Ironic Echo - Television Tropes & Idioms

In One Piece, minor villain Bellamy condescendingly asks Luffy (who he believes to have a 30 million belli bounty, as compared to Bellamy's 50 million) "Do you even know how to throw a punch?" Luffy, who doesn't care much what an idiot like that says, doesn't reply until Bellamy REALLY pisses him off by further insulting the friends he'd already beaten up. In a Crowning Moment Of Awesome (pretty much of the entire series), as Bellamy rockets around on his springs while dramatically taunting him, Luffy calmly lifts up one fist and echoes "Do I know how to throw a punch?" He then takes the guy OUT FOR THE COUNT with one punch. Just to show him how it's done.
- Without even using his stretching powers, even.
In Code Geass, one of the last things Lelouch says to Suzaku before the final battle is "After all, we're friends, aren't we?" Suzaku pulls the Ironic Echo just after shooting Lelouch in the shoulder.
- In the very first episode, Lelouch states his philosophy that "Those who shoot must be themselves prepared to be shot"; the echo comes in the very last episode, where he uses it to convince Suzaku to kill him as per their Zero Requiem plan.
  - And one more: After recovering his memories at the start of the second season, Lelouch declares "I am Zero, the man who destroys worlds and creates worlds!" It's also his last words.
  - And yet another: Before he kills his victims, Blood Knight Luciano Bradley has a little spiel he goes through where he asks them what's "really important". Kallen throws it back in his face just before she kills him as part of the Crowning Moment Of Awesome that is the Guren SEITEN's debut battle.
  - And still another: In episode 21, right after Lelouch kills his parents, Suzaku remembers his desire to avenge Eupemia's death, to which Lelouch replies "What of it?" Ironically, Charles tells Lelouch the same thing after Marianne is assassinated.
The finale of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS has two, both used for heartwarming moments.
- Shortly before splitting up to sabotage the Saint Cradle's engine, Vita tells Nanoha not to worry about her since she and Graf Eisen specializes in smashing stuff and "There's nothing in this world we can't destroy". During the penultimate episode of the season, while Hayate cradles a heavily wounded Vita who thought she failed to break the engine, Hayate tells her that against such valiance that she and Graf Eisen had shown, "There is nothing in the world that they can't destroy", just as a portion of Graf Eisen that had lodged itself into the engine causes an explosive chain reaction.
- During an early episode, the six-year old Vivio trips while running to Nanoha-mama, and instead of helping her up, Nanoha encourages her to try her best "to stand on your own", until a worried Fate-mama protests and helps Vivio up. Come the penultimate episode, a worried Nanoha runs to the crater where Vivio was after Nanoha blasted her with five Starlight Breakers to free her from the control of the relic, and as she reaches the edge of the crater, a very bruised Vivio tells her not to come, "I can stand on my own", after all, she promised Nanoha-mama that she'd be strong.
In Darker Than Black, November 11's "I'm joking" Catch Phrase gets this treatment twice. Interestingly, it gets both variants, and both times it comes from Kirihara: the first variant at the end of the Havoc arc, and the second when Kirihara speaks to her superior officer following November's death.
- Also happens with November 11's smoking rant.
In the Chrono Crusade manga, when Aion is badly wounded in a fight, he's told by his opponent "If you had to pretend to be a big shot, you should never have come to the front lines." When Aion reveals that he purposefully lost and acted as a decoy, he gleefully repeats the line to his fallen opponent right before giving him the final blow.
In Fullmetal Alchemist, "A king is there for his people. Without people there's no king!" then, "Yes, without people, there's no king. But if the king is lost, then people will lose guidance."
- Also, in the second episode, Edward tells a very distraught Rose, "Move forward. You’ve got a good strong pair of legs, Rose. Just get up and use them." He seems mad, seeing as how he only has one real leg. Much, much later, Rose says to him, "You’ll be able to come back on your own later, right? After all, you have perfect legs to walk with now." If, after forty-nine episodes, you remembered what Ed had said in the first place, then kudos to you.
  - Not so hard to remember, since Rose references it EVERY time she comes onto the screen. (Except for when she's mute.)
The song "Do You Remember Love?" from Macross. Used by the humans against the Zentradi in the defense of Earth during the first series, only to later be used against them by Ranka and the Vajra in Macross Frontier. Grace O'Connor even comments on the appropriateness of the song.
In the second volume of Hellsing, the Hellsing organisation's headquarters comes under attack by an army of ghouls and one of the vampires leading them calls the Convention of Twelve, telling them "I highly recommend pissing yourselves, followed by a round of praying to your impotent God." Later, Walter confronts the vampire (flanked by dozens of ghouls) and echoes the same words right back at him after demonstrating that he can, and will cut every one of them down. The vampire's reaction is priceless.
Early in the Grand Finale episode of Death Note, "New World":
Light: Well, Near, looks like I win.
- Later, after things have Gone Horribly Wrong for the character quoted above:
  Ryuk: Well, Light, it looks like you've lost.
  - Sonuvabitch!
  - "Just as planned..."
- Can't forget... "Matsuda, you IDIOT!"
A heartwarming example from Bunny Drop. An early chapter involved six-year-old Rin wetting the bed. She futilely tries to tell her caretaker Daikichi "It's only sweat." Later, when Daikichi brings up the subject to Rin of legally adopting her, she refuses, wanting to keep the same name as her biological dad, and telling him "Daikichi, I like you just being my Daikichi." Daikichi is moved to tears by Rin's statement, and when she asks if he's crying he tells her "This is sweat!"
Naruto tends to do this a lot. If I recall, Tsunade said that becoming Hokage was "A fool's game." Later, Orochimaru says the same thing when Tsunade protects Naruto.
The climax of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni: Matsuribayashi-hen was pretty much this. Miyo Takano has one bullet left, aims at Hanyuu, shoots, and misses. It's an Ironic Echo of when she was younger, when she ran away from the orphanage during a thunderstorm, she stands under a tree and taunts God into striking her with a lightning bolt or to instead improve her life. A bolt does strike... the tree behind her.
- It's even more ironic when you recall that Miyo's motive for this whole tragic chain of events was to become a god.
In the first episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Simon tries to take Kamina down to see the "huge face" he found while digging (the Lagann unit). At the climax of the first arc, their conversation is echoed between Simon and Rossiu when the capital city of Teppelin suddenly begins transforming in front of them:
Rossiu: What is it?!
Simon: A huge face!?
In Gaiking: Legend Of Daiku-Maryu, we have Daiya telling his big bad opponent of the moment (Nouza) that "You don't win because you'res trong. The ones that don't give up win in the end!". Near the series conclusion Nouza proceeds to echo this in his one-on-one fight with Proist brilliantly.
In Yu Yu Hakusho the resident Badass, demonic, red-haired pretty boy Chessmaster Kurama gets into a fight with a demonic bomber named Karasu. Early on in the fight Karasu seems to have the upperhand and as a result mimics putting a pistol to his head and saying bang, indicating to Kurama that he should just simply shoot himself rather then continue fighting Karasu. About ten seconds later Kurama transforms into his much more powerful White Haired Pretty Boy true form and suddenly it's Karasu whose on the ropes. Guess what gesture Kurama decides to make at this time.
Ruri in Martian Successor Nadesico has the catchphrase of commenting that she's Surrounded By Idiots. When things start getting darker in the series and the Government Conspiracy is revealed, she uses the variation "We're all idiots", and similarly, in a sad revelation about her past, comments, "I'm an idiot." There's also a humorous ironic echo in an episode where the crew watches a marathon of Gekeigan 3. Another character, who doesn't like the show refers to the group as idiots, and Ruri, who is next to her, gives kind of a surprised look.
Captain Tsubasa : World Youth: On the Sao Paulo vs Flamengo match, Tsubasa deliberately falls on one of Santana's tackle to get a good kick-off and show him that referees are humans, and that he should stop considering himself a "soccer cyborg", finishing his tirade with "this is one of the funs things in soccer". A few minutes later, in a counter-attack near Sao Paulo's goals, Santana shoots the ball on Tsubasa's foot so that it counts as a Sao Paulo pass, thus not putting his Flamengo partner offside and putting him in an advantageous position to score the goal : as the goal is scored, Santana says to Tsubasa "this is one of the funs things in soccer" with an evil look and a Slasher Smile.
Early in Naruto, after their first battle, Sasuke coolly asked the frightened Naruto "You all right, scaredy cat?" And later, in the Forest of Death, when Sasuke was the one freaking out and about to be attacked by a giant snake, Naruto stops the snake just in time and calmly asked Sasuke the same question.
At the end of the Yellow Arc of Pokemon Special, Red notes that his Pika has grown close to Yellow and goodnaturedly jokes that they should all live together, not realizing that Yellow is a girl. At the end of the GSC arc, when he does find out and Misty calls him, the three of them uncomfortably realize they're in a Love Triangle. Blue then teasingly suggests the same thing, making them all sputter in embarrassment.
In one chapter of Medaka Box, during a fight between Myouga and Nabeshima, Myouga attacks from behind and says, "I love attacking people from behind like this. This is an attack that those who do martial arts, especially judo, never taste." As the fight goes on, Nabeshima pulls the same attack and even uses the same phrase, "I love attacking people from behind like this," but changes the second half to "But this is proper judo, so anyone can taste it." (Also a case of Strange Minds Think Alike, since Myouga was speaking in a language that Nabeshima didn't understand.)

