Ironic Echo / Western Animation

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• Amphibia: When Anne fights against Sasha at the end of season 1, Sasha asks Anne what she's doing. She responds with, "Something I should have done a long time ago. Standing up to you!" In the Grand Finale, King Andrias sends his robots to help the Calamity trio push the Core away from Amphibia. When it asks Andrias what he's doing, he says, "Something I should have done a long time ago. Standing up to you!"
• In Angel's Friends — In Episode 2, Raf and Sulfus see Andrew's friend Jacob getting picked on by three bullies:
  Raf: What do you mean; three against one?! That's not fair!
  Sulfus: Let me think about it...you could slap a fine on them!
  • Then later when Urie and Dolce show up to help Raf in a challenge:
  Sulfus: Three against one? It's not fair!
  Raf: Slap a fine on me!
• Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • Toph is stuck inside a metal cage, while Xin Fu tells her "You might think you're the greatest earthbender in the world, but even you can't bend metal." She does exactly that, and declares, "I am the greatest earthbender in the world!"
  • In "The Ember Island Players", when the rest of the Gaang is upset over how they're portrayed in the play, Toph tells everyone, "Listen, friends, it's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt, but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth." Later, when Toph's character, played by "a really buff guy" is introduced, Katara tries to get back at her:
    Katara: Well, Toph, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it?
    Toph: Are you kidding me?! I wouldn't have cast it any other way!
  • There is another more subtle example in "The Ember Island Players", when in the play Zuko is siding against Iroh.
    "Zuko": I hate you! And you smell!
    (two episodes later, when Zuko is apologizing to Iroh after tracking him by scent)
    Zuko: It wasn't that hard [to find you], uncle. You have a pretty strong scent.
• Arthur: In "Draw", When Arthur asks if Francine will apologize to Fern she says "She'll get over it". Fern repeats this line when Arthur gets concerned about how Francine feels about everybody's stories.
• In Baby Looney Tunes, episode "Let Them Make Cake", Melissa Duck wants a cake, but doesn't want to help make it. When Petunia comes to ask her for help, she says that she "almost forgot" and claims she will come, but doesn't. Later, Tweety comes asking Melissa for her help and she says, "I completely forgot" and again claims she will come, but doesn't. Then when Granny and the other children finish the cake and eat it, Melissa is devastated because she didn't get any.
  Melissa: (gasps) Didn't anybody save some cake for me?!
  Kids: We forgot!
• Batman: The Animated Series
  • "Nothing to Fear":
    "I am fear incarnate! I am the terror of Gotham! I! Am! The Scarecrow!"
    [Later in the episode...]
    "I am vengeance. I am the night! I! Am! BATMAN!"
  • In "The Clock King":
    • Compare the scenes in which Fugate is being a Mean Boss and when the judge gives him No Sympathy.
    • Also invoked by Fugate: The Distant Prologue shows that Hill's Advice Backfire was given at the subway. Seven years later Gotham Central Station's speakers will lampshade Hill's incompetence just before the Sinister Subway scene.
  • And another one from the episode "Baby-Doll". Baby's catchphrase in her show (after causing some mayhem) was "I didn't mean to!", à la Bart's "I didn't do it." At the end, she's hugging Batman's leg and crying, saying simply "I didn't mean to..."
• Batman Beyond
  • In "Rebirth: Part 2":
    Terry: You built that company. And now Powers is making nerve-gas there. You gotta do something. You're Batman.
    Bruce: I was Batman.
    [later, at the climax]
    Mr. Fixx: You're pretty strong for some clown who thinks he's Batman.
    Batman II: I am Batman!
  • From "Meltdown", doubling as a Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Remember, there may be some momentary discomfort."
• Beast Wars: Rattrap is angry at Dinobot for the latter's recent betrayal, maliciously snapping, "I used to figure I had you pegged. 'Oh yeah, he's a slag-spoutin' saurian, but at least you know where he stands!' Guess we live and learn, huh?" Later, when Dinobot sacrifices his life to protect the early anthropoids, in a more reverent and somber tone: "Like I said: You're just a blasted, slag-spoutin' saurian... but it's nice to know where you stand."
• Big City Greens:
  • "Never let your guard down!" from the episode "Cricket Versus". Gramma gives this advice to Cricket when his attempts to find a wild animal go rocky at first; near the end as he seemingly appears to surrender his fight with Gramma, he says that exact same thing as he tackles her and pins her down the final time.
