!!Other examples
50[[foldercontrol]]
51
52[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
53%%* ''Anime/Daitarn3'' and ''Anime/NeoHumanCasshern''. Creating cyborgs who are superior in every way to normal humans? There is absolutely no way [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters this is going to backfire]].
54* ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}'': When Planet Helios was invaded and destroyed by the evil Zaal Empire, Emperor Palmillion ordered Dr. Earl to escape with his son, Prince Harlin. Earl obliged and took the boy to Earth, where he set up his cryo-sleep device to awaken them both in 50 years. [[spoiler: Somehow, this malfunctioned, and Harlin awoke much earlier than he should have while Earl remained asleep. Harlin was found by a kind Japanese couple who gave him the name "Hayato" and raised him as their own. He grew up believing himself to be of Japanese heritage like his parents, and forgot his memories of being born as the Prince of Helios. He only found out the truth when as an adult, after his ship was wrecked and he was saved by a fellow Heliosian who told him of his true heritage.]]
55* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': Takato orders his Digimon to Digivolve to the Mega Level... and the result is a Mega whose mere existence threatens both the Digital and Real Worlds. Oh, and whose name is literally Megidramon. As in, ''Megiddo'', the battle of the Apocalypse!
56* ''Manga/ElfenLied''. Keeping that Diclonius called Lucy seemed so easy, but as it turns out, it wasn't. "FromBadToWorse" is a mild way of putting the series. Trying to keep any of them under control has gone horribly wrong. [[PlayingWithSyringes The entire project with these psychic people is hijacked from the beginning]].
57* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''.
58** Try to bring back mommy dearest to life? [[EquivalentExchange I don't think so.]]
59** Scientists create an [[spoiler:''immortal army'' that hates you because you put their souls in terrifying, freakish bodies and now they hurt ''all the time'']]? Yeah, shooting them is a good idea. That will kill them for sure. Let's do that.
60* ''Manga/FrankenFran'': Fran really just wants to help people, but she seldom thinks through the non-biological consequences of her operations. Though, admittedly, only half the time. [[spoiler:The rest [[GoneHorriblyRight goes horribly right.]]]]
61* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'': Zonder Metal was invented as a method to control negative emotions. After an accident, it became a device that fed off of negative emotions, turning the victim into a bio-technological lifeform in the shape of the source of their distress, or whatever vehicle/device they integrated into their form.
62* ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'': Apparently getting used in experiments too much caused Kaibutsu to be the monster he had become when we first see him.
63* ''Anime/Macross7'' reveals the Protoculture experiment that went so horribly wrong it indirectly lead to the destruction of their entire species. They attempted to power their living superweapons with energy from an AlternateUniverse with no physical matter in it. Problem was, the energy they siphoned from that universe turned out to be ''intelligent'', and immediately took control of the superweapons. Termed the Protodeviln, they started a galactic war that, ultimately, the Protoculture did not survive.
64* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' has Zeon's "Operation British", a surprise attack wherein a ColonyDrop is performed with the intent of striking the Federation HQ of Jaburo in South America, effectively decapitating the EFF. It didn't work: the colony used in the drop broke into three pieces and missed their target by a wide margin, landing in North America, the Pacific Ocean, and Australia (Sydney bore the brunt of the impact, being completely destroyed, along with a large chunk of the continent), causing widespread devastation across the entire planet and setting into motion the One Year War that ultimately ends with Zeon's defeat.
65* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the Second Impact (a cataclysmic event which changed the world forever) is strongly implied to have been caused by an experiment on a huge god-like being gone horribly wrong.
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Comic Books]]
69* Responsible for quite a few supervillain origins. For example: ComicBook/NormanOsborn creates a compound that grants super-strength and healing powers. And turns him into the insane '''Green Goblin'''.
70* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': Daredevil's attempt to reform the Hand as its new leader in the ''ComicBook/{{Shadowland}}'' storyline failed horribly [[spoiler: after the Hand's ''true'' leader, the demon known as The Beast, possessed him.]]
71* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'''s superteam was looking for an easy win for the PR, so they try to bring down the obscure villain Willy Pete. It doesn't go well ''at all''.
72* ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'': [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]]'s]] attempt to recreate the FreakLabAccident that made him a super-hero goes horribly wrong and burns all of his skin off.
73* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The New Mexico experiments with Gamma Radiation went very wrong for Dr. Bruce Banner.
74* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, there have been attempts to recreate Project Rebirth for decades ever since Dr. Erksine was killed just after enhancing Steve Rogers into ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. Unfortunately, they have all backfired, most often creating supervillain maniacs and monsters like the 1950s Captain America and Nuke.