Alan Moore uses this one a lot, but never more than in Watchmen.
- A good example: advertisements for Ozymandias' training system promise "bodies beyond your wildest imagining". When Ozymandias commits his attack on New York, the advertisements are liberally scattered around amidst the piles of corpses.
The phrase "I believe in Harvey Dent" is repeated several times over the course of The Long Halloween, a Batman graphic novel. First, to display genuine trust in the man and his ability to clean up the city. Then, to assure his innocence in the case of the Holiday murders. Then, to emphasize the point that there's still good in the villainous Two-Face. And finally, by his wife Gilda as part of a dramatic plot twist on the very last page.
- Joker wears an "I Believe in Harvey Dent" campaign sticker on the blouse of his nurse's uniform. The irony is that Joker believes in the darkness in Dent's heart allowing him to shoot the Joker, shaming Dent forever. His belief is (at that point) unfounded.
  - that's in the movie
- From the same mini-series, After the murder of Johnny Viti by the Holiday Killer, Harvey Dent crassly says, "Two shots to the head. You ask me, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." After his transformation into Two-Face, he kills Viti's uncle, Carmine Falcone and repeats the statement.
When Molly Hayes of Runaways says to "put the thing in the thing" to find out what it does, it's just her childness. Not much later, the Runaways really need overdrive, and Victor tells Chase to "Put the thing in the thing." And yes, this was after the master of Buffy Speak started writing.
In the "That Yellow Bastard" story in Sin City, there are two instances of this:
- When Hartigan punches out his partner Bob, he thinks "Hell of a way to end a partnership... Hell of a way to start my retirement." When Bob double-crosses him, he thinks "Hell of a way to start my retirement... Hell of a way to end a partnership."
- After being shot in his efforts to protect Nancy, Hartigan thinks "An old man dies, a young girl lives. Fair trade." Before blowing his brains out, he thinks "An old man dies, a young woman lives. Fair trade."
Used in so many Fox Trot comics by Bill Amend, it isn't funny... and yet it is.
Used by Dr Strange in World War Hulk. Doc confronts Hulk and makes a little speech, then goes Super Mode and says "Strange Smash", a callback to Hulk's famous line "Hulk Smash".
Kind of an extended one for Human Flame. When he asked Libra to kill the Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis, he didn't do anything except take a picture of the deed on his mobile phone. Later, when the heroes caught up with him and trapped him in a Cardboard Prison forged from his own stupidity, Green Lantern's final act before shutting the door is to create a mobile phone using his Green Lantern Ring specifically to take a picture.

300 goes the malicious route. "This will not be over quickly..." is used by Theron against Gorgo, then reversed by her when she gives him his comeuppance.
Miss Congeniality uses the second situation. "It is not a beauty pageant. It is a scholarship program!"
In the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as in the book, Professor Umbridge forces Harry to copy lines using a magic pen that etches the words "I must not tell lies" into the back of his hand. He proves how well he learned his lesson when, under attack by enraged centaurs, Umbridge begs him to tell them she means them no harm. "Sorry, Professor. I must not tell lies."
- This also applies to the Harry Potter books. While the pay-off isn't as immediate, Harry throws the "I must not tell lies" phrase and scar back at the Ministry of Magic several times in the last two books.
A similar phrase was used in the stage musical Annie. When the FBI takes Miss Hannigan away, she pleads to have Annie witness to how good she treated her and the other orphans. Annie responds with the one thing Miss Hannigan always taught her: "Never tell a lie."
A rather subtle version of this is employed in Back to the Future. Throughout the movie, various characters are constantly advising or admonishing Marty to "use your head." In the climax of the film when the DeLorean stalls, it only starts again when Marty thumps his head onto the steering wheel.
In Little Giants, the two coaches (brothers; the all-American versus the geek) put up their businesses (the geek's gas station versus the jock's car dealership) on the outcome of the game between them. At halftime, with the jock's team up, he taunts, "You'll always have a job at the full-service pumps." At the end of the game, the geek's team wins, and the jock wants out. After teasing him for a second, the geek retorts, "You'll always have a job at (my new car dealership)!"
Early in the film adaptation of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meat Balls, the mayor of Swallow Falls comments that he wants the townspeople to look at him and say "That is one big mayor", as in someone important. Later in the film, during the reopening of Chewandswallow, an audience member says the exact same words, but referring to the mayor's very evident obesity.
In She's All That, when Taylor dumps Zack for Brock, she says "You didn't think I'd leave for college still dating you, did you? Oh, you did? That's sweet." Later, when Brock dumps her, he uses almost the exact same line.
At the beginning of Legally Blonde, Warner dumps college girlfriend Elle, saying "If I'm gonna be a senator by the time I'm thirty, I've gotta stop dicking around." At the end of the movie, when Elle is a promising law student and Warner tries to win her back, she replies, "If I'm going to be a partner in a law firm by the time I'm thirty, I need a boyfriend who isn't a total bonehead."
A Christmas Story has a recurring line: "You'll shoot your eye out." At the end of the movie, Ralphie shoots off his new BB gun, the BB ricochets and grazes his cheek just below his eye. His first thought: "OH MY GOD, I SHOT MY EYE OUT!"
- Of course, in the moments that follow, he steps on and breaks his glasses, which is effectively the same thing.
Shaun of the Dead plays this into the ground, including (but not limited to):
- "You've got red on you."
- "I'm sorry." "You haven't got anything to be sorry about..." "No. I'm sorry."
  - "I'll stop doing 'em when you stop laughing." "I'm not laughing."
- "He's not my Dad."
- "It's on random!"
- "Big Al says so."
- "Dogs can look up!"
- A non-verbal example; the two scenes in which Shaun walks from his house to the shop, which are filmed exactly the same. The first time, pre-Zombie Apocalypse, everything's normal. The second time, post-Zombie Apocalypse, the street is trashed and the living dead are wandering around. Shaun's equally oblivious to what's going on both times.
- When Shaun is lamenting in the pub after breaking up with Liz, all of Ed's statements about what to do are the entire rest of the movie.
The last half-hour of Hot Fuzz runs on 50% Crowning Moment Of Awesome, 50% Ironic Echoes.
In Batman Begins, both Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox get Ironic Echoes in as they reveal to Earle they've taken over Wayne Enterprises.
- And there's also the "mind your surroundings" bit.
- It's not who Bruce is underneath. It's what he does that defines him.
- In The Dark Knight, there's several like this. In an argument about Batman's vigilante, Dent said "Okay, either you die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become villain." And in the end, Batman quoting the exact phrase, noticing that he can be the villain to save Harvey's reputation and all the work he had done.
A Knight's Tale has the villain repeatedly taunting the hero with the words "You have been weighed. You have been measured. You have been found wanting." Much later, after the villain gets his comeuppance, the hero's sidekicks repeat the phrase back to the villain.
- There's also a line uttered by one of the sidekicks early on; "God love you, William." "I know, I know. No-one else will." Later, it makes for a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming as said sidekick repeats the first sentence, and finishes it with "And so do I."
In Snakes on a Plane, the phrase, "Do what I say, and you'll live," is used twice. The first time, it is spoken by Samuel L Jackson's character, advising a witness who is in mortal danger. The second time comes at the end, by the witness himself, advising Jackson on how to really enjoy life.
Being There: "I understand." (Movie version only.)
Shaft: Vic tells Shaft to "Close it yourself, shitty!" referring to the door of his apartment, echoing (non-ironically) the woman Shaft has just slept with. In the final scene, Shaft echoes the line, this time referring to "closing the case."
By your leave, Mr. Norrington!
- Subverted by Barbossa.
Barbossa: *after Elizabeth tells him to leave* I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request.
*Later in the movie, when he sends Ragetti to request that she join Barbossa for dinner*
Elizabeth: You may tell your Captain that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request.
Ragetti: He said you'd say that.
- There's also this gem...
Elizabeth: [After failing to convince to the other pirates to go back with her for Jack] Bloody Pirates.
A little later on...
Ragetti: [Seeing 'The Black Pearl' sailing off] Is it supposed to be doing that?
Pintel: They're stealing our ship!
Ragetti: Bloody Pirates.
- "They're more like guidelines anyway!".
- How about this one?
Norrington: You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.
Later...
Gillette: He must be the best pirate I've ever seen!
Norrington: So it would seem.
A hilarious example of this is in the 2nd Karate Kid, the Jerk Jock of a martial arts teacher's saying is, "Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful here. A man who faces you is the enemy. Enemies deserve no mercy." which he drills into his students with full force. In the sequel he gets pissed off at the fact that his number one pupil lost to Mr. Miyagi's student who he thinks is a joke. So he takes it out on his pupils after he lost and starts to almost kill one of them until Mr. Miyagi tells him to stop. He doesn't listen and tries to take out Mr. Miyagi. He also ends up with shattered hands full of glass and on his knees — Mr. Miyagi didn't even touch him, it was all his own doing. While he's crying out in pain and begging for mercy, Mr. Miyagi in a dangerous voice repeats the line while holding the jerk's head in his hands: "Mercy is for the weak. We do not train to be merciful here. A man who face you he is enemy. Enemy deserve no mercy."
- Everyone, even his loyal pupil believes he's going to finish the guy off. But at the last second instead of striking he honks the guy's nose and the guy passes out anyway.
  - The nose honk itself is also an echo, as Daniel does the same thing to Chozen at the end of the movie.
In Changing Lanes, Ben Affleck's character pulls a Type 2 of sorts near the end — following the advice, but in a way which the advice-giver didn't intend.
In the 2nd X-Men film, Magneto sarcastically comments: "Wolverine, whoever goes into the dam needs to be able to operate the spillway mechanism. What do you intend to do? Scratch it with your claws?" Later on, that's exactly what he does (well, a bit more than scratch) to save all the protagonists from being drowned by the flood approaching down the spillway — smash a fist full of claw into the mechanism. Whether that would actually work as a control method in real life is up for debate.
- And in the third : "best defense is a good offense", as well as Wolverine throwing Magneto's us vs. them rhetoric right back in his face when he gets shot with the mutant cure.
In The American President, current US president Andrew Shepard makes fun of his rival running for office's catchphrase a few times throughout the film, which is "My name is Bob Rumpsen and I'm running for President!" At the film's climax, in a Crowning Moment Of Awesome, President Shepard makes a moving speech condemning Rumpsen and all his tactics, ending with the following twist: "My name is Andrew Shepard and I am the President."
Fairly early in The Deaths of Ian Stone, the title character's girlfriend recites to him, "Cross my heart and hope to die/Stick a needle in your eye." (It's a children's rhyme, in case you don't know, often accompanying children's promises.) He has in fact crossed her heart, inasmuch as they were apparently lovers of some sort before he developed a sense of ethics. She can't kill him, but is more than capable of putting him through enough torment for him to "hope to die." And when the first half of that rhyme is repeated? She really does stick a needle in his eye.
In the 1952 version of Moulin Rouge, Jane Avril excitedly bids farewell to Toulouse-Lautrec in the first scene with the line, "There's the most divine creature waiting for me..." She says this again to say goodbye to him at the end, when he lies dying and hallucinates that the Moulin's dancers have returned.
Happens in the laughably bad live action adaption of Fist of the North Star. At the start of the film Kenshiro, not wanting to fight his former friend and love rival Shin, says that "The North star and the Southern Cross should never fight", only for Shin to respond "That is true... but there is no North Star" just before almost killing Ken. At the end the film the roles are reversed, with Ken simply saying Southern Cross in place of North Star. (Oddly enough, by that part it seems like Shin may be serious and honestly repenting what he's done, yet Ken goes on beating him to death).
In the Sex and the City movie, Steve admits that he cheated on Miranda and they fight, with him trying desperately to apologize and saying it was a one-time lapse of judgment, etc., while she says that now she can't trust him ever again. Near the end of the movie, Miranda admits that her slip of the tongue might have cost Carrie her marriage and Carrie winds up using almost the exact same lines as Miranda did to chew her out for it.
In the first act of The Incredibles:
Helen: Everybody's special, Dash.
Dash: Which is another way of saying no-one is.

