History Main / BadOmenAnecdote

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

This trope is for when, in the middle of some tense, possibly life-or-death situation, one character will remark to the other: "You know, this reminds me of a similar story..." The other character, [[HopeSpot hopeful]], will remark "Oh, and they succeeded?" And of course, the first character says "No, [[KillEmAll they all died]], actually."

->'''Patrick:''' Maybe a story will cheer you up. It's called ''The Ugly Barnacle''. Once, there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.\\

This trope is for when, in the middle of some tense, possibly life-or-death situation, one character will remark to the other: "You know, this reminds me of a similar story...". The other character, [[HopeSpot hopeful]], will remark "Oh, and they succeeded?". And of course, the first character says "No, [[KillEmAll they all died]], actually."

->'''Patrick:''' Maybe a story will cheer you up. It's called ''JustForFun/TheUglyBarnacle''. Once, there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.\\

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the ''[[CoolStarship Defiant]]'' is leading a fleet of over six hundred Federation starships to retake Deep Space Nine from the Dominion, and find themselves up against twice their number in Dominion warships. O'Brien and Bashir begin reciting Tennyson's ''Charge of the Light Brigade'', but are told to cut it out. Later on, Garak asks O'Brien how that poem ends. O'Brien assures him that he [[DownerEnding doesn't want to know.]]

'''[[DeadpanSnarker Mat]]:''' Oh. ({{Beat}}) [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Well, that's kind of a sad story, then]].

* When ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is lost in a labyrinth, Elan suggests that they leave a trail of breadcrumbs to help find their way. As he talks about how Literature/HanselAndGretel did it, he remembers what happened afterwards and says "Never mind"

-->'''30K:''' Anybody seen [[Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid that movie]] with the two cowboys and the whole Mexican army]]?\\

* On an episode of ''MatchGame '74'', Richard Dawson tells a story of a neighbor's cat who accidentally lapped up some spilled lawn mower fuel, and the cat gasped, ran around wildly for a couple of minutes, stopped and then collapsed on the ground. Gene Rayburn fearfully asked "Did it die?" and Dawson--in Creator/PaulLynde voice--said, "No...just ran out of gas!"

* In ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'', shortly after arriving in [[AncientGrome Nobilia]], the Boy is thrust into a {{Gladiator Game|s}}, which reminds him of a [[TheresNoBInMovie movie]]. Unfortunately...

->'''Patrick:''' Maybe a story will cheer you up. It's called ''Literature/TheUglyBarnacle''. Once, there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.\\

* One of the more famous scenes of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' invokes this; the mysterious tale of ''Literature/TheUglyBarnacle''.

'''Lloyd:''' No! Even better, they catch up with a guy a few miles down the road and slit his throat. It was ''good''...\\

May overlap with {{Metaphorgotten}} if the person giving the example genuinely forgot the unfortunate ending of it. Also overlaps with AnalogyBackfire.

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the ''[[CoolStarship Defiant]]'' is leading a fleet of over six hundred Federation starships to retake Deep Space Nine from the Dominion, and find themselves up against twice their number in Dominion warships. O'Brien and Bashir begin reciting Tennyson's ''Charge of the Light Brigade'', but are told to cut it out. Later on, Nog asks O'Brien how that poem ends. O'Brien assures him that he [[DownerEnding doesn't want to know.]]

* On an episode of ''MatchGame '74'', Richard Dawson tells a story of a neighbor's cat who accidentally lapped up some spilled lawn mower fuel, and the cat gasped, ran around wildly for a couple of minutes, stopped and then collapsed on the ground. Gene Rayburn fearfully asked "Did it die?" and Dawson--in Paul Lynde voice--said, "No...just ran out of gas!"

-->--''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

!!Examples

[[folder: Films -- Animated ]]

--> '''Gnomeo:''' ''They both die?'' What kind of an ending is that?
--> '''Shakespeare:''' My dear boy, this is a tragedy.
--> '''Gnomeo:''' Yeah, you're telling me, mate! It's rubbish! There's gotta be a better ending than ''that!''
* When Hot Rod and Kup are trying to avoid a MacrossMissileMassacre in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'', Kup likens it to an encounter with shrikebats on Dromedon. When Hot Rod asks what he did back then, Kup remarks that there were an awful lot of casualties before remembering they [[ReverseThePolarity reversed the polarities]]. It works, sort of.

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

--> '''Harry''': That was great! Did you come up with that yourself?
--> '''Lloyd''': No, I saw it in a movie once.
--> '''Harry''': Let me guess, they get away scot free?
--> '''Lloyd''': No! Even better, they catch up with a guy a few miles down the road and slit his throat. It was ''good''...
--> '''Harry:''' (starts driving a ''lot'' faster)

-->'''Dredd:''' There is a way in. Six years ago, two refugees figured it out. It's a vent to the city's incinerator. There's a burst twice a minute. That means somebody could run through that tube and have 30 seconds before it flames again.
-->'''Fergie:''' And these, these refugees, they made it through, right?
-->'''Dredd:''' Actually, they were roasted. But the theory's sound.