  • In the flashback of "Backflip Bill" as Bill is ready for his first gymnastics meet, he says he'll just have fun. Alice goads to him, "Sure, we'll have lots of fun, IF YOU THINK IT'S FUN TO LOSE!" Come the present day when Cricket goes full Drill Sergeant Nasty on Bill as he trains for a gymnastics show, he ends up giving a "Reason You Suck" Speech which ends with that exact line.
  • In "Green Streets" when Cricket is complaining about the mysterious litterbug to Keys, he delivers the line, "You go easy on this litterbug, and they'll keep littering and littering until we're up to our eyes in trash!". Once Cricket discovers he was the litterbug all along and Keys hears, he repeats that advice right back to him.
  • In "Reckoning Ball" as Bill is giving Chip Whistler advice, he says he has to "put in the work" before he can "reap the rewards". After his true intentions are revealed in the end, Chip comments on those exact words as he furthers his revenge on the Greens.
  • In "Chipocalypse Now", after the destruction of Big Coffee and the apartment building, Chip says ominously to the Greens: "Bingo. Bango." In the climax when Chip is banned and is about to be slung far away in his helicopter, Cricket says the exact same thing to him.
• In the Bojack Horseman episode "Say Anything," Bojack pulls one on himself. He spends the episode asking Princess Carolyn "what are we doing?" in a jovial tone, meaning that he believes they are obviously in love with each other and asking what are they doing trying to deny it. At the end of the episode after going through a bad experience that shatters his (always tenuous) self-esteem, he cancels a date with her by dejectedly asking, "what are we DOING?". This time, he's asking what they're doing pretending that they're really in love when they're obviously just trying to temporarily deny their own crushing loneliness.
• Care Bears (1980s): In "The Great Race", the Care Bears and their cousins are holding a race where the winner will become Care-a-Lot's King for a day. Six names are to be randomly drawn from a pot and Beastly cheats his way into becoming the race's fifth entrant. When the obvious protests come, Beastly recites the race rules to validate his status as a competitor on the grounds that his name was drawn and states that rules are rules. After begrudgingly accepting that they must allow him to race, the sixth and last name is drawn and the last entrant turns out to be Swift Heart Rabbit. Beastly desperately tries to protest and demand a new drawing but Brave Heart Lion reminds him that rules are rules.
• CatDog: A variant. In "Dog's Strange Condition", Dog gets afflicted by a strange disease called pecanitis and Winslow mocks him. Cat joins in. When Dog confronts Cat for siding with Winslow, Cat tells him that they aren't laughing at him, they're laughing ''with him. Later, Cat gets sick with the same condition and gets bullied by a large crowd of people, prompting this response from Dog:
  Dog: (laughing along with the crowd) Don't worry, Cat, they're not laughing with you... they're laughing at you!
• Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers: In episode "When You Fish Upon a Star", Fat Cat and his gang are paddling in a small boat to pursue a ship. Mepps sees something and tries to tell Fat Cat, but he doesn't listen.
  Mepps: Hey, boss, what's that?
  Fat Cat: I don't want to hear it!
  Mepps: There, in the water?
  Fat Cat: Keep paddling, I don't want to hear it!
  (something crashes into their boat and they start to sink)
  Fat Cat: Wh-Wh-Wh-What happened?
  Mole: You don't want to hear it.
• In Code Lyoko episode "Straight to Heart", Yumi tries to clear up her relationship with Ulrich by claiming they're "Friends, that's all." The sentence comes back bitterly several times in the episode, and (with some variations) throughout Seasons 3 and 4.
  • The prologue has another example in its second part. When Yumi accompanies them to the factory and she and Ulrich come to the ropes leading down, he pauses. Yumi, unaware of his Vertigo condition, says, "Don't tell me you're scared?" Ulrich repeats the line a few minutes later, a grin on his face as the scanner doors close on him before he's virtualized, effectively provoking Yumi into going to Lyoko as well.
• Danny Phantom loves this trope.
  • One of the earliest examples is in "Maternal Instinct"; when Vlad first uses the Plasmius Maximus on Danny to temporarily De-power him, he smugly tells him, "I've seen your grades, and I know you're bad at math. I'll give you five minutes before I send my minions to destroy you.... Five minutes, five seconds — oh, apparently, I'm bad at math, too." Later, after Danny gets the better of him:
    Danny: I'll give you a five-minute head start, Plasmius.
    Vlad: Really?
    Danny: Minutes, seconds... you know how bad I can be at math.
  • And in "Shades of Gray", Valerie was planning to go to a concert with the other popular kids, but subsequently had to sell her tickets online to pay for a moving truck. Paulina then asks her who bought them ("We don't wanna have to sit next to any losers at the concert."). Later, it turns out that Sam did:
    Sam: (at the concert with Danny and Tucker) I can't believe we're sitting next to those losers!