This same sentiment is voiced by Syndrome in the third act.

Syndrome: And when everyone's Super... no-one will be.

Pixar seems to enjoy this one. Both Toy Story 2 and Cars used this with key lines of dialogue.

What Dreams May Come: Christopher tends to say the phrase, "Sometimes when you win, you lose," to somebody close to him when circumstances don't work out how they should (such as when he and his wife Annie decide to part ways after their children's deaths). However, after he has successfully travelled to Hell, located Annie, and redeemed her by not abandoning her in her time of need as he did in life, she walks up to him with a smile on her face and echoes, "Sometimes, when you lose... You win."
Grand Hotel (1932): "Grand Hotel... always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens."
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance has Lee Geum-ja being told, "Stop crying, bitch, it brings bad luck." by another inmate upon her incarceration. Geum-ja repeats this back to the same inmate, who was dying of kidney failure, when she gives her one of her kidneys.
Toy Story. "It's not flying, it's falling with style!"
- After Buzz disbelieves "You. Are. A. TOY!" in the first movie proclaimed by Woody, he tries to persuade Woody to come with him by using the same line.
The Simpsons Movie: Homer tells Marge that "in every marriage, you get one chance to say 'I need you to do this with me'" in order to convince her to join him in Alaska. Later, Marge says the same thing to Homer to get him to join her in saving Springfield. Homer's response: "That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
Aladdin: "Phenomenal, cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space."
- And in the Direct To Video sequel: "Genies can't kill anyone... But you'd be surprised what you can live through..."
The Emperors New Groove, as seen in the page quote.
In the movie Bolt, we're introduced to Mittens the cat when we see her extorting food from some pigeons in exchange for not eating them. When one of the pigeons, Louie, is unable to bring anything but an orange seed, Mittens demands that Louie bring her all his food next time, or else. Louie protests "We had a deal!", to which Mittens replies "The deal's just expired." A few scenes later Bolt, believing Mittens to be an agent of "the man with the green eye" (the villain of the Show Within A Show on which he works), threatens her into telling him where Penny is. She convinces Bolt to head to Hollywood, California, but ends up getting dragged along by Bolt. When she protests "We had a deal!", Bolt replies "The deal's just expired." This is lampshaded when Louie, watching in amusement with his fellow pigeons, remarks "That's what she said to me earlier."
From Pocahontas: Upon seeing Wiggins, his manservant, not realizing what a "proper English greeting" was ("Ooh! gift baskets!"), Radcliffe sighs, "And he came so highly recommended." Cut to the end, where Radcliffe is arrested for attempted murder and being carted back to England in chains. Wiggins dabs at his eyes with a handkerchief and sighs, "And he came so highly recommended." Bonus points for Wiggins and Radcliffe having the same voice actor.
A variation occurs in A Bug's Life. Hopper tells Princess Atta "how things are supposed to work: The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food..." At the end, just before the entire ant colony charges the grasshoppers, Atta says this: "You see, Hopper, Nature has a certain order: The ants pick the food; the ants KEEP the food... And the grasshoppers LEAVE."
In The Iron Giant', Kent Mansley appends "and all that that implies" to several of his sentences for added emphasis. Towards the end of the film, when Hogarth thinks he's gotten rid of the nosy government agent for good, he smugly says to himself, "Bye, Kent, and all that that implies."
The Lion King has young Simba going into an elephant graveyard, proclaiming, "Danger? Hah! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger. Ha ha ha ha!" After the Time Skip and adult Simba's return to his kingdom, Nala taunts him by repeating "I laugh in the face of danger", complete with laugh.
- In the same movie, Scar tells young Simba at his father's death to "Run away, and never return." Later, when adult Simba gets the upper paw over Scar, he repeats those words back to him.
The phrase "New arrival", first used when Mayhew arrives in the Land of the Dead, is given a sinister tone after Lord Barkis accidentally kills himself by drinking the poison meant for Victor in an ironic toast to Emiliy. This makes him fair game to the dead, who descend in an angry mob to carry out a Fate Worse Than Death.
Yentl has two: "Nothing's impossible!", first uttered to the titular character by her study partner Avigdor after he asks her/him to marry his ex-fiancee, later uttered by her when Avigdor almost leaves town after she refuses the favor. The other is "God will understand. I'm not so sure about the neighbors," first said by Yentl's father when asked why he is closing the windows if God will understand that his teaching her Talmudic law, which was forbidden to women at the time, is not with ill intent. It is said again by her to Avigdor's ex-fiancee (now her legal wife) in the same context.
In the movie The Truman Show, every morning Truman greets his neighbor with the phrase "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" He says the same thing before walking out the door in the sky dome at the end of the movie and entering the real world for the first time.
Strictly Ballroom has "a life lived in fear" bounced around several times between Fran and Scott, with a final game-changing echo from Doug.
In The Crow: City of Angels, Ashe Corven does this with several of the targets of his Roaring Rampage Of Revenge: "You're wasting your breath, angelito! Nobody's up there listening!" "Nothing personal, sport." and for the Big Bad himself, "Pain is my power."
A funky deconstructed meta-example appears in Cloverfield. See, the "video" that the movie was recorded over occasionally pops up throughout the movie, showing Rob and Beth at a fair from a month ago, before they broke up. At the end, after the bridge collapses on Rob and Beth, the very last thing that Rob filmed on the tape plays, with Beth saying "I had a good day. But this isn't said in the film but the one time, it becomes an Ironic Echo due to the events of the film.
During the climax of Return To Oz the Nome King gives Dorothy a chance to rescue the Scarecrow by taking part in a potentially lethal game, and offers the sofa-bodied Gump the chance to take the first turn:
The Nome King: Why doesn't the sofa go first?
(After the Gump loses...)
The Nome King: Next... Pumpkinhead!