-->'''Oliver Wood''': Scared, Harry?
-->'''Harry''': A little.
-->'''Oliver Wood''': That's all right. I felt the same way before my first game.
-->'''Harry''': What happened?
-->'''Oliver Wood''': I, uh, I don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head two minutes in. Woke up in hospital a week later.
-->(Harry has an OhCrap look as the game begins)

-->'''Katsumoto''': What happened to the warriors of Thermopylae?
-->'''Algren''': [[LastStand Dead to the last man]].
-->(''[[BloodKnight Both look at each other and chuckle]]'')

[[folder: Literature ]]

-->'''Mat''': How do you know so much about the Tower anyway? You've been into it, haven't you?
-->'''Birgitte''': I have.
-->'''Mat''': Well, ''you'' got back out! How'd you manage it?
-->'''Birgitte''': [[LegendFadesToMyth That legend didn't survive, I'm assuming?]]
-->'''Mat''': I don't know it.
-->'''Birgitte''': I went in to ask them to save the life of my love. It came after the battle of Lahpoint Hills, where we led the Buchaner rebellion. Gaidal was wounded horribly; a blow to the head that made him unable to think straight. He forgot who I was, some of the time. It tore my heart, so I took him to the Tower to be Healed.
-->'''Mat''': And how'd you get out? How'd you fool them?
-->'''Birgitte''': I didn't. The Eelfinn never Healed him. They killed us both. I didn't survive, Mat. That is the end of that particular legend.
-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Mat]]''': Oh. ({{Beat}}) [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Well, that's kind of a sad story, then]].

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

-->'''Michael''': Hey, did anybody see that movie on television last night? These four kids went into this strange house and...uh, never mind.

-->'Wow, this is like that big fight in "Dirt, Swords, Sweat, and Togas"! [[ThisIsGonnaSuck ...I think the hero got pummeled in that picture.]]'

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* When ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' is lost in a labyrinth, Elan suggests that they leave a trail of breadcrumbs to help find their way. As he talks about how HanselAndGretel did it, he remembers what happened afterwards and says "Never mind"

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* Kevyn in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' once [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-09-27 did remind]] a lieutenant about military anecdotes on how the different branches handle the task at hand. They eventually got their punchline, of course.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', in the episode "The Cave of Two Lovers", the hippie nomad tells the Gaang about the secret cave, though he doesn't recall the song about it very well ("Uh, secret tunnel! Secret tunnel!"). Eventually...
-->"Hey, I just remembered the end of that song! *plink* ''And diiiieeeee!''"
* One of the more famous scenes of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' invokes this; the mysterious tale of ''Literature/TheUglyBarnacle''.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* PlayedForLaughs in Creator/StephenColbert's speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2007 when he compares G.W. Bush's presidency to Film/{{Rocky}}:
--> "''... But does he stay down? NO! Like Rocky, he GETS BACK UP and IN THE END HE actually loses in the first movie... um...''"

[[/folder]]

[[AC:Films -- Animated]]

[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:Web Comics]]

[[AC:Web Original]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:Real Life]]

--> "''... But does he stay down? NO! Like Rocky, he GETS BACK UP and IN THE END HE actually loses in the first movie... um...''"

* Near the conclusion of ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'', Billy and his partner, [[OnlySaneMan Taggart]], find themselves outnumbered and pinned down by enemy gunfire. Despite the gravity of their situation, it's made clear that Billy is having the time of his life, as he gleefully recalls how ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid found themeselves in a similar situation when facing the [[BolivianArmyEnding Bolivian Army.]] Taggart tells Billy, if they make it out alive, he's going to make him pay.

* PlayedForLaughs in Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2007 when he compares G.W. Bush's presidency to Film/{{Rocky}}:

* In ''WesternAnimation/GnomeoAndJuliet'', Gnomeo has a chat with a statue of Creator/WilliamShakespeare, who tells him that [[RomeoAndJuliet he knows this story]]. When Gnomeo asks what happens to the lovers in that story, Shakespeare tells him that they both die.

* In ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Carmen compares her relationship to ''RomeoAndJuliet''. George is quick to point out that they both die.

* In ''TheGeorgeLopezShow'', Carmen compares her relationship to ''RomeoAndJuliet''. George is quick to point out that they both die.
* Inverted in ''TheGoldenGirls'' when Rose tells a story about some people from her home town in an effort to dissuade a friend from doing something. Though her friends expect a bad ending to the story to further the moral she's apparently getting at, Rose says that the people involved became quite rich and lived happily ever after.

'''SpongeBob:''' That didn't help at all!

* ''WesternAnimation/BraveLittleToaster'', when the appliances try to cross a waterfall.