  • "Life Lessons":
    • "Life Lessons" begins with a great example. When Danny is fighting Valerie, he says "I don't wanna hurt you," to which she replies "What makes you think you can?" Later, after finding out that they were assigned to the same Home Economics project, the teacher mocks them, referring to them as a married couple. Danny says "I am so not kissing the bride" to which Valerie replies, "What makes you think you can?"
    • As it happens, that episode has another instance of this trope; after they finally manage to beat Skulker and remove the handcuffs binding them together, Valerie apologizes to Danny (Phantom).
      Valerie: I never thought a ghost could be anything but trouble.
      Danny: That's because you never bothered to get to know one.
    • And a few scenes later, when Danny (Fenton) finds out the job Valerie has...
      Danny: Wow, this is like the worst job ever. I didn't know this is the job you were talking about.
      Valerie: That's 'cause you never bothered to get to know me.
  • The Box Ghost's catchphrase of all things became this, when Danny went into the future during The Ultimate Enemy and found his enemy's Future Badass self. It used to be a joke emphasizing how nobody took the Box Ghost seriously. Now...
    The Box Ghost: Beware.
• In the Darkwing Duck episode "In Like Blunt", Sharp leaves a note with "Gotcha" where Darkwing and Blunt expect to find the list of agents. Then, after Darkwing successfully swaps the list with another just before the sale, he and Blunt both tell Sharp "gotcha."
• DC Super Hero Girls: At the beginning of "#SheMightBeGiant", Doris bullies Karen with the Stop Hitting Yourself routine while saying "Why you hitting yourself?" At the end, Bumblebee mockingly throws those words back at Giganta after a successful Deadly Dodging.
• In the Dexter's Laboratory episode "D&DD", when the players of Dexter's Mazes and Monsters game accuse him of cheating^note He was, Dexter launches into an A God Am I speech ("I am the Game Master and you are my pawns!"). Later, when Dee Dee is allowed to take over the game, she has Dexter play as "Hodo, the Furry-Footed Burrower"; when Dexter complains, the other players throw that rant right back in his face.
• In the Double Dragon (1993) cartoon, Jimmy becomes drunk on the power of the Eye of the Dragon, causing him to (temporarily) break the bond between him and his brother at an inopportune time. At this point, "I hold the power" becomes his Madness Mantra, and while under the influence of the Eye's power, he comes within a hair's breadth of killing the Shadow Master until he shows Jimmy a captured Billy, forcing him into a Friend-or-Idol Decision with the phrase "The end of your enemy... or the life of your brother? Only I hold that power."
• In the DuckTales (1987) episode "Where No Duck Has Gone Before", Scrooge obtains ownership of a studio that produces a show that Scrooge dislikes, and the star, Major Courage, constantly reminds Scrooge that he has a five-year contract, especially after he accidentally blasts off into space with the nephews and upon finding out he really is in space, finds a way out and leaves them behind, refusing to come back for them. At the end, Scrooge turns the studio into a space museum, where Courage is forced to do humiliating work as a mascot and candy vendor, to which Scrooge reminds him of his five-year contract.
• In the Ed, Edd n Eddy episode "They Call Him Mr. Ed", Eddy says to Nazz "You got spunk" for coming to him for a job. In Grand Finale, it's said again by Eddy's brother to Edd...after SLAMMING HIM INTO THE GROUND.
• In The Flintstones episode "Shinrock-A-Go-Go", Wilma and Betty wish to obtain free tickets to a rock-music show. Barney offers to get them, but Fred refuses.
  Fred: I'm not going anywhere near that Shinrock studio. Those kids might stampede and we'd be trampled.
  Wilma: Okay, Fred. If that's the way you feel. Come on, Betty.
  Fred: Hey, wait a minute. What about our dinner?
  Wilma: Sorry, Fred. We're not going anywhere near the kitchen.
  Betty: When you smell food, you and Barney might stampede and we'd be trampled.
• One episode of Garfield and Friends has Wade Duck remove a mattress tag because he thought it was "a bookmark". He wonders "What harm can it do?" throughout the episode, once in the form of a musical number! At the end of the episode, Booker and Sheldon play a prank that the police have come to arrest Wade. When Sheldon asks Booker about it, he says "What harm can it do?"
• Gargoyles: Used in a very dark context by first Demona and then her enemy John Canmore:
  "What have I—what have they done to you?!"