: Later, when Dorothy starts winning...
The Nome King: STOP!!!
Dorothy: But we haven't finished guessing yet! You promised that if we guessed correctly-
The Nome King: I'M TIRED OF GAMES. I'M TIRED OF ALL OF YOU! WHY DOESN'T THE SOFA GO... FIRST?
(He reaches down and tears the Gump's body off, consuming it whole.)
The Nome King: NEXT... PUMPKINHEAD!

In The Ghost And The Darkness, Remmington says to Patterson. "You've just been hit. The getting up is up to you." Patterson later repeats it back to Remmington.
Run, Fatboy, Run : Hank Azari's character is piloting an R/C boat. When his girlfriend's son asks if he can try, he says, "No, but you can watch me do it." At the end, when Azaria is in the hospital, the kid adjusts the bed until he is nearly crushed. "Can I control the bed?" "No, but you can watch me do it."
Trick R Treat: Steven Wilkins wishes Mr. Kreeg a Happy Halloween, and the only answer he gets is "Screw you!" Later, Steven sees Kreeg through the window, banging on the glass and calling for help (it's not until the end of the movie that we find out why he needed it). Steven is uninterested in helping him. "Screw you."
"A chance for Captain Faramir of Gondor to show his character" in the movie version of The Two Towers would have been a direct quote from the book. It becomes an Ironic Echo because the movie completely reverses Faramir's motivations in this scene. In the book, he overcomes the lure of the Ring and sends Frodo and Sam on their way; in the movie he succumbs temporarily and tries to take them to Minas Tirith.
In the 2009 Star Trek, McCoy says to Kirk at their introduction, "I may throw up on you." referring to his air sickness. Later, when he injects Kirk with a vaccine that makes him nauseous, Kirk repeats this line back.
- Earlier, Kirk referred to another cadet as "Cupcake". Later in the movie, when trying to escape from the security, the same cadet appeared to prevent Kirk from escaping, calling him "Cupcake".
In Blue Thunder, Big Bad Colonel Cochrane's Catch Phrase is "Catch ya later", which he uses to annoy The Hero, Frank Murphy. At the end of their climactic helicopter duel, Murphy says the line back to the (now violently deceased) Cochrane as a Bond One Liner.
In The Princess And The Frog, the key change of Dr. Facilier's epic villain song, Friends on the Other Side, contains a very powerful rhythm accompanying the phrase "Are you ready? Are you ready?" right before Prince Naveen becomes a frog. Later in the film, during Dr. Facilier's absolutely terrifying death, the shadows again start up the rhythm and sing "Are you ready?", to which he cries no, he's not, he needs more time... and keeps screaming this as he's dragged to his death.
- Also, toward the end of the film, Dr. Facilier attempts to tempt Tiana with the restaurant of her dreams, repeating a line from Tiana's I Want Song.
  "Come on, Tiana. You're almost there."
In Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle, the title characters have an encounter with racist white hoodlums who harass an Indian shopkeeper with "Thank you, come again!" Toward the end of the movie, they encounter the same characters. Harold, who has been taking crap for the entire movie, finally snaps and boldly steals their truck. As they're driving away, Kumar victoriously taunts the outraged hoodlums with this same line.
In Empire Records, Warren is being dragged out of Empire Records kicking and screaming after being arrested for shoplifting, when Lucas delivers a parting shot. "Take care of yourself, Warren. Don't let the Man get you down." At the end of the movie, Warren returns to the store and scares everyone by pretending to shoot up the place. Though the gun is real, the bullets aren't. As the situation gets resolved, Warren finds himself in the employees' good graces after dropping the whole macho routine, to the point of even being given a job there. When the cops arrive to deal with Warren, Lucas again says, "Take care of yourself. Don't let the Man get you down." The irony is that Lucas is clearly mocking Warren when he says that the first time, but he sincerely means it when he says it the second time.
In Lord Of The Rings, in The Two Towers, Theoden makes a comment that they (the ones at Helm's Deep) are alone. At the end, when all seems lost, Eomer shows up with reinforcements, saying that Theoden isn't alone.
In the first Spider Man movie, Peter is ripped off by his wrestling promoter, and when he protests that he needs the money the promoter sneers back "I missed the part where that's my problem." Then, as Peter's leaving, the promoter is robbed, and Peter lets the robber slip past him. The promoter is outraged and demands to know why Peter didn't stop him from getting away with the promoter's money. Peter's response? "I missed the part where that's my problem." Of course, this chance to have an ironic echo backfires big-time for Peter when the robber he let get away ends up shooting his uncle.
"Is it cold in here, or is it just me?"
The Running Man. Killian is involved in multiple examples.
- When Killian first meets the captive Richards he says "Hello, cutie-pie. One of us is in deep trouble." When Richards escapes and confronts Killian, he repeats the line back to him.
- Killian talks about last year's winners: "there they are, and at this very moment they're basking in the beautiful Maui sun, their debt to society paid in full", while doctored video of them doing just that played. When the transmission is hijacked, the line is repeated, showing their real fate: dead and decayed in the game arena.
- Killian tells his bodyguard Sven to eject Captain Freedom. When Sven doesn't immediately act, Killian says "What's the matter, steroids make you deaf?". Later on, when Killian expects Sven to save him from Richards, Sven says "I got to score some steroids" and walks away, leaving him to Richards' mercy.
The Princess Bride. When Buttercup asks Humperdinck to promise he'll return Westley to his ship:
Humperdinck: I swear it will be done. [quiet aside to Count Rugen] Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair.
Count Rugen: I swear it will be done.
From the first Bring It On movie, after a terrible routine at Regionals, Torrence's boyfriend tries to cheer her up by telling her "You're a great cheerleader, Tor, and you're cute as hell. But maybe you're not "captain" material." Later, after Torrence found out he cheated on her, she calmly told him "You're a great cheerleader, Aaron, and you're cute as hell. But maybe you're not "boyfriend" material."
In the beginning of Enchanted, Robert asks Giselle if "[this is] a habit of [hers], falling off things?" She replies "Well, there's usually someone there to catch me. Later, when positions are reversed, she asks him the same question, to which he replies "Only when you're there to catch me."
In Duplicity, when the head of Equikrom's espionage unit is telling his boss about the history of Ronny Patiz, he mentions that Ronny made some kind of lotion. The boss asks if it was a cream or a lotion. Toward the end of the film, when Ray and Claire are selling Ronny's formula for a hair-growth shampoo to the Swiss, they are told, "This formula is nothing but a common skin cream. Sorry, a lotion."
In The Philadelphia Story, Dexter tells Tracy:
Dexter: The fact is you'll never be a first-class human being or a first-class woman, until you've learned to have some regard for human frailty.
Later, Tracy unwittingly echoes the line to Mike:
Tracy: The truth is you'll never, you can't be, a first-rate writer or a first-rate human being, until you've learned to have some small regard for human frai-
- Also, Tracy says the following when talking about class politics:
Tracy: Upper and lower my eye; I'll take the lower, thanks.
Ironically, Dexter uses the same expression when defending the upper classes to George:
George: You and your whole rotten class!
Dexter: Oh class my eye!

