History Main / CareerNotTaken

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', Po (who himself dreams of being a Kung-Fu master) asks his adoptive father Ping whether he ever wanted to do anything else with his life besides running a noodle shop.

'''Ping:''' [[TakeThat Because it was a stupid dream]]. Can you imagine ''me'' making ''tofu''? (''laughs to himself, clearly remorseful, before he suddenly slams his cleaver into a chopping board'') [[BigNo No]]! We all have our place in this world!

** Throughout [[Creator/IDWPublishing IDW Publishing's]] ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' comic continuity, it's heavily suggested that Optimus Prime disliked having to become leader of the Autobots. TheChainsOfCommanding weighed heavily on him, and in "The Death of Optimus Prime", he leapt at the chance to give up his name and title to revert to his original name of Orion Pax. Other material suggests that part of this is because he was quite happy simply being Orion Pax: Super Cop, where he felt like he was actually making a change in people's lives. It's not hard to understand why: in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', the more Tailgate hears about Orion Pax from people who knew him, the more he thinks Orion was CrazyAwesome [[note]] When Orion Pax appears in a flashback diving down upon a fleeing flier, Tailgate demands to know where Orion came from, only to be told that Orion had a habit of appearing unexpectedly [[TheCavalry just when he's most needed]][[/note]], and has his mind blown when he finally learns Orion became Optimus. As Autobot leader, Optimus pretty much had no choice but to spend much of his time ordering his troops to their deaths, because the sheer scale of the conflict led to AMillionIsAStatistic.

The Career Not Taken is often used as a tool to reveal a character's HiddenDepths through a hobby or alternative career choice they ''could'' have taken but didn't. They'll have their current job instead of their other dream job because either [[VetinariJobSecurity their current career is too important to just up and leave]] (like a superhero or FrontierDoctor), the other job is [[TragicDream flagrantly impossible]] (like becoming the King of Space or a TechBro who's as smart as they think they are), [[DreamCrushingHandicap they have physical or mental hangups that keep them from trying]] (like a learning disorder or a CareerEndingInjury), [[SocietyIsToBlame are held down by societal factors]] (poverty or a criminal record) or [[FantasyForbiddingFather because their parents didn't think it would pay well and kept them from pursuing it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Any longtime fan of the show will know that [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]] absolutely ''loathes'' his job at the nuclear power plant, but he still works there mainly to support his family. In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E13AndMaggieMakesThree And Maggie Makes Three]]", Homer finally proves to be financially stable enough to quit his job at the plant and work at his dream job, which is at a bowling alley. However, when celebrating, he and Marge get busy, and she gets pregnant. Although it's a tough decision, Homer eventually decides to go back to the nuclear power plant in order to financially provide for Maggie. [[spoiler:He even has pictures of her around his station, and have them covered around a sign so that it reads "Do it for her"]].

[[folder:Video Game]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]

* ''ComicBook/ActsOfVengeance'': When ComicBook/DoctorDoom learns that Typhoid Mary targeted the ComicBook/PowerPack and almost killed their father, he's beside himself with fury at the thought that she'd almost robbed a group of young, impressionable children of their father. He himself muses that had his own father lived, Doom might've followed in his footsteps and become a medical doctor whose skills would've been used for good as opposed to the dictator and would-be world conqueror he is now. Typhoid Mary expresses amusement at this uncharacteristic melancholy, mocking Doom for being a softy at heart (but wisely leaving before Doom shakes himself out of his fugue and atomises her for her insolence).
* In ''ComicBook/RunawaysRainbowRowell'', one issue sees Nico forced to have a business lunch with the spirit that inhabits her Staff of One in order to renegotiate the terms of their agreement. Nico expresses a desire to be done with the whole business, as she had wanted to be a fashion designer, but has been stuck doing magic because the Staff is bound to her family and the only way to break the agreement is to release the spirit, who has made it very clear that he'll just go back to doing evil if he's released.

'''Shredder:''' Well actually I always wanted to be a writer. Being a ruthless conqueror was my second choice.

The Career Not Taken is often used as a tool to reveal a character's HiddenDepths through a hobby or alternative career choice they ''could'' have taken, but didn't. They'll have their current job instead of their other dream job because either [[VetinariJobSecurity their current career is too important to just up and leave]] (like a superhero or FrontierDoctor), the other job is [[TragicDream flagrantly impossible]] (like becoming the King of Space or a TechBro who's as smart as they think they are), [[DreamCrushingHandicap they have physical or mental hangups that keep them from trying]] (like a learning disorder or a CareerEndingInjury), [[SocietyIsToBlame are held down by societal factors]] (poverty or a criminal record) or [[FantasyForbiddingFather because their parents didn't think it would pay well and kept them from pursuing it]].

Compare FollowYourHeart, LivingOutAChildhoodDream and WrongLineOfWork. Contrast ICouldaBeenAContender. {{Sister Trope}}s include OnlyInItForTheMoney and SignedUpForTheDental. See also ADegreeInUseless and ExpertInUnderwaterBasketWeaving.