75* ComicBook/{{Morbius}} tried to cure his fatal blood disease but the experiment turned him into [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a living vampire]] instead. Later he attempts to cure his vampirism but only makes himself more [[BatPeople bat-like]], setting himself on the path to DeathOfPersonality.
76* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Strader Pharmaceuticals develops a drug designed to give the user super-strength. It of course ends up being a PsychoSerum that turns the users homicidal in addition to giving them strength and slowly and horrifically breaks down their bodies killing them.
77* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
78** Doctor Finitevus' first use of his Chaos Siphon suit turned him into a MadScientist and bleached his fur.
79** Thrash The Devil had been told echidnas were evil for turning the race of Tasmanian Devils into dog-like Devil Dogs for ages. He then goes and banishes what's left of the echidna race to another dimension out of pure spite.
80* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
81** During ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963 The Six Arms Saga]]'', Peter, having had enough of being Spider-Man, creates a potion intended to [[BroughtDownToNormal strip him of his spider-powers]] for good. Rather than nullifying his powers, the potion increases them, causing him to sprout four extra arms.
82** In ''ComicBook/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Dr. Curt Connors created an enervator intended to purge the Lizard Formula from his body, freeing him from his reptilian SuperPoweredEvilSide. When he tested it on an iguana, however, the device mutated it into a reptilian humanoid monster similar to the Lizard and imbued with the Lizard's memories. Worse, exposure to the device later causes Peter to mutate into the Spider-Lizard, flipping the script so that Dr. Connors must stop his rampage from harming civilians.
83* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
84** Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw) has two (in a meta sense) in his origin story. His backstory is modeled after that of the ComicBook/FantasticFour, which already involves a trip into space going Horribly Wrong. If that wasn't bad enough, the expied origin story goes ''more'' horribly wrong when, instead of developing useful powers, two of Henshaw's teammates die horribly as a result of their mutations and his wife commits suicide, either because of what she's become or from seeing what's happened to her husband. Henshaw himself winds up as a disembodied soul inhabiting technology, goes insane, and spends most of his time [[DeathSeeker trying to die]].
85** ''ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy'': Twice, teen Lex Luthor creates new inventions that are meant to help Smallville (a sun-reflecting weather tower that lets crops grow in winter and "super seeds" that create fruit trees near-instantly) as a way of one-upping ComicBook/{{Superboy}}; however, they both have some major design flaws that nearly cause them to destroy the town (the weather tower almost burns everything to a crisp and the trees created by the seeds start growing uncontrollably), forcing Superboy to intervene to save everyone. As a result, Lex is regarded as a menace by the town and his hatred for Superboy grows.
86* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Hulk's physical abilities are all what Banner designed them to be, but something went wrong, causing the Hulk to be the bestial Id-driven monstrosity it is; Banner designed the Hulk to be as [[GeniusBruiser smart]] as it is strong.
87* ''ComicBook/XMen'': During a writer's meeting, Creator/PeterDavid suggested ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} has his adamantium stripped from his body... ''as a joke'', parodying the extremes the franchise had gone to. To his horror, the other writers kept spinning it, and thus the storyline ''ComicBook/{{Fatal Attractions|MarvelComics}}'' was born.
88[[/folder]]
89
90[[folder:Comic Strips]]
91* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''; Calvin once asked Hobbes to touch up a part of his haircut he didn't like. The end result was Hobbes [[GagHaircut shaving Calvin bald]] in his efforts to cover up his mistakes.
92* [[https://i.pinimg.com/564x/f6/80/36/f680367f8f0f5e706fabfc59dd0ea522--bible-stories-for-kids-bible-for-kids.jpg In this political cartoon]], a woman is telling her friends she donated a Bible for kids to the local daycare center, and is excited to see what they learned from it. In the background, the kids are crucifying the daycare teacher and pointing spears at her.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
96* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'', ComicBook/RasAlGhul hires ComicBook/TheJoker to ''distract'' Batman while he goes off to set up one of his usual plans to eradicate most of mankind. He didn't expect the clown to go and ''murder Robin''. It gets even worse when [[spoiler:he uses the Lazarus Pit to resurrect him, turning him into a man filled with a lot of pent up rage]].
97* In ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', Flint Lockwood creates a device that makes it rain food. At first, everything is fine, but through constant overwork, the machine develops a mind of its own, and starts sending down bigger and bigger food, threatening to destroy the world.
98* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Poor Jack; all he wanted was to try his hand at another holiday. Instead, he ended up ruining Christmas for the poor people back on Earth, and accidentally put Santa's and Sally's lives at risk.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
102* ''Film/AlienResurrection'' had scientists clone Ripley in hopes of creating a Xenomorph for [[JustThinkOfThePotential potential military applications]]. Things go horribly wrong when the cloning gave the aliens more grey matter than the scientists, allowing them to escape and wreak havoc.
103* ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'': Beyond the obvious reference, how else can you describe the plot [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation from the Psychlo perspective]]? You have a planet completely under your thumb, and one greedy mid-manager does an experiment on a subjugated race, which ultimately results in it gaining the knowledge and power to wipe out your home world and all of the occupying forces. [[spoiler:And the reason he bothers is he's so desperate to go back home that he's willing to do ''anything'' to get the money to buy his way out of the trouble he caused himself, making this trope also apply to the government official who exiled him to Earth in the first place.]]
104* The reason they have to drill into ''Film/TheCore'': [[spoiler:secret government experiments with a giant earthquake-causing weapon have somehow ruined the Earth's EM field by causing the core to slow down and eventually stop]].
105* ''Film/CrackInTheWorld'': Scientists try to tap magma from the Earth's core by detonating a nuclear bomb deep underground. This turns out to be a very bad idea indeed. Considering the fact that you can tap magma from the Earth's core at one of the hundreds of active volcanoes all over the ''surface'' of the world, they probably deserved to have it go horribly wrong.
106* Nearly every other movie based on a Creator/MichaelCrichton story follow this trope, with the exception being ''Literature/TheGreatTrainRobbery''.
107* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' is set [[AfterTheEnd 1,000 years after]] the urSkeks, a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien hyper-advanced]] species, made the ill-advised and arrogant (if somewhat noble) decision to try and eliminate their darker natures; a decision that literally caused a near-apocalypse-level event. This single choice wrought, in its 1000-year aftermath, the fracturing and increasing corruption of the Crystal (and by extension the entire landscape), the eventual near-extinction of one race, the decimation of a second, and the creation of beings of pure evil that ruled over the planet for an entire millennium who certainly didn't improve things. Oops?
108* ''Film/DasExperiment'' is based on the StanfordPrisonExperiment but goes further. Within just a few days the guards are terrorizing and humiliating the prisoners to keep order, right up to abusing their position of power to commit murder and rape. The head scientist was even aware how quickly the experiment was escalating, he just chose to ignore it ForScience.
109* In ''Film/DeepBlueSea'', scientists try to cure Alzheimers by harvesting the brain matter of super-smart genetically modified sharks. What went horribly wrong? Well for one thing, experimenting with [[ThreateningShark really aggressive sharks]], underwater, [[TrappedWithMonsterPlot on a platform in the middle of the ocean with no way of easy escape]] might not be the best idea ever... [[spoiler:A shark [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath fucking ate]] Creator/SamuelLJackson, for one thing.]]
110* ''Film/EventHorizon'' is about a [[GoneHorriblyRight brain-twistingly successful]] attempt at FasterThanLightTravel... that then promptly Went Horribly Wrong. Really, ''really'' [[EldritchStarship wrong]].
111* ''Film/TheFly1958'': [[TeleporterAccident Teleportation experiment is upset]] by a literal fly in the ointment. And [[Film/ReturnOfTheFly then it happens again]] -- ''[[Film/CurseOfTheFly twice]]''. And then Creator/DavidCronenberg [[Film/TheFly1986 gets hold of the idea]] and [[Film/TheFlyII does it twice]] as well and ten times as ugly.
112* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': The film deconstructs mankind's desire to surpass nature. Apex built Mechagodzilla as the ultimate anti-Titan {{Robeast}} by uploading [[DraconicAbomination King Ghidorah's]] mind into the robot's AI. It was to be merely piloted by a brain interface that allows the user to view the mech as an extension of their own body. EvilIsNotAToy, as uploading Ghidorah's sentience not only drove Godzilla mad, but once Ghidorah TurnedAgainstTheirMasters by hijacking Mechagodzilla's controls, [[AIIsACrapshoot the mech goes on a rampage]] by leveling a large chunk of Hong Kong. You wanted the ultimate anti-Titan weapon, humankind... you got the ultimate anti-Titan weapon.
113* ''Film/TheDayTheClownCried'' is described this way in ''Literature/TheGreatestMoviesYoullNeverSee''. Put in simple terms, Creator/JerryLewis had told the producer who offered him the project that he wasn't the right person for it, and [[SelfFulfillingProphecy then he made the movie and proved it]].