A Christmas Carol. Early on, Scrooge, when asked to make a charitable donation, snarls back, "Are there no prisons? No workhouses?" Meaning that he feels he already makes a big enough contribution to the poor through his taxes. Later on, when Scrooge starts to have a change of heart he expresses concern over the condition of "Ignorance" and "Want", two skinny, poorly-clad allegorical children who hang around the Ghost of Christmas Present. Upon hearing this, the Ghost of Christmas Present cynically echoes Scrooge's earlier line, "Are there no prisons? No workhouses?"
- Also, the men asking for donations say that many poor would rather die than go to prison or the poorhouses. Scrooge replies, "If they'd rather die then they'd better do it, and decrease the surplus population!" When the Ghost of Christmas Present tells Scrooge that Tiny Tim could die, he echoes Scrooge's line with, "But if he's going to die, then he'd better do it and decrease the surplus population!" Ouch.
Variation: In A Song of Ice and Fire, Arya Stark manages to sneak up on the Tickler, a familiar torturer, and maniacally spouts of his modus operandi interrogation speech while furiously stabbing him; "Is there gold hidden in the village? Is there silver? Gems? Is there food? Where is lord Beric?..."
- Not to mention Cersei's "I shall wear [the bruise] like a badge of honor" after Robert hits her, echoed to her later by Ned, when she slaps him.
This editor forgets the context, but in Discworld, Death has a catchphrase "There is no justice, there's just me," which he originally means in a very cynical sense. At some point though, as he gains more humanity, he delivers the same line when punishing an evildoer.
- Later uses are reference to and/or subversion of its use in Mort. "There is no justice, just us!" is used as an excuse for letting "good" people live and "bad" people die. It's later echoed as "There is no justice, just me," reasoning for why the world isn't fair, when what seemed like a good idea turns out to have horrible consequences.
- And the ultimate Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming version from Reaper Man.
  Lord, we know there is no good order except that which we create... There is no hope but us. There is no mercy but us. There is no justice.
  There is just us.
  All things that are, are ours. But we must care. For if we do not care, we do not exist. If we do not exist, then there is nothing but blind oblivion.
  And even oblivion must end one day. Lord, will you grant me just a little time? For the proper balance of things. To return what was given.
  For the sake of prisoners and the flight of birds.
  Lord, what can the harvest hope for, if not the care of the Reaper Man?
- In Feet Of Clay, the Dragon King Of Arms tells Vimes why his ancestor killing a monster means his family can't get a coat of arms: "Whatever else he was, he was the king. The crown isn't like a watchman's helmet. Even when you take it off, you're still wearing it." At the end of the book, when the Dragon King questions how "a man married to the richest woman in the city" can see himself as the champion of the common people, Vimes retorts "A watchman's helmet isn't like a crown. Even when you take it off, you're still wearing it."
- In Night Watch, Vimes is chasing down Ax Crazy serial murderer Carcer Dun on the roofs of the Unseen University. When he finally gets Carcer in his grip, the man complains, "You're hurting!" Vimes says no, he's not hurting, he's protecting Carcer, wouldn't want him to fall off. At the end, after Carcer has spent the entire book harrying Vimes and wearing that insipid "what-have-I-done?" grin all over the place, Vimes finally gets him again, and again comes, "You're hurting!" This time, Vimes acknowledges that yes, he is hurting, and he's still doing it by the book; what's more, he's going to make sure everything is done by the book so that Carcer gets a fair trial if it means he has to do every last step of it himself, because a fair trial means a quick execution, and tomorrow's sunrise will shine down all the brighter on Vimes' little son Sam if it's not being shared with Carcer.
- Witches Abroad gets it's own variant-the echo comes in quick succession and it illustrates a difference in philosophy rather than any malice one way or the other. Lily and Esme Weatherwax both get dragged into a mirror, and each is told that they're not quite dead-they'll be freed from the mirror when they can identify the real "them" out of a legion of mirror images. Lily, who has used paired mirrors to amplify her magic almost all her life, rushes off to find it. Esme, who believes in headology and always being certain of who you are and where you stand, asks if it's a trick question, then gestures to herself and says, "This one."
In the book and movie Holes, the Warden says "Excuse Me?" in every scene she's in, mostly to say something like "shut up, I have all the power." However, when Stanley finds the treasure she's after, she asks to see what's in the box, and gets an "Excuse Me?" in response.
In Brave New World, the line, "Oh brave new world, that has such people in it," is said more than once, and at first is positive but then becomes more and more ironic.
In The King of Attolia, there's a scene where Eugenides goes to see Relius and says, "Are you ready to discuss the resources of your queen?" It's quickly revealed this was an echo of the previous book.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Guan Yu says to Cao Cao "I trust you have been well since we last parted?" Later Cao Cao says the same thing to Guan Yu's severed head.
Rewind opens with Aaron Lee Fairfax, one of the seventeen 'Rewound Children', reciting his personal information to disbelieving interrogators. It becomes a sort of mantra for him, and is repeated several times throughout the novel, updated to reflect recent events. In another very Squicky instance, during the interrogation, he is stripped naked for photos, and weakly jokes around by asking if he's posing for pornography. Later, upon seeing the photos published in a trashy tabloid, he repeats this, now 'knowing' the answer.
In Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix, Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry's in at Hogwarts, forces Harry to carve "I must not tell lies" into his own skin as punishment for telling everyone that Voldemort is back. In the next book, the new Minister of Magic asks Harry to pretend to support the Ministry to boost up moral support. Harry says that he hasn't forgotten and raises his fist, showing the Minister his scar.
- And in Philosopher's Stone, there's Ron's "are you a witch or not?!", to Hermione - wayyy later, in Deathly Hallows, she says pretty much the exact same thing to him.
This occurs repeatedly, and often somewhat wittily, in Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman. For instance, the main character tells a traitorous friend that "I wouldn't climb over the backs of my friends to save myself"—and in flashback, as a school bus teetered on the edge of a cliff, he literally climbed over their backs to reach the door.
In Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novel Death Masks, Ortega explains he drinks beer, though he doesn't need to, because life is more than survival. Then he offers to call off the duel if Harry becomes a vampire. Harry fishes, establishing that he preys on children, and refuses; he explains that life is more than survival.
- As another example, in the later novel Dead Beat, Harry's grave marker has written on it "he died doing the right thing". At the beginning of the novel, Harry treats this with a maudlin attitude, before later realizing that he'd prefer to die doing the right thing than any of the alternatives
In Tad Williams' Otherland, Ax Crazy Serial Killer Dread, who is The Dragon for the Big Bad, has a mantra that serves as his Catch Phrase: "Confident, cocky, lazy, dead." Needless to say, this comes back full circle, when after taking over Otherland and going on an apocalyptic orgy of destruction, he has the Other at his mercy. Breaking through its final defenses, he prepares for his ultimate triumph, only to have it calmly recite his mantra back to him as it shows him the impending destruction of the system, with him inside. Oh Crap.

