History Main / BadLuckCharm

* A short on the ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'', "Awfully Lucky", has a sleazy guy trying to get a rare gem to a museum offering a huge reward for it. The gem is cursed to give whoever owns it alternating extremely good and extremely bad luck. The guy ends up suffering all sorts of increasingly ludicrous calamities, and just barely living through them, trying to get the gem to the museum.

* An episode from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' featured a drifting conman who stumbled across what appeared to be a handheld game-of-chance device (of unknown origin), press the button and one "wins" if the lights all blink and the music plays. He quickly realizes that "winning" seems to bring him incredible luck, which he parlays into building a gambling hall full of ''giant'' versions of the thing (by telling the replicator to just copy the original to a larger scale). The ''big'' devices begin affecting the entire station, not just the players, causing incredible streaks of bad and good luck. These start getting really extreme and randomly reversing, growing increasingly dangerous as the crew struggles to figure out what is going on.

->'''Leni:''' ''[with her hair all curled]'' Lincoln! Are you coming to my charity fashion show? It's for a great cause: oysters without pearls.\\
'''Lynn Jr.:''' Leni! No! He'll ruin your fashion show just like he ruined my winning streak! HE'S BAD LUCK!\\
'''Lincoln:''' Oh, come on, Lynn! That is absolutely... ''[gets an idea]'' ...true." [to the viewers] I think I may be onto something here.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', [[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E8NoSuchLuckFrogWild "No Such Luck"]]

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Kasandra's fox mask. When confronted with the notion that it may be cursed during a Heart-to-Heart with her Driver, Kasandra tells them there's no way that's true and is mainly surprised that they didn't find it cute.

->'''The Doctor:''' ''[fiddling with his sleeve]'' Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens.\\
'''Martha:''' It's not the outfit, [[DoomMagnet that's just you]].
-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E6TheLazarusExperiment "The Lazarus Experiment"]]

* The Romanov Emerald in ''VideoGame/TheRiddleOfMasterLu'' is said to be unlucky, and bad things do keep happening to people who carry it. (''Don't'' send it as an exhibit to your museum back home. [[CaptainObvious It won't help your business to prosper.]]) In the end, [[spoiler:you give it to a minor villain, who promptly cuts off some of his toes with a misaimed spade and then suffers a DisneyVillainDeath when trying to cross a chasm.]]

* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': In one of the Tarma and Kethry stories, the two wind up in possession of a small medallion, about the size of a coin, cursed to be one of these. The only way to get rid of it is for someone to steal it off them, so they eventually set themselves up to be robbed by bandits, freeing them of the medallion and the associated bad luck.

-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The Lazarus Experiment"

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the [[KatanasAreJustBetter Kitetsu class swords]] are extremely sharp but also [[EvilWeapon cursed]] and eventually lead the wielder to his tomb. [[BadassNormal So far, Zoro]] is the only one who has carried such a dangerous sword without ill effects, as his luck is stronger than the sword's curse. Note, this is probably a ShoutOut to the RealLife Muramasa swords, which have a similar fame.
* In ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'', when Majo Ruka took over the Maho-Dou, she sold bad luck charms exclusively.
* The pendant that Nagi's grandfather gives Hayate in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' adds more trouble for Hayate. Knowing the old man, it was probably deliberate. First hinted in the manga when Isumi exorcises some of the bad luck off the charm.
* A manga chapter of ''Manga/NagasareteAirantou'' featured a cursed broom that brought misfortune to all who tried to use it... until it wound up in possession of [[ButtMonkey Ayane]], who has such horrible luck ''anyway'' that she completely failed to notice its effects.

* Creator/JackVance's ''Literature/{{Lyonesse}}: The Green Pearl'' features the eponymous item which will turn anyone who owns it to evil, until somebody else murders them to possess it. At one point the chain is broken when the owner is [[{{And I Must Scream}} rendered helpless]] by somebody who's only interested in punishing him, and the pearl is temporarily forgotten.
* ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'': When going on his first deployment after the first half of OCS, the main character is offered a set of rank insignia that were used by a number of cadets who later flunked out for pure bad luck reasons. He grudgingly accepts them, which pleases the Commandant, who was the first to wear them and wants the "curse" broken.

* In Creator/RudyardKipling's story "The King's Ankus" the eponymous jeweled artifact looks like this to Mowgli, who doesn't understand that the reason men keep killing each other for it is simply greed.