* ''Manga/OshiNoKo'': Mem-Cho, like several other cast members, wanted to be an IdolSinger as a teenager and managed to get pretty far into an audition process. Unfortunately, at that point her StrugglingSingleMother ended up in the hospital from exhaustion, so Mem dropped out of high school and started working, managing to put her brothers through college. By the time she came up for air, she was 23, making her "over the hill" by idol standards, and ended up becoming a popular livestreamer instead. During the fourth StoryArc, she gets a second chance at an idol career when Ruby ropes her into helping her revive B Komachi.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'' has Jeremy and his father attend a concert by Jeremy's favorite musicians, Gingivitis. While Jeremy looks for a way to get backstage for an autograph, Walt meets the band's two front men loading their equipment into a truck. Walt learns from them that Gingivitis would rather study dentistry, but dental school is expensive, so they tour as a rock band to scare enough funds together to cover tuition.

* ''Fanfic/AGameOfCatAndCat'': An omake shows what Agent Cowboy gave up by signing up with the agency right out of highschool, a promising and stable future, instead of his current risky government job.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' establishes that Mike Wazowski, an assistant to a scarer (someone who [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight scares children at night]] for a living), initially wanted to be a scarer himself, but was just too nonthreatening. In a way he actually gets to live out his dreams when Sully takes Monsters, Inc. in a new direction (getting power from laughter instead of screams) and Mike becomes a comedian.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'': Rodney's father, when encouraging his son to follow his dream, mentions that he originally wanted to be a musician before his own dad had him become a dishwasher out of fear of not having a stable career, and that he, while happy with his life, always said that he would follow his dream if he could do it all again.

* ''Film/TheNatural'': New York Knights manager Pop Fisher is introduced lamenting that he should've taken his mother's advice and become a farmer, instead of the manager of a dead-end, consistently losing team. Before the league pennant game, hero Roy Hobbs overhears this, and reminisces at length to Fisher about having grown up on a farm.

** The Technobot Lightspeed is considered TheAce by quite a few Autobots, due to being intelligent, tough, skilled and (by Cybertronian standards) quite handsome. His abilities make him highly effective in his role as a data processor and courier, but secretly what he really wants is to be a space explorer. He accepts that his dream of being rebuilt with a starship mode is unlikely so long as the war is going on, and so channels his energies into his work.

** Throughout [[Creator/IDWPublishing IDW Publishing's]] ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' comic continuity, it's heavily suggested that Optimus Prime disliked having to become leader of the Autobots. TheChainsOfCommanding weighed heavily on him, and in "The Death of Optimus Prime" he leapt at the chance to give up his name and title to revert to his original name of Orion Pax. Other material suggests that part of this is because he was quite happy simply being Orion Pax: Super Cop, where he felt like he was actually making a change in people's lives. It's not hard to understand why: in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', the more Tailgate hears about Orion Pax from people who knew him, the more he thinks Orion was CrazyAwesome [[note]] When Orion Pax appears in a flashback diving down upon a fleeing flier, Tailgate demands to know where Orion came from, only to be told that Orion had a habit of appearing unexpectedly [[TheCavalry just when he's most needed]][[/note]], and has his mind blown when he finally learns Orion became Optimus. As Autobot leader, Optimus pretty much had no choice but to spend much of his time ordering his troops to their deaths, because the sheer scale of the conflict led to AMillionIsAStatistic.

* In ''One-Shot Toothpaste'' by Creator/PaulJennings, Dr. Binn has a shtick where if his patient is a child, he'll ask them what they want to be when they grow up. When they tell him, he'll claim he wanted to be that job too when he was a child. If the kid asks him why he's a dentist instead, he tells the story of how he allegedly became one (he stopped a MadScientist who did abusive AnimalTesting trying to invent a toothpaste that is only needed once).

* In ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', Det. Zack Nichols originally went to college to become a doctor, but ultimately became a cop instead. He has also sometimes mentioned his regrets about not becoming a pianist.

* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'': Much of Pam's early series angst stems from her desire to be an artist, and her disappointment that she took her current secretary job rather than pursuing it. [[spoiler:Eventually she does go to art school, but ultimately decides that it isn't for her and sets her sights on becoming a saleswoman instead.]]

* A RunningGag with the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' villain Beautiful Gorgeous has her almost admitting what she ''really'' wanted to do (revealed in "My Big Fat Spy Wedding" being [[spoiler:putting aglets onto the ends of shoelaces]]), but her father Dr. Calamitous raised her to be a supervillain just like him.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': [[Characters/FamilyGuyPeterGriffin Peter Griffin]] mentions that when he was younger he dreamed of being a podiatrist. At first this seems to be a set up to a CutawayGag, but Peter tells the audience that he was serious and that at one point in his life he had hopes and dreams.