Played with between series on Star Trek The Next Generation. Upon meeting their android commander, Data for the first time, and hearing of his desire to be human, Will Riker ascribes him the nickname "Pinnochio". In the next series, when Riker is forced into playing against Data in a courtcase which could, if Data loses, very well see him dismantled beyond repair (i.e. killed), he plays out a devastating scene culiminating in switching Data off:
Riker: Pinnochio is broken. it's strings have been cut.
- Consider that this is, effectively, the same as knocking a person unconscious hen they're sitting at a table minding their own buisness. Worse, in fact, given that turning him off effectively renders Data dead...
  - Done again in "Descent, Part II" - a young ensign points out that their tactical officer's calculations, if wrong, would bring them crashing into a planet's atmosphere, and the officer says, "Well then I'll just have to make sure my calculations are correct, Ensign." Later on in the episode, when that ensign figures out how to use a solar eruption to destroy a Borg ship, the tactical officer points out that the flare could destroy them as well. The ensign snaps back, "Well then I'll just have to make sure my calculations are correct, Lieutenant." Rimshot!
Subverted in a Just Shoot Me episode. In an early scene in which Nina refers to something non-ironic as ironic, Maya says, "It's not ironic; it's just what happened." In a later scene, something truly ironic happens and when Maya calls it ironic, Nina replies, "It's not ironic; it's just what happened."
In Heroes, after Hiro's countless "Comes Great Responsibility" quotes, Ando repeats many of them back at him to enlist him to help Hope.
At the start of the Dark Angel episode "Pollo Loco", Max unconcernedly snaps the neck of a live chicken in order to eat it. At the end of the episode she is forced to kill a violently insane transgenic sibling and uses the same method. Naturally she finds these circumstances considerably more traumatic.
The first episode of the third season of House features an irate Cuddy denying one of House's odd treatments by ranting, "Twenty-four times a year you come in here telling me you can help someone, only you never put it that way. Instead you say, 'This guy's pancreas is going to explode because his brain is on fire!'" Later, when House thinks he's worked out what's wrong with the guy, he says, "See? His brain really is on fire," that being a colloquial but reasonably accurate summary of what the problem appears to be.
- In another third season episode ("Informed Consent"), House tries to scare his patient from refusing tests by describing how he'll die. Later, the patient parrots House's words back to him arguing that he should be free to kill himself, because he'll die as House describes while being tested.
  House: Fine; you don't help us, we don't help you. Your lungs slowly fill with fluid. You gasp to catch every breath but never can. Every breath is petrifying. It'll be slow, painful, torturous.
  (24 hours and many tests later)
  Patient: My lungs will slowly fill with fluid. I'll gasp to catch every breath but never can. Every breath will be petrifying. It'll be slow, painful, torturous. You really gonna let me die like that?
In Angel, Holland tells Angel he "just can't seem to care" that people die because of Wolfram & Hart's Special Projects Division's schemes. Later, when Darla and Drusilla are about to kill everyone in the Special Projects Division, Holland pleads for help, but Angel replies, "And yet, somehow, I just can't seem to care" before leaving, locking the door on his way out.
- Earlier in Angel, Doyle's line: "Is that it? Am I done?"
Buffy the Vampire Slayer has an episode in the fourth season where Faith and Buffy switch bodies; practicing for the impersonation of her rival, Faith acts how she believe Buffy does — prissily announcing you can't do that "Because it's wrong". Much later, after living a day in Buffy's life, Faith is about to skip town and escape entirely when she hears of a vampire attack upon a church and, not quite knowing why, heads out to confront them. Battling the vampires, she stops their plan to slaughter the congregation "because it's wrong" - now entirely sincere. (Sarah Michelle Gellar acts the hell out of the latter scene, too, playing beautifully against how much she camped it up in the beginning of the episode where she is prancing about in front of the mirror as Faith doing her Buffy impression.)
- Another example is Doppelganger!Willow's "Bored now" line, which is echoed by Willow when she undergoes a Face Heel Turn after Tara's death— the line is spoken to Warren, Tara's killer, right before she flays him alive.
  - And then, in comics, Willow is captured and resurrected Warren asks her: "Are you bored now?"
  - Another one in same episode: earlier Faith killed Deputy Major despite Buffy's warning "Faith, no!". Here Willow has to cry "Buffy, no!", so Vamp Willow is spared she dies anyway.
- In "What's My Line, Part 2", Willy manages to pull off the quickest version of this ever: telling Buffy "Here you go. Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch" as he leads her to the church where Spike's crew is about to sacrifice Angel, and then repeating the line about five seconds later to Spike's bounty hunters, indicating that he's selling her out.
- And then there's Xander and the zombie bomber: who has the most fear?
- In "Becoming, Part 1," Darla tells Angel to "close your eyes" right before turning him into a vampire. In "Becoming, Part 2," Buffy tells Angel to "close your eyes" right before sending him to Hell. But she has to, in order to save the world...
Supernatural: In Dean's Dream Sequence in "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" when he meets his doppelganger, he tries to snap his fingers to get himself out. Doesn't work. At the end of the episode, just after he says he doesn't want to die, the same shot appears. Except it's Evil!Dean this time, with black eyes and a huge smile, doing the clicking and ending the dream.
- Earlier, Dean mentioned to Sam that their mom often told Dean that angels are watching over him. It would be the last words she ever said to him. Then, came season 5 and turns out Michael and the rest of the angels saved Mary's life so she could give birth to Dean, who is Michael's vessel. Mary commenting how angels are watching over them changed a once harmless, almost heartwarming line into something much more eerie and ironic.
In early season 2 of Lost, Desmond leaves Jack in a flashback, saying, "See you in another life, Brother." In the season 4 finale, as they part, Jack says the same line to Desmond.
In the Doctor Who episode "The Stolen Earth", Harriet Jones keeps introducing herself as "Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister." The listener always responds with "I know who you are." When the Daleks break in, the sequence is repeated, much less humorously.
Harriet Jones: Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister.
Dalek: Yes, we know who you are.
Jones: You know nothing of any human, and that will be your downfall.
- She is then promptly Exterminated.
- In several episodes across three series, the Doctor's companions attempt a regional accent, with the Doctor telling them "Don't. Don't do that. Don't." After a traumatic event involving a voice-mimic in "Midnight", the Doctor uses the phrase in a far more serious manner when Donna repeats one of his catchphrases.
- And in "The End of Time Pt II": "Get out of the way"
- The episode Dalek uses it to Tear Jerking effect, when the titular Dalek quotes the most famous catchphrase of the Doctor Who canon - only to be exterminating itself.
The Farscape episode "Vitas Mortis" has an Ironic Echo Type 1 exchange between Aeryn and Chiana: part one has Chiana doing the laundry in a knee-deep basin of Moya's amnexus fluids, refusing to wash Aeryn's clothes with the statement "Since when did I become your servant?" Part two has Chiana trapped in solidified amnexus fluid, and Aeryn gleefully refusing to help her, throwing "Since when did I become your servant?" back in her face.
- Type 2 example: in "Unrealised Reality", the Time Master Einstein introduces himself to Crichton by saying "Time" five or six times. Crichton mockingly responds with a game of "finish the sentence" before trying and failing to kill him. When they next meet in "Peacekeeper Wars", Crichton's taken the advice Einstein gave him that episode to heart, and when they play the wordgame again, he acknowledges the possible wormhole-induced disaster that he was warned of:
Einstein: Time.
Crichton: Flies.
Einstein: Time.
Crichton: Bandits.
Einstein: Time.
Crichton: Wounds all heels.
Einstein: Time.
Crichton: (singing) Rosemary and—
Einstein: Time?
Crichton: (solemnly) Time ends.
- In the episode "Liars Guns And Money Part 1," Crichton leaves Scorpius to die in the Shadow Depository, while singing The Star-Spangled Banner as a form of Psychic Static. Two episodes later, Scorpius briefly hums a verse of the song before entering the Diagnosan's surgury, taking the neurochip and leaving Crichton paralyzed and incoherent.
My So Called Life, "Life of Brian": Jordan tells Angela he doesn't believe in fate; "whatever happens, happens." She says she respects that. Later at the dance, Brian tells Angela he doesn't believe in fate; "Whatever happens, happens." She calls it the stupidest thing she ever heard.
In an episode of Corner Gas, Hank's car is impounded and accidentally sold to Wanda. Wanda rubs it in by saying "I cannot express how pleased with myself I am right now". When, to get back at Wanda, Hank gets her car impounded and buys it, Hank attempts to perform an Ironic Echo but fails miserably, mangling the quote to a level of incomprehensibility.
- Which makes it all the more funny because he quite literally can't express how pleased with himself he is.
In the episode "War Stories" of the TV show Firefly, an early scene has Kaylee proclaiming "No power in the 'verse can stop me!" after playfully wrestling an apple from River. Much later in the episode, River says the same line to a shocked Kaylee after coldly killing three men that Kaylee was unable to shoot at. The same episode also has a much looser ironic echo, in that two separate characters (Book and Niska) ruminate over the works of Shan Yu.
- The episode "Jaynestown" comes with a subplot where the local magistrate hires Inara to sleep with his son, because he's 26 years old and "not yet a man!" So they do the deed and the son finds himself disappointed that nothing, apparently, has changed. Inara tells him that whatever his father thinks, having sex has nothing to do with being a man — what's important is what you do with yourself, sex or no. At the end of the episode, the heroes are very nearly caught because the magistrate has a landlock on Serenity, until suddenly the landlock vanishes. Cut to the magistrate's home, as the magistrate berates his son for daring to defy him by lifting the landlock. His son just gives him a smug look and says, "Well, father, you wanted to make a man of me. I guess it worked."
In Scrubs, Doctor Cox is trying to find a pediatrician for Jack, and teases one potential doctor for talking to his patients through puppets (calling them dolls). "It's not a doll, it's a collectible!" is echoed when Cox is holding his favorite puppet hostage, and the pediatrician begs him to let the puppet go. "It's just a doll!" "No, David, it's a collectible."
- Also, when J.D. feels responsible for a patient's death, and Dr. Cox explains it as a slippery slope and when you start going down that line, "you never come back." Later, when Cox's hasty actions kill three patients (one of which could've waited another month), J.D. states "Once you go down that road, you never come back." Cox then flatly states "Yeah... you're right," and walks out the door, not planning to come back. He gets better.
In the Star Wars episode of That '70s Show, Donna gets mad when Eric says David, the Vader character, has only been spending so much time with her talking to her, and listening and sharing ideas ("What's that about!?") because he wants to see her naked. In a later argument, Donna's trying to prove him wrong, and avid gives the exact same examples Eric did, ending with "What's that about!?" in the same tone as Eric.
In the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, the newly sworn-in President Roslin tries to convince Adama to leave the fight and run away, taking the fleet with him, saying that if the human race is to survive at all, they have to escape and "we have to start having babies!" Adama doesn't reply and simply leaves the room, but later on he apparently realises the sense in the plan while watching Billy and Dee flirting, causing him to comment under his breath "They'd better start having babies." to the confusion of the people around him.
- "Is that an order?"
In The Office (American version), when Michael is fired for starting a competing company and tries to say his goodbyes, Charles tells him "No more, Michael. You're done." However, when Michael gets his job back and Charles is sent back to corporate in the ensuing deal, Michael cuts off his goodbye with "No. You're done."
Army Wives, season 3 "M.I.A."
One Foot in the Grave. The message on Margaret's mother's answering machine is along the lines of "Victor? Margaret? I'm sorry that I'm not here now, but it's because I'm somewhere else. I say, I'm somewhere else. But I expect you'll both be up here soon, won't you? So I'll see you then. Hello?" At first, this is just somewhat charming and funny, the result of her being an old woman who doesn't really understand how the machine works. Then she dies. Now read it again.
In the first season finale of Being Human Herrick's line, repeated later by George: "You shouldn't have come for Mitchell. It caught my attention."
The lesbian episode of Not Going Out has Lee inviting around a lesbian couple who have just moved in, justifying it as "offering a welcome hand of friendship". Later, when one of the women and Lucy spend the rest of the evening together, she explains that it's not romantic, but her "offering a welcome hand of friendship". It's Lampshaded by Lee:
Lee: Alright, you've made your point.
Lucy: What?
Lee: I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to God.
Desperate Housewives: The line Orson tells Bree about what people do who love each other is repeated by Bree to Karl as justification for cheating on Orson.
Dollhouse — Throughout the series, there is a system of nested passphrases set up between Dolls (people with implanted memories custom-built for any given situation anyone with a ton of money could want) and their handlers. One set of passphrases confirms that the Dolls are working properly after having their memories wiped and restored to a blank, passive, helpless state.
"Did I fall asleep?"
"For a little while."
"Shall I go now?"
"If you like."
- For most of the past season, the protagonists have been realizing just how unethical their job is and learned that it may soon lead to The End Of The World As We Know It. In the second-to-last episode of the series, the Doll's passphrase system is inverted between the protagonist and the Chessmaster responsible for it all, formerly her own handler, just before he is given an order to blow himself up.
In Only Fools And Horses, when stolid constable Terry Hoskins questions his Dirty Cop boss DI Slater, Slater snaps "It's not your job to think". Later, when he's on the point of being arrested, and offers Hoskins a cut, he ask Hoskins to think about it. Hoskins replies "It's not my job to think".
In one episode of Drop The Dead Donkey, Pointy Haired Boss Gus lambasts the security guard for not asking to see his identity card. The guard protests "But you're the guvner! I know your face!", to which Gus snarls "It doesn't say 'Identity cards must be shown, unless it's the guvner and I know his face'!" Inevitably, by the end of the episode, Gus has lost his card, and the guard won't let him in.
Gus: But I'm the guvner! You know my face!
Security Guard: It doesn't say "Identity cards must be shown, unless it's the guvner and I know his face".
The androids of Mudd's Planet in Star Trek The Original Series reply to any question they are unwilling to answer with "I am not programmed to respond in that area." As central-control android Norman succumbs to the liar paradox, Kirk echoes that phrase back at him when he desperately asks for an explanation.