* The ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'' episode "Four Leaf Clover" has Miss Brooks find the good luck charge. Lo and behold, all four tires of Miss Brooks' car blow, she's forced to pay a large fine for stepping on a lawn, she knocks over a table of trinkets in front of the store, is threatened with arrest by a policeman, and is finally quarantined in the same building as Mr. Conklin. Miss Brooks gives the unlucky clover to a dishonest car mechanic.
* The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Bad Day at Black Rock" has the Winchester brothers find a LuckyRabbitsFoot talisman that gives the holder good luck until it leaves their person, at which point their luck turns NecroNonSequitur-inducingly bad. The only way to avoid certain death is to destroy the amulet in a specific ritual.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', J.D. buys a pair of the tiki idols used on those Brady Bunch episodes for him and Turk when everyone takes a trip to the Bahamas. Even though, in-universe, they're just a prop, they appear to bring bad luck to the two.
* An episode from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' featured a drifting conman who stumbled across what appeared to be a handheld game-of-chance device (of unknown origin), press the button and one "wins" if the lights all blink and the music plays. He quickly realizes that "winning" seems to bring him incredible luck, which he parlays into building a gambling hall full of ''giant'' versions of the thing (by telling the replicator to just copy the original to a larger scale). The ''big'' devices begin affecting the entire station, not just the players, causing incredible streaks of bad and good luck. These start getting really extreme and randomly reversing, growing increasingly dangerous as the crew struggles to figure out what is going on.

* A first season episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' has a character nicknamed Jinxo, who is believed by many to be a walking BadLuckCharm. He worked on the construction of all five Babylon stations. The first three stations were blown up in terrorist attacks, and the fourth vanished mysteriously. He refuses to leave Babylon Five because he thinks that if he does, something bad will happen to it. Another character tells Jinxo that he's got it backwards: he should be called "Lucky" because he managed to escape unharmed from four separate dangerous incidents. Jinxo says that he never thought about it that way before; the other guy comments that no one ever does.

* Deconstructed in the ''Series/TwoBrokeGirls''' episode "And the Pearl Necklace." Caroline and Max's debate over whether her pearl necklace or the loss of it was the cause of her misfortunes becomes a general discussion of whether luck exists.

* The Tenth Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'' provides the page quote, as he believes his black-tie suit brings him bad luck. He's only worn it twice on screen, but the first time he nearly gets killed by a giant soul-sucking insect thing in "The Lazarus Experiment" and the second time he spends the whole episode fighting for his life on a crashing spaceship in "Voyage of the Damned". Then again, [[DoomMagnet that's pretty much his life anyway, suit or no suit]].

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': The [[AmbiguouslyHuman ominous entity]] Mr. Ox hires you to plant a bad luck charm in a man's gym locker. The bad luck comes when the irate man sees you tampering with his gear and tries MuggingTheMonster; if you avoid killing him, Mr. Ox is disappointed and doesn't pay you quite as much.

* ''Webcomic/{{Mindmistress}}'' invented a colorful design good-luck charm that attaches to back. This charm really works, but she couldn't stop it from switching into bad luck mode which is colored in grays. It was stolen, and guy got rich, famous, etc., but it turned gray. He didn't know what it meant so he kept wearing it. Unfortunately he worn it for a month, increasing his bad luck to deadly levels.

* ''[[ComicStrip/LittleLulu The Little Lulu Show]]'' episode, "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Curse Of The Thingamajig]]" had Lulu and Tubby find a mysterious object that they called a "Thingamajig". The Thingamajig gave them a lot of bad luck throughout the episode, until it was discovered that it was actually the hood ornament on a guy's car.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' has the gang in Greece, where Shaggy buys what he thinks is a lucky amulet that keeps monsters away, [[spoiler:when in actuality, it is an emerald that attracts the Centaur that keeps chasing the gang]].

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' has the cursed idol that causes certain death to anybody near it.
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': one episode involved a mysterious unconnected phone that somehow rung. Eddy got his hands on it after Rolf discarded it and immediately got bad luck.
* The ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' episode "Shoe" featured Experiment 113 a.k.a. "[[MeaningfulName Shoe]]", who was essentially a living bad luck charm. Subverted later on that Shoe's bad luck could be switched over to good luck by simply lifting up the horseshoe-shaped projection on his head.