** [[Characters/FuturamaBenderBendingRodriguez Bender Bending Rodriguez]] is a bending unit who's good at bending gurders and enjoys doing it (since he was literally built for it), but he's expressed multiple times that he dreams of becoming a {{Folk Music}}ian, a dream he actually gets around to living out in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E13BendinInTheWind Bendin' in the Wind]]" and "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E17FortyPercentLeadbelly Forty Percent Leadbelly]]".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Lynn Sr. starts off as an IT man, but "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS2E16FoolsParadiseJobInsecurity Job Insecurity]]" reveals that he always wanted to be a chef instead, and he changes jobs and becomes a dish washer at a restaurant. As of "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS3E26Cooked Cooked!]]", he succeeds in becoming a chef.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'': At the end of the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 '87 crossover episode]] "[[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012S5E17TheBigBlowout The Big Blowout]]", the 87 turtles tell the Bebop and Rocksteady of their dimension that they don't have to be villains if they don't want to. Rocksteady admits that he's always wanted to be a personal-injury lawyer, while Bebop "just [wants to] dance."

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E7Unification1 Unification 1]]", the Romulan leader trying to set up an invasion of Vulcan comments that she likes writing and she doesn't get to do enough of it in her current position. Data suggests that maybe she'd be happier in another position.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter mentions that when he was younger he dreamed of being a podiatrist. At first this seems to be a set up to a CutawayGag, but Peter tells the audience that he was serious and that at one point in his life he had hopes and dreams.

** Bender is a bending unit who's good at bending gurders and enjoys doing it (since he was literally built for it), but he's expressed multiple times that he dreams of becoming a {{Folk Music}}ian, a dream he actually gets around to living out in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E13BendinInTheWind Bendin' in the Wind]]" and "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E17FortyPercentLeadbelly Forty Percent Leadbelly]]".

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E11SenseAndInsensitivity Sense and Insensitivity]]", Luz admits that she had always wanted to become a writer, her #1 dream -- becoming an actual witch -- having been a TragicDream before finding herself in the Boiling Isles and becoming a writer being the more realistic option. She technically fulfills that dream in the episode, though the novel she co-wrote was thoroughly butchered by King and he winds up taking the credit for the story when she disowns the finished draft.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Any longtime fan of the show will know that Homer absolutely ''loathes'' his job at the nuclear power plant, but he still works there mainly to support his family. In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E13AndMaggieMakesThree And Maggie Makes Three]]", Homer finally proves to be financially stable enough to quit his job at the plant and work at his dream job, which is at a bowling alley. However, when celebrating, he and Marge get busy, and she gets pregnant. Although it's a tough decision, Homer eventually decides to go back to the nuclear power plant in order to financially provide for Maggie. [[spoiler:He even has pictures of her around his station, and have them covered around a sign so that it reads "Do it for her"]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''[=PopCross Studios=]'': A PlayedForDrama example in [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLItBjti8LwWHJ3OzF0ldIAqATuImdcffH Dr. Champagne McGreggor]]. He is a geneticist who worked at [=DinoCross=] Park, a parody of Franchise/JurassicPark, except with even more problems. His job was to [[FossilRevival create dinosaurs]] based on famous pop-culture characters for the entertainment of the park, but Champagne [[TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes doesn't like dinosaurs or even know much about them]]. He always wanted to use his genetics skills to give people superpowers instead, but that's illegal in his world- [[SelectiveEnforcement whereas most of the dodgy things the DinoCross Park executives do isn't]].

* A RunningGag with the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' villain Beautiful Gorgeous has her almost admitting what she ''really'' wanted to do (revealed in "My Big Fat Spy Wedding" being [[spoiler: putting aglets onto the ends of shoelaces]]), but her father Dr. Calamitous raised her to be a supervillain just like him.

-> '''Krang:''' Ooh, you have a way with words, Shredder.
-> '''Shredder:''' Well actually I always wanted to be a writer. Being a ruthless conqueror was my second choice.

-->'''Ping:''' Actually, when I was young and crazy, I used to dream about making tofu!
-->'''Po:''' So, why didn't you?
-->'''Ping:''' [[TakeThat Because it was a stupid dream]]. Can you imagine ''me'' making ''tofu''? (''laughs to himself, clearly remorseful, before he suddenly slams his cleaver into a chopping board'') [[BigNo No]]! We all have our place in this world!

-->'''Hippy:''' These guys are SEALS?
-->'''Catfish:''' Eh. These guys ain't so tough. I fought guys plenty tougher'n them.
-->'''Hippy:''' Now we get to hear how you "[[LampshadeHanging coulda been a contender]]"? ''[pours cereal down his back]''
-->'''Catfish:''' ''[strikes back with hat]'' Hey, you see this? *shows fist* they used to call this The Hammer!

-->"I could have been a surgeon, [[SuddenlyShouting I LIKE TAKING THINGS APART!]]"
-->"I could have been a lawyer, [[EvilLawyerJoke but I just had too much heart.]]"
-->"I could have been in politics, 'cause I've always been a big spender."
-->"And me? [[Film/OnTheWaterfront I coulda been a contender.]]"

-->'''Fisher:''' I didn't care nothing about the Series. Win or lose, I would have been satisfied. I'd have walked away from baseball and I'd have bought a farm.
-->'''Roy:''' Nothing like a farm. Nothing like being around animals, fixing things. There's nothing like being in the field with the corn and the winter wheat. The greenest stuff you ever saw.
-->'''Fisher:''' You know, my mother told me I ought to be a farmer.
-->'''Roy:''' My dad wanted me to be a baseball player.