The Who song "The Kids Are Alright" — the two sentences in the bridge completely change the meaning of the (otherwise identical) first and second verses.
There's a Barenaked Ladies song called "The Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel". The line "you're the last thing on my mind" goes from meaning "I'm not thinking about you" at the beginning of the song to meaning "I die thinking about you" when it's repeated at the end.
In the Tim McGraw song "Don't Take The Girl", the line "Please, don't take the girl" that ends each verse changes meaning over the course of the song.
"Major Tom (Coming Home.)" The part you know from that car commercial: "4, 3, 2, 1, Earth below us, drifting, falling, floating weightless, calling, coming home..." Well, it means one thing on the way up when everything's fine. It means something a little different on the way down when the thrusters aren't working.
"According To You" by Orianthi. The first few stanzas begin with "according to you", before changing to "according to him" in the chorus. And nearing the end of the story, it changes to "according to me".

Wicked: "As someone told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly!"
- And the song "I'm Not That Girl". First act, Elphaba sings it, but in the second, Glinda does.
- "It is my personal opinion that you do not have what it takes. I hope you'll prove me wrong. I doubt you will." Madame Morrible allows Galinda to join the sorcery seminar at Shiz. Years later, Glinda allows the guards to take Madame Morrible to prison.
- Elphaba, in The Wizard and I desires a "celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with me." Later, the Wizard says that she'll have a "celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with you." This proves true when the Munchkins celebrate her death.
- The first scene and the last scene. They're exactly the same scene, but the first is told from the Munckins' point of view and the second is told from Glinda's point of view, with the appropriate changes in emphasis and tone.
- Elphaba refuses to believe Fiyero when he tells her that she's beautiful—he insists "it's not lying, it's seeing things in a different way". Elphaba uses the line on Fiyero after he turns into the scarecrow.
Common in older theatrical writing, particularly in the Victorian period. Gilbert And Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard has a lot of this, the most obvious being the repeat of "I have a Song to Sing-O", first as Jack and Elsie working together to entertain a crowd as street performers, and then at Elsie's wedding to Fairfax, as him trying to win her back, and her rejecting him, as gently as she can, with the only change in lyrics making it worse, by indicating the rest of the story the song tells, where the jester gets the woman back, will not follow. However, that's only the most obvious; lines bounce around characters and situations throughout the work, reflecting ironically on the changing circumstances.
Used in Les Miserables, which uses identical melodies rather than lyrics for many of its songs. For example, "Valjean's Soliloquy" is a triumphant tune that culminates in him resolving to turn his life around . . .while "Javert's Soliloquy" is a mournful, distressed one that culminates in his suicide.
Phantom Of The Opera uses both identical melodies and lyrics. "All I Ask Of You" is a joyous love song between Christine and Raoul, but when the Phantom sings it to Christine, it's a desperate plea for her love. And most notably, the final lines of "Music Of The Night", "You alone can make my song take flight, help me make the music of the night", are a passionate declaration of love, but when the Phantom sings them at the end of the show, he is now despairing of having lost Christine. "It's *over* now, the music of the night."
In Miss Saigon, Kim joyfully asks Chris, "How in one night have we come so far?", after they spend the night together and wake up madly in love. But at the end of the show, as she lies dying in his arms, she asks him again, but this time, it's mourning their lost chance at happiness.
In South Pacific, "Younger Than Springtime" intially describes Joe Cable's newfound love for Liat. But after he refuses to marry her (unwilling to confront the prejudice they would face as an interracial couple), the song's reprise now represents the end of their relationship.

In Guild Wars: Eye of the North, the player character dismisses his ability to activate the scrying pool in the Hall of Monuments as "Just lucky, I guess." Later in the same cutscene, when the PC complains, "Why do I have to make the tough decisions?" Gwen tauntingly replies, "You're just lucky, I guess."
In Dungeon Siege II, your player character sounds skeptical about the Dark Wizards, saying that it "sounds like something told to restrain wandering children" (ignoring the fact that your character worked for Valdis at one point). In Broken World, the Overmage of the Cinbri says something quite similar.
In a subquest of Jade Empire, you meet a woman who, in the past, watched as her boyfriend knocked another child into a river and stopped her from saving him from drowning by saying, "If we help him, he'll only tell the others what we've done. We have to let him go." You can take her to the ex-boyfriend, whom she means to kill. He offers you silver to help him; if you refuse, you echo his words.
In The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Midna's Catch Phrase is a gleeful "Eee hee hee! See you later!" At the very end of the game, a now-loving Midna's final words to Link before returning to her people and destroying the Mirror Of Twilight are a tearful "Link, I- See you later." *sob*
- To a lesser extent, something simmilar happens in The Wind Waker: Tetra has a habbit of winking with one eye when she's up to something. "Up to something" usually meaning that she's helping Link in a way that ends up being not to comfortable for him, since she does not care to much about his wellbeing. In the end of the game, however, Tetra winks once again, before returning his sword to him, which he lost in the duel with Ganondorf. Once again, she is up to something and once again, it's not going to be a pleasant experience for Link , the difference being that she now does genuily care about him. It's just that Tetra and Link have no other choice than to go with what they're about to do if the want to survive.
Def Jam: Fight For New York is a game all about a Mob War between two gangs, one led by D-Mob (your boss) and the other by Crow, (the Big Bad) for control of New York's illegal underground no holds barred fight circuit. Less than halfway through the game the Crow says to D-Mob "Seems like you have a morale issue there, brother" when your rival walks out on D-Mob when the D-Mob picks you as his best fighter instead of him. Later, when Crow's gang is so disgusted by his tactics and tired of his Manipulative Bastard shit, some of them, (including both of his dragons) walk out on him in a single cutscene. In the case of the second dragon, he walks out on Crow while in the middle of holding a gun to your head, and gives you the gun before he leaves. Guess what your character says while pointing the gun at Crow.
In World Of Warcraft, "That day is not today..." is said twice at the Battle for Light's Hope Chapel, first by Flashback Alexandros Morgraine after he states that Darion will wield The Ashbringer, and then by Darion before he throws that same sword to Tirion Fordring. It's quite a spectacle.
In MadWorld, Jack meets with a doctor named Leo twice. The first time, Leo asks Jack to help him escape the city. Jack responds with. "I don't help people. I kill them." and continues competing in the games. The second time, Jack figures out that Leo was behind the games all along and fatally wounds him. Leo explains the whole story and points out that Jack won't be able to arrest him without helping him before he dies. Jack's response? "I don't help people... (Chainsaws Leo and watches him fall into the abyss) I kill them."
In Pokémon, often times trainers you meet will start with saying something like, "I'm surprised to meet you here", and then when they lose the battle say, "I'm surprised at how strong you are!"
In Star Craft, Tassadar tells Kerrigan:
Tassadar: So long as you continue to be so predictable, O Queen, I need not face you at all. You are your own worst enemy.
- Later, when Kerrigan doublecrosses her allies:
Kerrigan:You Protoss are all so headstrong and predictable. You are your own worst enemies.
Fenix: That's ironic, I can remember Tassadar teaching you a very similar lesson on Char.
Kerrigan: I took that lesson to heart, Praetor.
In Tales of Monkey Island, at the beginning of chapter one, when Guybrush stabs Le Chuck with the Cursed Cutlass of Kaflu, he yells "Unholy THIS!". Le Chuck says the exact same at the end of chapter four when stabbing Guybrush to death.
In Modern Warfare 2, an Army Ranger notes that the air strike General Shepherd's just called in is danger-close in relation to where they're positioned, and another Ranger says, "Since when does Shepherd care about danger-close?" Later on, Price repeats the line when Shepherd calls in an airstrike to kill him and Soap, not danger-close but right on top of his own men.
Half Life 2: Episode One features a long speech from Dr. Kleiner in which, at one point, he lets those who have safely evacuated City 17 know that "For those so inclined, now would be an excellent time for procreation." This line is repeated as a voiceover in the opening recap in Episode Two, out of context, against a backdrop of citizens still fighting for their lives.
The Jedi Exile sided with Revan using the catchphrase "Apathy is death", referring to the indecision of the Jedi Council to go to war. Near the end of the second game, she has a vision in which she has to decide which way to decide in a fight between her allies. If she tries to remain neutral, they will turn on her with mocking cries of "Apathy is death!"