  • "It may not be worth much now, but in a thousand years..." First by Xanatos, then by his much more moral father.
• One episode of Goof Troop has Max and P.J. try to visit a local hangout, but a gang called the Pharaohs repeatedly chase them off saying "No geeks on the Pharaohs' turf!" Later, Max's cousin visits and helps them enact a plan to get the Pharaohs out of the hangout and let them visit. After they succeed, the Pharaohs try to sneak back in only for Max, his cousin, and P.J. to tell them "No geeks on the Pharaohs' turf!" Fade to Black...Fade back in.
  Max: Not. Come on in, guys.
• Gravity Falls:
  • In "Tourist Trapped", Stan has to pick out someone to nail up signs in the woods, and says this line with perfectly innocent intent, unlike when Bill echoes this line.
  Stan: Eenie meenie minee... you.
  • Later, in "Sock Opera", when Dipper makes a deal with Bill and asks which puppet he is going to pick, Bill echoes this line.
  Bill: Hmm, let's see... eenie, meenie, minee... YOU!
  • In the finale, when Bill catches Dipper and Mabel, he repeats this line once more, declaring that he is going to kill one of them, 'just for the heck of it'.
• In the first song of the Dr. Seuss special Halloween Is Grinch Night, Grandpa Josiah repeatedly sings, "I wouldn't go out on a night like this for" a given amount of money that increases with each verse, such as "six dollars and sixty cents!". Later, the Grinch starts poetically talking about what a wonderful night it is in the same rhythm as Josiah's song, ending with "I wouldn't stay home on a night like this for sixty dollars and sixty cents!"
• Hazbin Hotel: Alastor's final lines in "Stayed Gone" are a twist on Vox's opening lines which flip Vox's insults on their head and turn them into Badass Boasts, which is concerning because Alastor shouldn't have been able to hear that part.
  Vox: Welcome home
  I'm gonna make you wish that you'd stayed gone
  Say hello to a new status quo
  Everyone knows that there's a brand new dawn
  Turn the TV ON!
  [...]
  Alastor: Let's begin
  I'm gonna make you wish that I'd stayed gone
  Tune on in
  When I'm done, your status quo will know its race is run
     Oh, this will be FUN.   
• Jimmy Two-Shoes:
  Beezy: Misery? You told me to be causing anguish.
  Lucius VII: Anguish? That's barely worse than worry!
  [later]
  Lucius VII: But... look at the anguish on that man's face!
  Lucius VI: Anguish? That's barely worse than worry!
• Justice League:
  • One of Clayface's attempts at impersonating The Flash leads to an overuse of slang and leads to Batman Spotting the Thread more or less instantly:
    Flash!Clayface: Looks like I didn't need you after all, yo, but you can help me tie him up.
    * After Batman exposes Clayface*
    Clayface: ...What gave me away?
    Batman: **Completely deadpan** You overplayed your part, "yo".
  • In "Only a Dream", Batman uses "Frere Jacques" to keep Dr. Destiny from completely invading his mind. Once Dr. Destiny accidentally doses himself with a sedative intended for the sleep-deprived Batman, we see him as a catatonic John Dee again, eyes wide open but with Frere Jacques going through HIS mind now.
  • The one thing Ace said to Joker near the end of "Wild Cards", after the mind control device was taken from him and turned off. Right before warping Joker's reality enough to make him simply stare bug-eyed, drooling.
    "Do what?"
  • In the Unlimited episode "Alive!", Tala tries to worm her way back into Lex's good graces after a failed mutiny by saying that she's a "sick person", implying that she just couldn't help herself. When Lex uses her as a living magical battery in a device that will resurrect Brainiac at the cost of her life and Tala realizes that Lex planned on using her for this even before she betrayed him, he gloats "What can I say? I'm a sick person too." Tala gets a posthumous last laugh by resurrecting Darkseid instead of Brainiac.
• In the first half of the second season opener of The Legend of Korra, when Korra is attacked by a spirit Unalaq calms it telling it "Go in peace." This is what Korra later says when she banishes him in the season finale.
  • In the final season, when Zhu Li ostensibly gets sick of Varrick's attitude and declares her loyalty to Kuvira, she dispatches him with his own Catchphrase:
    Zhu Li: Guards, do the thing.
    Varrick: (as the guards drag him away) No! Not the thing! NOT THE THING!
  • Used again in the final episode during Zhu Li's and Varrick's wedding
    Bolin: You may now... do the thing.
  • Korra delivers another one to Zaheer. She tells him he killed the Earth Queen only to create a more powerful leader.