114* In ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'', the army's experiments with Gamma radiation gives birth to the Hulk, and [[spoiler:[[GeneralRipper Thunderbolt Ross]] and [[PsychoForHire Emil Blonsky]]'s experiments with the super-soldier serum leads to Blonsky becoming the Abomination]].
115* ''Film/JurassicPark1993'': [[ExtinctAnimalPark A zoo which houses dinosaurs]]? [[TemptingFate What could possibly go wrong here]]?
116* The premise of ''Film/MeanCreek'' is that a group of kids devise a plan to get revenge on an overweight, troubled bully named George on a boating trip, effectively humiliating him in the process. [[spoiler:However, George ends up being accidentally pushed off of a boat and into the lake below. He is unable to swim and drowns.]]
117%%* The [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] episode ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld'' where SCIENCE almost lets a giant Venusian pickle take over the world. Too bad that the chief head science guy "learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature? and, because of it, the greatest in the universe..." This episode also spawned its own {{Meme}} and possible alternative title for this trope in "He tampered in God's domain..."
118%%** Incorrect, that episode was Ed Wood's ''Bride of the Monster'' wherein Bela Lugosi attempts to create a "rice of pipples" by turning people into atomic supermen. It doesn't end well for him at all.
119* In ''Film/{{Pixels}}'', humans send into space videos of them playing then-popular computer games as a message of peace. The aliens who receive it believe it to be a declaration of war to be fought with those games.
120* In ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Nazi tampering with the Ark of the Covenant goes "horribly wrong" with infamously gruesome results.
121* Omni Consumer Products "improved" police robots went Horribly Wrong in both ''Film/RoboCop1987'' and ''Film/RoboCop2''. Murphy succeeded, but only because he's a special case -- as shown by failed cases in the second film, most cyborgs don't handle their new existence well. Of course, using a drug-addicted criminal as a cyborg-policeman is probably not the best idea.
122* The big reveal of ''Film/Serenity2005'' involves an experimental chemical named Pax. Given [[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pax#Noun_2 the name's meaning]], you can guess what it was ''supposed'' to do, and for the most part, its problem was that it [[GoneHorriblyRight worked too well]]. But on a small segment of the population... [[spoiler:You know [[AxCrazy the Reavers]]? Yeah, this is where they came from.]]
123* In ''Film/SonOfGodzilla'', an experiment trying to control weather plans to start by freezing the tropical island it's happening on. Well, radio interference prevents the detonation of a specific device at the right time, resulting in a massive heat wave, tropical storms, and the already rather large (ten feet long or so) [[SlayingMantis praying mantises]] living on the island growing to {{Kaiju}} proportions.
124* ''Film/{{Species}}'': They try to grow an alien child. Then they try to dispose of it when the experiment is shut down. ''Not happening.''
125* ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeOfTheSith'': Believing that there's still good in her husband, Padmé tries to speak to him. She even claims that she loves him. She's right, but Anakin takes his wife's message for BlatantLies and attacks her. [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil Thanks, Palpatine]].
126* The ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series. Because it's ''such'' a good idea to make computers smarter than you then hand them military control. How come the only one smart enough to keep the Terminators from learning too much is Skynet? And yet ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' reveals the existence of machines who have decided to fight Skynet on their own.
127* ''Film/TotalRecall1990'': A routine implantation of FakeMemories at Rekall goes haywire... [[spoiler:[[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation or perhaps it worked perfectly]]]].
128* ''Film/TheTimeMachine2002'': TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is triggered when humanity starts excavating more living space into the moon with nuclear weapons. When the hero uses the [[TimeMachine titular machine]] to go forward a few years, he finds himself in a dystopia and [[DetonationMoon the fragments of the moon in the sky]] are getting bigger and bigger...
129* ''Film/XMenFirstClass'':
130** [[spoiler:Hank's serum to allow him to change his feet to normal ends up transforming him into Beast.]] Doubles as ForegoneConclusion.
131** "Stop it, Erik, these men are JustFollowingOrders!" [[BerserkButton Really, Charles?]]
132[[/folder]]
133
134[[folder:Music]]
135* "Barrett's Privateers" by Music/StanRogers: The singer's character is convinced by the lure of easy fortune to join a privateer ship whose condition is somewhat less than perfect even before departure. Three months of deterioration are described in awful detail and ''only then'' do they engage their first target, [[spoiler: which turns out to be armed far more heavily than they are]]. It all ends horribly, with only a single crippled survivor.