Early on in Broken Saints, Kamimura encounters a silly young egg farmer named Masayuki, who tells him a story about his father, in which Masayuki's father pointed at a chicken's butt and told his son that two things come out of there: eggs and poop. The lesson Masayuki took from it, and passed on to Kamimura, was that both good and bad things come from the inside. This lesson turns out to be a central message in the series, and Kamimura's final words before his Heroic Sacrifice repeat this sentiment, now with a much more poignant resonance.

In this 1 panel comic, Rorschach does this to Joker. Oh, BTW, it was also made by a fellow troper. We should thumbs up it to help him.
Narbonic: "Not enough."
In Its Walky, Walky tells Joyce "You are beautiful, Joyce. It's the world that's ugly." Joyce later uses this line on his sister, Sal, in an attempt to talk her down from her Homicidal Rage.
In No Rest for the Wicked, Perrault tells November "You could always turn around and go home." Then, they meet Red. Somewhat later, following her through the woods, November repeats the line to Perrault.
A Miracle of Science has two, "That, gentlemen, is the sound of conquest" and "Behold, the Martian invasion fleet." The first one is used by Ben first in the flashback as a Mad Scientist trying to take over the moon, and later by Ben when he is confronting Haas. The second one is used first jokingly by Caprice, but then seriously by Ben in the end.
Girl Genius: When Agatha awakes on Castle Wulfenbach, Moloch covers her mouth and tells her "Quiet! Quiet! I'm not gonna hurt you unless I gotta, but I will if you act stupid. Now I'm going to take my hand away. I'm giving you one chance." When they meet again in Castle Heterodyne, she does and says the exact same thing.
Goblins has the confrontation in the sewer between Delyn and Thaco when Thaco parrots Delyn's "Bleed for me" line after pinning him on a broken sewer pipe.
Faulty Logic uses the "malicious" variant in a single (long) strip. Error: Server Request Timed Out.
In the Order Of The Stick Start Of Darkness, wizards repeatedly act condescendingly to Xykon, a sorcerer; wizardry, which comes through study, is like a "finely-tuned watch," while sorcery, which comes naturally, is unweildy like "a rubber hammer." Later, when Dorukan uses the same line, Xykon repeatedly hits him with Energy Drain spells, making Dorukan's own magic impossible while slowly killing him. Xykon points out that even if his magic is less sophisticated, the fact is that at a certain level of power no strategy can work against you, and right before killing him mocks that Dorukan can "keep [his] finely tuned watch—-Give me a sledgehammer to the face any day."
- Also, in the Greysky City arc, Hayley derides Celia's Thou Shalt Not Kill attitude, and tells Celia to back up, because she was "going to betray [Celia's] principles all over the friggin place." Later, when Celia makes a deal so everyone lives but Hayley retroactively owed 50% of everything she ever stole, Hayley furiously asks if Celian knew what she had just done. Celia snaps back, "Well, if I had to ask, I'd say that I betrayed your principles all over the friggin place."
In Sluggy Freelance, the Demon King reacts to being stabbed with Chaz with the line, "What is that blade?" Later, when Torg is being tested by his own subconscious during the Wayang Kulit saga, Oasis reacts in the exact same way when he stabs her. Odd, because Chaz wasn't even glowing red on the later occasion...
- Also, there's "Weird girl, Sasha," which gets repeated over and over again by almost all the (sane) characters... and then Sasha gets a chance to throw it back at them : "Weird guy, Torg"
In this Dominic Deegan strip, Rachel, an athletic female friend of Gregory's, goes to break up a fight between him and the bigot slaughterball player she used to idolize, Brett Taggerty:
Rachel: I don't know what's going on in here, but I suggest you let go of my friend and explain yourself.
Brett: (lets go of Gregory and raises his fist) Yeah? How about I break your face instead?!
Rachel: I invite you to try, Taggerty.
Brett promptly punches Rachel in the jaw, eliciting a "KRAK". But in the next panel, he's got a bloody hand.
Brett: AAAAAGGH!
Rachel: I break things with my face.
In the second arc of The Wotch, Anne accidentally turns Jason into a Jean Grey spoof, prompting Robin to tease him with, "At least you're hot. He he. I mean, you can provide a real distraction!" Nine arcs later, Robin is turned into a large-breasted girl to act as a crowd control diversion, prompting Jason to snark, "'At least you're hot.' 'You can provide a real distraction!'"

RPG Example: During a story line on the Prodigy City of Supers forum, my PC reptilian mutant and another player's genetically engineered human were taking on two NPC thugs. One attempts to make a run for it, telling his partner, "Sorry, buddy, but I ain't gonna defend you against supers and freaks." After being tackled and on the verge of being eaten by my PC, the thug cried out for help. Only to have his partner throw his words back at him, complete with mocking tone of voice. The fight didn't end well for the thugs.
In a Katers17 YouTube Video, this happens at the halfway point, when the main character is told not to wear the dress.
In Survival of the Fittest, in a scene that's an homage to the Joker, Blood Boy says "Why so serious?" as part of his intimidating speech to Matthew Wittany. He then attacks Matt, viciously beating him with his gun, as well as killing Matt's friend, Corbin. The tides eventually turn, though, and Matt gets out his own gun and shoots Blood Boy with it. What does he say while shooting? "Why so serious?"
In the lonelygirl15 episode "Handcuffed", when captive villain Lucy is dying, Jonas tells her, "No you stupid bitch, no! You don't get to die! It's not that easy!" After the Grand Finale, "The Ascension", Lucy uploads a video showing that she is still alive, the description for which is "It's not that easy, Jonas."
In the third book of Shadow of the Templar, Jeremy finally loses patience with a bedridden and uber-bitching Simon and tells him to basically stick it because he's the only friend Simon has apart from his teammates. Simon replies that Jeremy isn't his friend, "just this guy." Later on, when Simon tries to stop Jeremy from leaving in the fourth book, Jeremy says coldly that Simon's "just this guy" to him.

Avatar the Last Airbender has Toph 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!
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."
Danny Phantom: When Vlad first uses the Plasmius Maximus on Danny, 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 minutes head start, Plasmius.
Vlad: Really?
Danny: Minutes, seconds... you know how bad I can be at math.
In ''Cats Dont Dance," the line "How does the kitty cat go?" is first spoken menacingly by Max to Danny, then reversed on him when Danny sends Max flying on a punctured Darla balloon float.
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, saying "That's our bread and butter you're fuckin' with."
From Batman Beyond: "Remember. There may be some momentary discomfort." Doubles as a Pre Mortem One Liner.
In Code Lyoko episode "Straight to the 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.
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.
Batman The Animated Series, "Nothing To Fear":
"I am fear incarnate! I am the terror of Gotham! I! Am! The Scarecrow!"
Later...
"I am vengeance. I am the night! I! Am! BATMAN!"
- And another one from the episode "Baby Doll". Baby's catch-phrase on the show (after causing some mayhem) was "I didn't mean to!", a 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..."
In an episode of the Legend of Zelda cartoon, 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!
Occurs in the South Park episode "Fishsticks," where Cartman "helped" Jimmy write a joke, then in 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.

Main Tropes Index

Troperville

Editing Help

Tools

Toys

Examples