  • In one that stretches from the original series to the sequel, Professor Zei says he could spend an eternity in Wan Shi Tong's spirit library. Jinora says the same thing when she visits the library in Legend of Korra, and Wan Shi Tong even lampshades it. Made even more ironic by the fact that both episodes in question were in Book 2, Chapter 10 of their respective series.
• The Legend of Zelda (1989):
  • In one episode Zelda borrows Link's shield and leaves him to fight off Ganon's invasion alone:
    Zelda: You hold them here!
    Link: Hey! Thanks heaps, Princess!
  • Later, after moblins are sent after the duo in the underworld...
    Link's Ghost: Just hold them a while!
    Zelda: Thanks heaps!
• Les Sisters: In one episode, Rachel, the local Alpha Bitch and Wendy's biggest rival, comes to stay at the Sisters' house while her parents are out of town. When the adults go out, leaving Wendy, Marine and Rachel alone, Rachel locks Wendy and Marine out of the house and throws a Wild Teen Party. When the Sisters try to get back in, the bouncer Rachel employed tells them their names aren't on the guest list and refuses to allow them in. The Sisters manage to sneak in and drive Rachel and her guests out. When it starts to rain, Rachel begs them to let her back inside, but they sarcastically reply that "her name isn't on the guest list" and refuse to let her in.
• Disney's Lilo & Stitch: The Series:
  • An episode where Gantu is immediately rebuked by Dr. Hamsterviel for his idea of how useful an experiment would be. When 625 discovers something that could vindicate him, he's too angry to listen.
    Gantu: Quiet! I do not want to hear anything more about 113.
    625: But—
    Gantu: But nothing. Go make a sandwich!
    625: Well gee, you don't have to be a jerk about it!
    Gantu: Yeah? What are you gonna do about it, trog?
    625: Look, I'm trying to tell you that—
    Gantu: [covers his ears] I'm not listening! Na na-na na-na-na.
  • And then later, when 625 tells him what he found out, we get one of the best instances of this trope ever thought up:
    Gantu: Why didn't you say so before?!
    625: [chuckles, then holds up a tape recorder] Caught it all on tape.
    Gantu: [recording] Quiet! I do not want to hear anything more about 113.
    Gantu: But—
    Gantu: [recording] But nothing. Go make a sandwich!
    Gantu: You can't talk to me like that!
    Gantu: [recording] Yeah? What are you gonna do about it, trog?
    Gantu: [pulls out plasma gun and holds it against the recorder] Insolent device! SILENCE!
    Gantu: [recording] I'm not listening! Na na-na na-na-na.
  • Blasting the recorder didn't do much to mollify him, either.
• The Loud House:
  • In "Future Tense", Mr. and Mrs. Loud become jealous of their new neighbors' more accomplished lifestyle and shout "We're failing our children!", promoting them to force the kids to try different things. They later say the same thing when they realize that their attempts to broaden their horizons are costing them their identities.
  • In "Net Gains", Lynn gets drafted onto a basketball team with not-so-talented players, so she tries to win their games by scoring all the baskets herself, much to the others' chagrin. To get a better chance at winning, she gets two older and skilled girls to join the team, only for them to score by themselves and not give her a chance to play. When Lynn complains to them about it, they repeat what she herself said to the team earlier: "A win's a win, no matter who's playing."
• In the first episode of The Magic School Bus, Arnold's cousin Janet is always challenging others to "Prove it!" for any claims that she doesn't believe, to the point where it's practically her catchphrase. While on the planet Mercury, she boasts about how impressed her classmates will be to hear about her being there...and the other kids smugly point out exactly what their response will be.
  Carlos: But you know what they're gonna say?
  Janet: What?
  Carlos & Dorothy Ann: "Prove it!"
• In the Season 1 finale of Metalocalypse, Charles Foster Ofdensen, Dethklok's manager, saves an unconscious Dethklok from a masked assassin, saying "That's my bread and butter you're fuckin' with." In the Season 2 finale, Dethklok saves Charles from the Revengencers, repeating the line word-for-word.
• Happens a lot in My Life as a Teenage Robot. For example, in the episode "Attack Of The 5.5 Ft. Geek", Sheldon says to Jenny that he never got to say "thanks for saving me", and vice versa happens at the end of the episode.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Played with, during "Sonic Rainboom", Fluttershy says to Rainbow Dash (who's suffering from a bad case of stage fright) that there's no reason to feel nervous about facing a crowd of ponies who will watch, criticize, and judge each and every one of her moves. Later, during "Green Isn't Your Color" Photo Finish gives Fluttershy a similar speech when the nervous pegasus is about to begin her first modeling pass.