136* Music/{{Sting}}'s "Something the Boy Said". At the end of the song, all the characters who started out so blithely and fearlessly are dead except for the singer [[spoiler:and even he is too terrified to look behind him as he leaves the scene of the disaster, in case he sees his own corpse]].
137* The US Army paratroopers' song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HtVYr9aKRM "Blood on the Risers"]]. The young paratrooper readies for his first jump and does everything right ''except'' for checking his static line (the line attached to the airplane itself which releases the main parachute automatically). Normally a reserve parachute is used should the main parachute fail. The trooper falls in a bad position, deploys his reserve parachute in panic, gets tangled, and bounces. [[spoiler:"To bounce" is skydivers' lingo, meaning "to land at unsurvivable speed".]] [[{{Squick}} The rest is best left to the reader's imagination.]] "Risers" are the four straps which connect the parachute lines to the harness.
138* 10cc's song "Blackmail" is about a man capturing photos of a woman in an illicit relationship, threatening to tell the world and her husband all about it. The woman gets put in ''Playboy'' and, partly because her husband isn't as bothered as he probably should be, the blackmail attempt ends up making her a movie star.
139[[/folder]]
140
141[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
142* Wrestling/{{F|MW}}rontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, ''{{t|ropenamer}}he'' GarbageWrestling promotion, the wrestling promotion that has [[StuffBlowingUp destroyed its own wrestling rings with explosives]], finally came to a {{gimmick match|es}} too dangerous to finish in the May 6th, 1992 No Rope Barbed Wire Fire Death match featuring Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Tarzan Goto vs. [[Wrestling/EdFarhat The Sheik]] and Wrestling/{{Sabu}}. The wrestlers bolted from the ring as the ring itself started melting and the [[RingOldies 60 year old]] Sheik was rushed to the hospital for third degree burns (but not before trying to see the match to the end from outside of the ring, berating Sabu for throwing water on him and preventing Sheik from throwing a fireball at the fleeing Onita and Goto). Such was this match's infamy that a disqualification was later declared in WWC when a fireball was thrown in one of Sabu's barbed wire matches.[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
145* On an episode of ''WebVideo/TheFundayPawpetShow'', Simba is dared to eat an entire pack of the new Listermint breath strips when they were first introduced. Not a pretty sight.
146[[/folder]]
147
148[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
149* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pretty much the entire point of]] ''TabletopGame/{{Fiasco}}''.
150* Happens all the time in ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression''. The number one cause is letting one of the {{Muggles}} touch your machinery. As these wonders don't really work on ''actual'' science, which gets imposed when this happens, this tends to drive them haywire instantly in many, many fun ways.
151* Everything wrong with the universe in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' is a result of someone lighting some blue touch paper he shouldn't have, and breaking the universe as a result. The False Awakening is a good example -- it resulted from an impatient mage's attempt to ''force'' her Sleeper boyfriend to Awaken, and exists as a contagious form of twisted ascension that drives its bearers to destroy themselves and large chunks of the scenery. It can be cured by a true Awakening, but if these were ''easy'' to induce, there wouldn't ''be'' False Awakenings...
152* Any given mission in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' will inevitably go horribly wrong, as will all the experimental gadgets. In fact in Alpha Complex getting a new pair of boots can go horribly wrong. This is as it should be, as the universe runs on unleaded high-octane RuleOfFunny.
153* Each Lineage in ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' started with one human trying to raise the dead for whatever reason -- companionship, curiosity, slavery -- and getting bitten hard in the ass by this trope. Prometheans themselves can fall prey to this trope, as they need to produce another Promethean in order to complete their [[ToBecomeHuman Pilgrimage]] -- and if they screw it up, they spawn a number of [[CameBackWrong Pandorans]] that will turn on them and try to eat them alive.
154* Happens ''all the time'' in ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'', where TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow seem to be a required course in any university science program.
155* ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'': The Planet Killer Rocket for the Ancient Martians. The mutated slug controlling Dr Ritterbach would count as another.
156* How Florida got drowned in ''TabletopGame/{{Trinity}}'', as recounted in "America Offline": a young Aberrant (a superhuman) with power over the oceans was concerned about climate change in Florida, her home state, and attempted to stabilize the Gulf Stream. Unanticipated resonance resulted in massive ocean waves that killed millions of people, including the Aberrant herself.
157* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
158** Eltharion the Grim, the Warden of Tor Yvresse, is the greatest FourStarBadass in the history of the High Elf race. When Tor Yvresse was ransacked by invading Orcs, Eltharion swore that not one more WAAAGH! would reach Ulthuan's shores. So Eltharion led a massive elven army to the shores of the Badlands and swept through it like a wind of blades, hoping to break the spirit of the Orcs utterly. He slaughtered Orc Warbosses in single combat and drove their armies to oblivion. He brought low fortresses that had survived countless battles and earthquakes, [[ChurchMilitant the crusades of Bretonnia]] and the [[RevengeBeforeReason famed vengeance of the]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]]. Yet miraculously, there always seemed to be more Greenskins lining up, ready to fight him. Too late did Eltharion learn the truth and the gravity of his misunderstanding of the mindset of his Orc opponents: a race of insane {{Blood Knight}}s to the last, had [[WorthyOpponent learned of the "pointy 'ead" that was giving them a "propa fight"]] and were now travelling from far and wide for the chance to fight the Elves. And worse, they had learned that an entire continent of these amazing fighters lay just across the sea, waiting for the WAAAGH!...
159** The Chaos Dwarfs, dissatisfied with the weakness and backstabbing nature of goblins, the even more backstabbing nature of hobgoblins, and the stupidity and unreliability of orcs, created their own breed of greenskin, the Black Orcs. These were designed to be smart, strong, disciplined, capable of serving as overseers for their kind without getting distracted by typical greenskin infighting. Naturally, these qualities were put to use leading a slave rebellion that almost wiped the Chaos Dwarfs out.
160* Happens every now and then in the backstory of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Not infrequently, the result is the Imperium destroying the planet where it has gone wrong.
161** Someone asked along the line why, 40,000 years in the future, the Imperium seems to not have any robots at all, at most an automated defense array or like that. Because, tens of thousands of years in "the past", they DID have robots all over the galaxy...until they [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters decided they didn't want to be slaves any more]] and started a war that almost annihilated the human race and all but destroyed humanity's entire technological base. Thus started a ban that, millennia later, has been incorporated as sacred law into the tech-worshiping religion of the Mechanicum. That's basically the [[CrapsackWorld best case scenario]] when something goes wrong here.
162* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'':
163** Natalia and Noelia summoned the Steelswarm to fight the Fabled, but that backfired as Natalia lost her life.
164** Happened again when Avance tried to revive Emilia using the power of Photomirror/Soulmirror. The ritual turned Avance into the monstrous Levianima.
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167[[folder:Theatre]]
168* ''Theatre/TheHotLBaltimore'': Clifford gets the hotel declared a historical landmark to prevent its demolition. However, as it is now more valuable, a Japanese corporation wants to purchase it for renovations, which gets the tenants back to square one.
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172* This is the plot of a lot of the thrill rides at Ride/DisneyThemeParks. It started with ''Ride/StarTours'', [[NewerThanTheyThink which opened in 1987]]. Before that, the "plot" was to just explore the place. After ''Star Tours'' opened, [[FollowTheLeader almost every ride followed the same concept]].
173** {{Subverted|Trope}} in the current version of ''Ride/JourneyIntoImagination''. Nigel's open house tour of the Imagination Institute ends up as a complete disaster due to Figment's intervention, but it goes wrong in a positive way, allowing Nigel to rethink his views on imagination.
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176[[folder:Webcomics]]
177* ''Webcomic/TheDummysDummy'': This is the premise of the series; a master craftsman was cursed to create the opposite of his design's intentions. Instead of creating wonderfully joyful playthings, he created the ''perfect'' killing machines - and unwittingly sold them to children. When the bodies started piling up around the world, he realized he could make a hero by intentionally designing a monster - but it's implied that something is also fundamentally wrong with the main character, what with the curse and intentionally dangerous design.
178* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
179** [[BigBad Damien]] was created as an attempt to cheat a vague prophecy by fulfilling it in controlled circumstances -- presumably, no survivors.
180** "''Every'' properly trained wizard [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten has heard]] of Abraham, the ''[[SorcerersApprenticePlot idiot apprentice]]'' who ''[[DidntThinkThisThrough recklessly]] enchanted'' a massive ''diamond'' instead of ''[[CutLexLuthorACheck selling it]]'' to pay someone more ''skilled'' to fix his cursed noble friend."
181* Happens about as often as one would expect in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', given its mad science setting. Sometimes inverted, as some {{Mad Scientist}}s will have their plan to take over the world go horrible wrong, resulting in them becoming happy well-adjusted individuals that are content to be lab assistants.