* A short with WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther has Big Nose as a bank robber who finds a horseshoe, but it brings him bad luck. Every time he tries to get rid of it, the Panther returns it to him.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' centers on The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God. And boy, is it unlucky!
* On ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Island]]'', Beth once takes a voodoo idol from Bony Island despite Chris's warning that doing so will curse the perpetrator, and after the Screaming Gophers lose the challenge it causes them to lose the two after it as well. Beth returns it and the Gophers win the next challenge, but it returns as part of a challenge in a later episode.

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the [[KatanasAreJustBetter Kitetsu class swords]] are extremely sharp but also [[EvilWeapon cursed]] and eventually lead the wielder to his tomb. [[BadassNormal So far, Zoro]] is the only one who has carried such a dangerous sword without ill effects, as his luck was stronger than the sword's curse. Note, this was probably a ShoutOut to the RealLife Muramasa swords, which have a similar fame.

[[folder: Comic Books]]

--->'''Iznogoud:''' ''[[BreakingTheFourthWall (looking at the reader)]]'' [[ThisExplainsSoMuch Is this why I've been failing all those years?]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Bad Day at Black Rock" had the Winchester brothers find a LuckyRabbitsFoot talisman that gave the holder good luck until it left their person, at which point their luck would turn NecroNonSequitur-inducingly bad. The only way to avoid certain death was to destroy the amulet in a specific ritual.

** In an episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', JD buys a pair of the tiki idols used on those Brady Bunch episodes for him and Turk when everyone takes a trip to the Bahamas. Even though, in-universe, they're just a prop, they appear to bring bad luck to the two.

* [[Series/TheMunsters Herman Munster]] had the misfortune to get a [[RingOfPower ring containing the Fregosi emerald]] stuck on his finger. Things go FromBadToWorse when he accidentally swallows the Nathanson Ruby.

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Mythology and Religion]]

* [[Myth/KingArthur Sir Balyn]] removes a sword from a lady's scabbard. This sword ends up causing all kinds of horrible things to happen, eventually causing Balyn to [[spoiler: kill his brother Balan in battle]].

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* In one ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'' strip, Hagar asks Lucky Eddie how he bought the lucky penny he is carrying so cheaply. "It has a curse on it," he replies.

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* Various cursed items in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' have this effect, giving out penalties to various stats when used. Ones that fall under this in particular are the gauntlets of fumbling (50% chance every 6 seconds of dropping whatever is in your hands), Bracers of Defenselessness (effectively increasing your opponents' chances to hit you by 25%), and a Cloak of Resistance hit with Opposite Effect (a penalty to all of your saving throws). Most of these are a ClingyMacguffin to boot.

[[folder: Video Games]]
* The Romanov Emerald in ''VideoGame/TheRiddleOfMasterLu'' is said to be unlucky, and bad things do keep happening to people who carry it. (''Don't'' send it as an exhibit to your museum back home. [[CaptainObvious It won't help your business to prosper.]]) In the end, [[spoiler: you give it to a minor villain, who promptly cuts off some of his toes with a misaimed spade and then suffers a DisneyVillainDeath when trying to cross a chasm.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2'': Melitele's Heart is an ancient artifact that has been cursed; instead of protecting the user, it just makes them unlucky. The poor idiot who has the artifact will die unless Geralt can convince him that [[TooDumbToLive charging into a battlefield without armor and an artifact that may or may not be cursed is sure to get him kiled]]. If Geralt gives the amulet to an archwitch living a quiet life in the Khanduras, she'll offer to remove the curse or pay him for the artifact. Removing the curse grants you a regeneration amulet, invaluable between consecutive fights and attrition battles.

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Mindmistress}}'' invented a colorful design good luck charm that attaches to back. This charm really works, but she couldn't stop it from switching into bad luck mode which is colored in grays. It was stolen, and guy got rich, famous, etc, but it turned gray. He didn't know what it meant so he kept wearing it. Unfortunately he worn it for a month, increasing his bad luck to deadly levels.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' had the gang in Greece, where Shaggy bought what he thought was a lucky amulet that keeps monsters away [[spoiler: when in actuality, it was an emerald that attracted the Centaur that kept chasing the gang]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation", Candice finds a tiki charm which appears to give her bad luck, and keeps coming back when she tries to get rid of it. She interprets a local's advice to be "throw it into the volcano", but it turns out that there is a restaurant on top of the mountain, and the charm is a "your table is ready" alert device. After having bad luck throughout the episode, she refuses her free dessert simply because it was something the charm brought her. She then continues to suffer bad luck without it, [[TheChewToy just like usual]].