  • "Pinkie Pie, you are so random" has a very different connotation between "Griffon the Brush Off" and "Swarm of the Century".
  • In "Party of One", Pinkie says "Okie dokie lokie" with great enthusiasm. The next time she says it, however, it's with great skepticism.
  • In "Twilight's Kingdom Part 2", Discord betrays the ponies to join Tirek.
    Discord: Surely you saw this coming.
    Fluttershy: I didn't! I really didn't!
  • Applejack then delivers a stinging echo after Tirek betrays him:
    Applejack: Surely you saw this coming.
    Discord: I didn't. I truly didn't...
  • From a dramatic stand point, Tirek gave Discord the medallion which turned out to mean nothing to him. Discord later gives the same medallion to Twilight for freeing him, and this turns into one of the keys needed to unlock the power to defeat Tirek.
  • One five seasons in the making: In the very first episode of the series, Twilight is irritated about all the "annoying" ponies trying to make friends with her (unaware this is a Secret Test sent by Celestia to defeat Nightmare Moon):
    Twilight: I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time.
  • Then, in the Season 5 episode "Amending Fences," Twilight is trying to repair her friendship with Moondancer, whom she accidentally put off friendship back in that first episode:
    Moondancer: I just need to be alone so I can study without some crazy pony trying to make friends, alright?!
  • In "The Cutie Remark Part 1", one of Starlight Glimmer's attempts to prevent the Sonic Rainboom was to stop the bullies from messing with Rainbow Dash, telling Twilight that stopping the Rainboom was "just a bonus". Flash forward to "No Second Prances", where Trixie, attempting to tell a heartbroken Starlight that she genuinely was her friend, she added that beating Twilight was "just a bonus".
  • Occurs after Diamond Tiara finally pushes her best friend Silver Spoon a little too far, cutting off her well-intentioned advice by snapping out an angry and aggressive "I don't recall saying you could speak!" Then, later, after The Dog Bites Back....
    Silver Spoon: You could have actually won this election, if you'd just listened to me. You want to know how? Sorry, I'm not allowed to speak.
  • In the infamous "The Mean 6", Pinkie Pie's mean counterpart complains, "This is the worst day ever!", then Mean Fluttershy kicks dirt in her face and claims it's now such. Then at the end of the episode when the real ponies come upon their campsite in ruins, the real Pinkie happily chimes, "This was... the worst... day... ever!"
• Phineas and Ferb: In the special "Summer Belongs to You!", as everyone is stranded on an island, Isabella, currently at her lowest point, says she’ll literally give anything if Phineas could just sit and watch the beautiful sunset with her. Phineas, also at his lowest point and on the verge of completely giving up, sits next to Isabella, saying that at the very least they can watch the beautiful sunset. But seeing Phineas in the state he’s in makes her defy this.
• Rick and Morty: After Officer Morty destroys the building with the bootleg Portal Gun fluid with his caught culprits still inside, he tells Rookie Rick that it's the same old story of "Mortys killing Mortys." After Rookie Rick kills Officer Morty due to the latter being corrupt, and turns himself in, he tells another Officer Rick that it's the same old story of "Ricks killing Mortys".
• Rugrats:
  • When Angelica's parents send her to her room for refusing to eat her broccoli, her mother tells her, "We tried to reason with you, but you wouldn't listen." Later, Hilarity Ensues when Angelica sues her parents. When Charlotte tries to reason with her, Angelica tells her, "It's too late for talk now, Mommy. I tried to reason with you, but you wouldn't listen."
  • Also, "And you'll never see your mom, or your dad or your dumb old dog ever again! Ah hahahahahahah!!!
• The Simpsons love this trope:
  • In the episode "Bart's Girlfriend", the Lovejoys' daughter Jessica arrives in town from boarding school and Bart is instantly smitten. Lisa reminds him that his chances with her are slim to none, saying "She's a sweet, kind reverend's daughter, and you're the devil's cabana boy." Bart begrudgingly adopts a "good boy" persona to get into the Lovejoys' good graces, which doesn't take. Neither does it matter because Jessica proves to be a troublemaker on par with himself. They go on a petty crime spree, wherein Bart realizes that Jessica actually outclasses him in terms of amorality. When he tries to break off their relationship next week in church, Jessica retaliates by dumping the contents of the collection plate into her purse and pinning the theft on him, which leads the entire town to ostracize him. Bart later confronts Jessica about her betrayal and vows to let the town know who the real culprit is. She replies, echoing Lisa's earlier sentiment, "Who would believe you? Remember, I'm the sweet, perfect minister's daughter, and you're just yellow trash."