182* Webcomic/TheGoodWitch: WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong when you give magic powers to a trans girl who's bullied by apparently everyone in town? Her turning into a psychopath in a "magical girl inheritance" trope gone awry.
183* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Jade gave John four {{Infinity Plus One Sword}}s attached to an Infinity Plus One Bunny for his birthday. She didn't count on it falling into the hands of [[OmnicidalManiac Jack Noir]], giving him the firepower to become TheStarscream and promptly [[OneManArmy tear their Sburb session to shreds]]. And that's just the beginning of what led to their game session becoming [[UnintentionallyUnwinnable unwinnable]].
184* In ''Webcomic/LuminaryChildren'', people tried to improve humanity by undoing mistakes in history with time travel. [[BadFuture It went terribly wrong.]]
185* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': [[spoiler: Turning Xykon into a lich went very [[GoneHorriblyRight too well]], but it ''was'' also partially done to give Redcloak some leverage on Xykon. That part of the plan... didn't work. At all well]].
186* Pretty much anytime Riff begins playing around with TimeTravel or [[AnotherDimension dimensional portals]] in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', things go horribly wrong ''fast''.
187* In ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'', attempts to find a cure or vaccine to the Rash have been this, with humanity only finding products that cause quite unpleasant side effects and even the solution found JustBeforeTheEnd [[spoiler:killing people despite curing the disease, and making them into murderous ghosts without the people using it noticing due to the lack of mages at the time]].
188* Many of the spells Anne performs in ''Webcomic/TheWotch'' (There's a whole arc titled "Consequences".) Cassie too, even the most innocent situations seem to have these problems.
189* ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'': In strip #349 "Success", upgrading a computer leads to being stranded out in the middle of the ocean.
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193* In Episode 666 of ''WebAnimation/BowsersKingdom'', [[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG Geno]] believes that the Zombie Apocalypse occurred because of the [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Parasol Corporation's]] attempts to create an unbreakable umbrella.
194* ''[[WebVideo/LifeSMP Double Life SMP]]'': On Day 3, Tango attempts to get revenge on Grian and Scar burning down their ranch by ferrying a [[BossInMooksClothing Warden]] up into their base, which just results in the Warden roaming the server and terrifying everyone. The resulting chaos indirectly causes [[spoiler:the death of soulmate pair Ren and [=BigB=] near the end of the session, making the first Red Lives of the season.]]
195* In the sequel series to ''Literature/FearLoathingAndGumboOnTheCampaignTrailSeventyTwo'', an attempted American invasion of Cuba ends up a complete fiasco thanks to [[PresidentEvil President]] [[spoiler: Donald Rumsfeld]]'s insistence on hiring PrivateMilitaryContractors. Highlights include Special Forces remaining behind because their transports aren't insured by the Pentagon, a missile from an F-16 dropping like a lead weight and then ''locking onto the plane that fired it,'' body armor so worthless that soldiers just discard it in the middle of battle, a rifle that jams worse than the Vietnam-era M16, you name it. The situation is so bad that Soviet leader Nikolai Ryzhkov initially believes the intelligence reports to be propaganda by the KGB until it's confirmed by President Mitterand.
196* ''WebVideo/TheFinalMinutes'': In ''Zombie Plague'', The United States government's attempt at slowing the spread of the XMNV virus using [[spoiler:[[NuclearOption nuclear "sterilization" strikes]]]] not only wipe out most human life, but also [[spoiler:mutate the various zombies into an even worse threat]].
197* ''Literature/TheFireNeverDies'':
198** Germany abandons the scheme that led to the OTL Zimmerman Telegram, instead scheming to bring about a Carlist coup in Spain and bring them into the war on the side of the Central Powers. The plot is exposed, the Carlists are purged, and Spain instead joins the Entente.
199** Subverted by the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was meant to stem the tide of American arms being exported to the Entente. The sinking of the cargo ship ''Arabia'' at first seemed like a case of Gone Horribly Wrong, as it triggers the US entering the war, but that in turn sparks the Second American Revolution, bringing a complete halt to American arms exports.
200** The Wilson Administration's decision to discharge all African Americans from the United States Armed Forces during the Second American Revolution was meant to secure their armed forces from the supposed pro-socialist fifth column they poised. While it had a negligible effect for the army (as they were already not trusted in command), it triggered the Great Mutiny in the United States Navy (costing them two thirds of the Atlantic Fleet), since the ships and their sailors would rather defect to the Reds then turn on their fellow sailors, especially knowing that this would put them at the mercy of the Klansmen whom Wilson had allied with to fight the Reds.