* The animated ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' had an episode where an already unlucky bad guy had to transport a full cargo of these for resale. Naturally, he crash-landed.
* A short on the ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoonShow'', "Awfully Lucky", had a sleazy guy trying to get a rare gem to a museum offering a huge reward for it. The gem was cursed to give whoever owns it alternating extremely good and extremely bad luck. The guy ends up suffering all sorts of increasingly ludicrous calamities, and just barely living through them, trying to get the gem to the museum.
* A short with WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther had Big Nose as a bank robber who finds a horseshoe, but it brings him bad luck. Every time he tries to get rid of it, the Panther returns it to him.

* On ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama Island]]'', Beth once took a voodoo idol from Bony Island despite Chris's warning that doing so will curse the perpetrator, and after the Screaming Gophers lose the challenge it causes them to lose the two after it as well. Beth returns it and the Gophers win the next challenge, but it returns as part of a challenge in a later episode.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Some people feel that volcanic rocks stolen from Hawaii turn into these. More information from Website/{{Snopes}} [[http://www.snopes.com/luck/pele.asp here]].
** Also rocks from Iceland.

->'''The Doctor:''' ''(fiddling with his sleeve)'' Oh, black tie. Whenever I wear this, something bad always happens.\\

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' centres on The Bad Luck Eye of the Little Yellow God. And boy, is it unlucky!

* Literature/TheBible: Whenever the TheArkOfTheCovenant ended up in the hands of rival nations, bad things happened to them. Then when they try to give it back, [[DisproportionateRetribution more even worse bad things happen to them.]]

* [[Series/TheMunsters Herman Munster]] had the misfortune to get a ring containing the Fregosi emerald stuck on his finger. Things go FromBadToWorse when he accidentally swallows the Nathanson Ruby.

There are items that are believed to give you good luck, then there's this, an item that is deemed to be unlucky, the complete opposite of a lucky charm. When this item is in the possession of one character, expect very bad things to happen, like slipping on a BananaPeel, getting stuck in a puddle of glue that's been spilled on the sidewalk, or a plane suddenly runs out of gas and plummets to the ground right behind or in front of you. Essentially, this is an item that is deemed as unlucky, either because of its strange markings or its demonic shape or something. If you ever find yourself in the possession of one of these things, watch out.

Bad Luck Charms tend to be harder to lose or be rid of than Good Luck Charms, with many of them being {{Clingy MacGuffin}}s.

There are items that are believed to give you good luck, then there's this, an item that is deemed to be unlucky, the complete opposite of a lucky charm. When this item is in the possession of one character, expect very bad things to happen, like slipping on a BananaPeel, getting stuck in a puddle of glue that's been spilled on the sidewalk, or a plane suddenly runs out of gas and plummets to the ground right behind or in front of you.

Essentially, this is an item that is deemed as unlucky, either because of its strange markings or its demonic shape or something. If you ever find yourself in the possession of one of these things, watch out.

** One story revolves around the vizier obtaining a cursed diamond that brings very bad luck (your chair collapses, the doorknob snaps off in your hand, rooftiles fall on you in the middle of the desert) to the holder as a gift to the caliph. Of course, it's a ClingyMacGuffin, and things only get worse.
** In another episode he buys a lucky charm medal from a vendor who has suffered horribly mutilating bad luck streaks, claiming "only his medal could save him!" Thinking the vendor out of his mind, he buys one from him to give the calife as a gift... not realizing that the medal ''does work'' exactly as advertized (the vendor got all his mutilations ''before'' he was given his medal) and the Calife has already been wearing one for years!
-->'''Iznogood:''' [[BreakingTheFourthWall (looking at the reader)]] [[ThisExplainsSoMuch Is this why I've been failing all those years?]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation", Candice finds a tiki charm which appears to give her bad luck, and keeps coming back when she tries to get rid of it. She interprets a local's advice to be "throw it into the volcano", but it turns out that there is a restaurant on top of the mountain, and the charm is a "your table is ready" alert device. After having bad luck throughout the episode, she refuses her free dessert simply because it was something the charm brought her.

* A short with Franchise/ThePinkPanther had Big Nose as a bank robber who finds a horseshoe, but it brings him bad luck. Every time he tries to get rid of it, the Panther returns it to him.

** In another episode he buys a lucky charm medal from a vendor who has suffered horribly mutilating bad luck streaks, claiming "only his medal could save him!" Thinking the vendor out of his mind, he buys one from him to give the calife as a gift... not realizing that the medal ''does work'' exactly as advertized and the Calife has already been wearing one for years!