  • In "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind", Homer's line "The mother of my children with the reason for my children" changes its meaning in a funny way. The first time around, the "reason" is alcohol, but when he repeats the line later, he refers to Marge's caring nature as the reason.
• Occurs in the South Park episode "Fishsticks," where Cartman "helped" Jimmy write a joke, then is concerned that he won't get proper credit, and asks Kyle for help. Kyle doesn't give him any, but tells Cartman:
  Kyle: Yes, I believe that you believe you helped write that joke. That's how people like you work! Your ego is so out of whack that it will do whatever it can to protect itself. And people with a messed-up ego can do these mental gymnastics to convince themselves they're awesome when, really, they're just douchebags!
  • Later...
  Cartman: Jimmy, you really believe that you came up with it all on your own? Oh my God, wait. I totally get it now.
  Jimmy: What? I, I still don't get anything.
  Cartman: All this time I've been mad at you, Jimmy, for trying to take all the credit, but, now I realize it's just that your ego has made you believe things happened differently. That's what Kyle was trying to tell me. That you have such a huge ego you do these mental gymnastics to make yourself a part of things.
  Jimmy: Rih, r-r-really?
  Cartman: I thought you were just trying to Jew me out of my part of the credit, but now I realize that... some people just have egos that are so out of whack that no matter what people tell them, they can't accept the truth of who they are. Jimmy, I owe you an apology. I realize now you can't help believing you created the entire joke, because your ego won't let you think otherwise. I just have to accept that.
  • And in "Coon 2: Hindsight" and "Coon vs. Coon and Friends." You got poop, don't you?
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series: The Daredevil story gives us a three-fer. In Flashback we see Kingpin going to prison for his father's crimes, with his father saying "Sacrifices must be made". Later in the flashback Kingpin says the same thing when disposing of his father, as the last link to his old identity. And at the end, he says it again when he lets his own son take the rap for his crimes.
• SpongeBob SquarePants
  • The episode "One Krabs Treasure" has an Ironic Echo done in a way. First in the graveyard when Mr. Krabs comes to steal back the "valuable" novelty soda drink hat, he comes across a depressed Squidward mourning his hopes and dreams. Krabs replies "What a baby." Later after Krabs finds out that the soda drink hat has no value after others are found, he sobs and Squidward passes by saying "What a baby." May count as a Crowning Moment of Funny.
  • "Squid's Visit": When Squidward spends a whole day in SpongeBob's house tricked out to look like the interior of his own house to get him to visit him, Squidward finds his home burnt down because of the casserole he left in the oven; this prompts him to loudly shout SpongeBob's name in anger. SpongeBob, oblivious, invites him to stay at the pineapple until his house is rebuilt, rendering Squidward catatonic and fainting, prompting SpongeBob to loudly shout Squidward's name the same way in worry.
  • In "Stuck in the Wringer", when SpongeBob ends up causing trouble at the Krusty Krab with the wringer stuck on him, Mr. Krabs shouts, "Help?! I think you've helped quite enough today!" When Patrick eventually causes more trouble for SpongeBob himself to the point of getting him injured at the Coral Carnival, SpongeBob says the exact same line to Patrick.
  • "I Heart Dancing": Squidward, scheming to take SpongeBob's place at a dance audition by tiring him out, forces him to keep dancing until he gets a specific dance move right, not caring how long it takes. Squidward succeeds… but is forced to be taught by Squilliam, who yells the same thing to him. For extra irony, the dance Squilliam forces him to do is the one SpongeBob did at the beginning of the episode (and Squidward called stupid).
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin like to exchange banter during fights by throwing each others words back at them.
  • "Dooku Captured": When Obi-Wan disables Dooku's ship:
    Anakin: That was easy.
    Obi-Wan: Lucky for you I'm an excellent shot.
    • When their own ship is damaged by an enemy fighter Anakin retorts with:
    Anakin: Lucky for you I'm an excellent pilot.
• Storm Hawks: In "Gale Force Winds", the Dark Ace knocks down Aerrow and points his sword at him, declaring: "Checkmate." Aerrow manages to get away with the Dark Ace in pursuit. As the Dark Ace is closing in on Aerrow, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by Aerrow's allies, including the massive Condor. Turning to face the Dark Ace, Aerrow throws his earlier words back at him: "Now that... would be checkmate."
• Tangled: The Series:
  • The Enchanted Girl (aka Zhan Tiri) introduces herself to Cassandra saying that she's a friend "Or at least, I'd like to be." Eleven episodes later, she says the same thing to Varian, and the viewer isn't fooled this time.