201** From the perspective of disarmament advocates, the London Naval Conference is this. While the nations involve do agree to limit the size of their navies (specifically how many battleships they can field), they deliberately leave a massive loophole whereby the major powers can give their excess battleships to other nations. This leads to a massive transfer of battleships from the leading navies to those of their client states or dominions, with no net change in the total number of battleships across the world.
202* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', the Emperor considers the Imperium in its [[CrapsackWorld current state]] this trope writ large. He believes that Malcador's Marines Errant turning into the Inquisition are also this. He's pretty much right.
203* ''Website/TheOnion'': [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/what-kind-of-powdered-chocolate-drink-mix-have-we,11350/ What Kind Of Powdered Chocolate Drink Mix Have We Unleashed Upon The World?]]
204* The group's decision to [[spoiler: kill Zombie Pigmen in an effort to get more Wither Skeletons to spawn]] in ''LetsPlay/PBGHardcore'' Minecraft #2 ends up backfiring horribly, [[spoiler: resulting in the deaths of two of the remaining three players, with Barry only surviving due to a conveniently-timed crash]].
205* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
206** During the Faunus Wars, the humans were doing well enough and had vastly superior numbers -- until the Battle of Fort Castle. That battle was led by the inexperienced General Lagune, who decided to use his superior numbers to attack the Faunus at night and achieve a decisive victory. However, he didn't realise that most Faunus can see perfectly at night. He did achieve a decisive victory -- for the Faunus. He was captured and is now remembered in history classes as an Aesop about the consequences of lack of knowledge and research.
207** Sienna Kahn is the person who transformed the White Fang into a militant organisation, forcing Ghira Belladonna to step down, but still sharing his goal of seeking peace, respect and equality. Adam Taurus embraced her cause so completely that he wants humanity enslaved to the Faunus, and believes Sienna is holding the Faunus back. Although Ghira was concerned about Adam's early violence, Sienna dismissed them and groomed Adam to become her right hand. This gave him a path to power, and by the time she realises what he's truly after, it's too late to stop him. [[spoiler:In Volume 5, he murders her and frames humans to create an InspirationalMartyr, assumes command of the White Fang, and transforms it into a Faunus supremecy organisation. Just weeks later, he has pushed the White Fang into a confrontation with humans that they cannot win, exactly as Sienna feared. By the beginning of Volume 6, the White Fang is a shattered remnant of its former self, Adam is powerless to do anything but hunt down [[PsychoExBoyfriend the woman he's obsessed with]] for one last attempt at revenge, and Ghira has resurrected his original plan to forge peace between Faunus and humans.]]
208* ''Website/TaerelSetting'': The kin'toni (vampires) were made as a SuperSoldier project for the Xerea zu'aan empire. They broke out of the lab and turned on the staff there, and later the zu'aan empire and rest of the zu'aan.
209* ''Literature/{{Starwalker}}'': The star step drive has the unfortunate consequence of [[spoiler: destroying stars and, by implication, entire systems]].
210* ''LetsPlay/UnoTheMovie'' is a LetsPlay by Creator/AchievementHunter with the idea of using the points system so that they would play to 500 points. It took nearly ''three hours'' to finish.
211* ''WebOriginal/WellBeRightBack'': The Tele-Freq brain frequency reader was originally designed to modify the contents of a TV show or movie in real time to fit the viewer's programming preferences. [[spoiler:It since ended up being hijacked by its brain signal-analyzing AI, which now uses it as a weapon with which to wreak havoc on broadcasts.]]
212* Lots of ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' examples, but how about the Russian program to create a nanotechnology SuperSoldier? The ''best'' iteration had one functional survivor... who melted into goo a year later.
213** Or how about the bioengineering mad scientist who was found on a personal military submarine... or, rather, the people searching that submarine found around a dozen or two protozoan monstrosities, and [[{{Squick}} no trace of the crew]].
214* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'': This is what happens when the main characters try to fix things. Also, the backstory is portrayed as this.
215-->'''Shadi''': ''But then something go horribly wrong.''
216* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypWCTPzw-rM this]] video parodying ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[LoonyFan Bartolomeo]] calls the Bounty Collection Office to recap all of [[FriendlyPirate Luffy's]] accomplishments in hope of getting Luffy's bounty increased. The head of the Bounty Collection Office then proceeds to ''decrease'' Luffy's bounty, claiming that Luffy is a hero and that he honestly shouldn't have a bounty at all. (While many people Luffy has met consider him a hero, Luffy doesn't think of himself as one, and probably wouldn't appreciate being declared one.)
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