  • Rapunzel once said to Mother Gothel that she would never stop trying to get away from her. Now she says to Cassandra, Gothel's biological daughter, that she'll never stop trying to get through to her.
  • Cassandra repeats Gothel's "You want me to be the bad guy? Fine, then I'm the bad guy" in Episode 16 of Season 3. Like Mother, Like Daughter, I suppose.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) has this in the episode "April Fools"
  Shredder: You fool! You've fouled up the triangulation!
  Krang: So sue me.
  • Later...
  Krang: Shredder! You idiot! I could have been blown to bits!
  Shredder: So sue me.
• Teen Titans (2003)
  • The Season 2 arc uses this twice.
    • First off in an episode where it's revealed that Terra has been working with Slade to help her control her powers, when she attempts to protect Beast Boy from Slade he tells her that she doesn't have any friends. Then after the truth comes out, she begs Beast Boy to forgive her deception. He turns his back on her, replying "Slade was right. You don't have any friends."
    • The second time it's used is in the 2-part finale. Terra, now bitter and completely sided with Slade, is tearing up the town, and Beast Boy attempts to reason with her and begs her to stop, stating that he's still her friend. Terra coldly replies, "I don't have any friends, remember?''."
  • "Aftershock": An even larger example involving Beast Boy and Terra.
    • When Terra is about to finish Beast Boy while controlled by Slade, he says, "It's your life Terra, your choice, it's never too late to change."
    • In the show's finale: "Things change, Beast Boy. The girl you want me to be is just a memory.... you're the Teen Titan. That's who you are. That's not me. I'm not a hero. I'm not out to save the world. I'm just a girl with a geometry test next period and I haven't studied."
• In the prom episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, Montana Max delivers a "Reason You Suck" Speech to Elmyra , but when it doesn't get through to her, he exclaims, "I! Don't! Like! You!" Needless to say, she was crushed. Monty then tried to move in on Dizzy's date Mitzy, only to get a similar speech from her (right down to the "I don't like you" quote). He takes it about as well as Elmyra did.
• In ''Tokyo Mater'', Kabuto actually threatens Mater that if he loses the race to Tokyo Tower, then Kabuto will strip him of his modifications and as a result Mater will become "stock." At the end of the short, Mater beats Kabuto to the top of the tower, and as a result it's Kabuto that ends up being stripped of his modifications. As the other cars in Tokyo start laughing at him because of his nudity, Kabuto immediately screams "I'M STOCK!!!"
• Being The Voiceless/the eyes and ears for the Decepticons, Soundwave from Transformers: Prime "speaks" by replaying recordings of others, and as such a lot of his "dialogue" can turn into this. For example, in the episode "Masters And Students" once Starscream learns that Megatron survived the SpaceBridge explosion, and just before going off to find him, there's this exchange:
  Starscream: Remain here and monitor the outcome. When Skyquake snuffs Prime's spark... I must bear witness. *Flies off*
  Soundwave: ..."Must bear witness"... *Discreetly sends Laserbeak after Starscream*
• In The Unicorn in the Garden, the wife first tells the husband "The unicorn is a mythical beast", then later the psychiatrist asks if the husband told the wife there was a unicorn, which would mean the wife was not crazy, to which the husband replies "Of course not. The unicorn is a mythical beast."
• In Wat's Pig, Wat asks "Me?" in awe when his brother (the king) presents him with the opportunity to wear the shining armor. Later, his brother asks him "Me?" in horror when he's offered the plow after The Bad Guy Wins.
• In Xiaolin Showdown episode "A New Order", Jack asks Chase "Who would you rather be right now? You, or me?" after trapping him in the Sphere of Yun. Later, Chase asks Jack the same question after Omi lets him out.
• X-Men: The Animated Series: From "Beyond Good and Evil Part 4" in the final battle with Apocalypse when Magneto gets attacked and saved by Wolverine:
  Wolverine: Oh, look who I'm saving. You'd think I was Xavier.
  • Then Magneto returns the favor when Wolverine is attacked by Apocalypse and saved by Magneto:
  Magneto: Look who I'm saving. You'd think I were an X-Man.
• In the Young Justice (2010) episode "Secrets", when Artemis tries to fight Harm, he says she's too riddled with doubt to be an effective fighter: "How can it fight Harm when it is busy fighting itself?" When Harm is shaken by being forced to confront the ghost of his sister, who he murdered to remove "weakness" from his life, Artemis throws the line back at him.

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