History Main / CueTheFlyingPigs

--> [Octo] "Aren't bad things meant to happen when pigs fly?"

* This happens several times in ''WesternAnimation/AlmostNakedAnimals'', concidering one of the characters is a pig...
--> [Octo] "Aren't bad things meant to happen when pigs fly?"
(cue comic slapstick)

* Justified in the Emily Rodda novel ''Pigs Might Fly''. The story is set in a parallel universe where a weather pattern called the Unlikely Events Factor, or UEF Storm, causes all manner of unlikely events, most commonly flying pigs. One occasion, the government foolishly attempted to stop these by tying pigs down, which meant the next UEF Storm was completely unanticipated and impossible to detect until it was over.

* ''PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' has the Clazmonian Sow, a pig which not only flies, but also has toxic breath

* Before Eurovision Song Contest 2006, after Finnish metal band was announced, it was said that "Hell will freeze over before Finland wins". Finland got 292 points, at that time highest.

* An Italian soccer team has embraced a variation of this trope, but with donkeys instead of pigs. Verona hosts two soccer teams: Hellas Verona and Chievo Verona. In the past decades, the first team used to play in Serie A, while the second used to play in Serie B. Supporters of Hellas Verona even made a rhyme about this: ''Quando i mussi i volerà / faremo il derby in serie A / e sarà sempre così / Verona in A e Chievo in B''. Translated into English: ''When donkeys fly / we'll have a derby in Serie A / and it will always be like this / Verona in A and Chievo in B''. Cue 2001, when Chievo was promoted to Serie A and went on to actually play two derbies against Verona. At this point, Chievo itself embraced the trope, inserting the picture of a flying donkey in the team's website and getting the nickname "i mussi che vola" (="the flying donkeys"). For added irony, as of 2011 Chievo is still playing in Serie A, while Hellas Verona is relegated to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione, ''three'' leagues behind Chievo.

* The web comic ''BoyMeetsBoy'' has done both the "flying pigs" and the "hell frozen over" version.
* Invoked straight in an early ''CogaSuro'', where a pug literally flies across the panel as Steve reailses that he is right and [[SmartGuy Jerry]] is wrong- at the time, an unusual situation indeed.
* Seen [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_391.php in this]] strip from ''DanAndMabsFurryAdventures''.

* [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1253#comic This]] SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal strip.
* In [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=041030 this]] ''SluggyFreelance'' strip, Satan has stoked the fires of Hell to the point where they would sear the flesh from a demon queen's bones... and suddenly it's snowing. The Red Sox won the World Series!
* In [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060927 this strip]] of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[AuthorAvatar Phil]] tells Oggie, "[[IWantGrandkids I'll get married]] - [[DramaticIrony when you find a Heterodyne]]".

* ''BrunoTheBandit'' does this literally. The pig's name is Wingham.
* [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/9/8 This]] ''PennyArcade'' strip. See VideoGame/DukeNukemForever in the VideoGames section above for context.
* ''{{Sinfest}}'' [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3586 "The day you change is the day '''pigs fly.''']] Cue Squigley (A pig) soaring by...on a [[ItMakesSenseInContext toilet.]]

* FullFrontalNerdity- one of the characters looked out the window to see (offscreen) flying pigs shortly before he was informed that SamuelLJackson had been hired to play NickFury in the upcoming IronMan movie.

* [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130731 Pigs fly]] in ''GirlGenius''; specifically, they fly when a character is faced with an impossible escape, cued no less by the sentiment, [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130807 "What can she possibly do?"]]

* At ''TLC 2011'', Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/ZackRyder, and [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] walk out as the WWE Champion, US Champion, and World Heavyweight Champion respectively. Punk and Bryan are Indies wrestliers, which have great difficulty in the WWE and them alone would be enough. Zack Ryder? He was a ''jobber'' who worked his way up to this point through sure, home grown PopularityPower he got purely by himself! This is probably the single biggest CueTheFlyingPigs moment in ''WWE history!'' CM Punk, being who he is, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] to no end the next night.

* SteveAustin aligning himself with long-time ArchEnemy VinceMcMahon at ''{{WrestleMania}} X-Seven''.
** Likewise, RicFlair aligning himself with long-time ArchEnemy HulkHogan after ''[[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Bound for Glory 10.10.10]]''.
* When BretHart appeared on ''WWERaw'' in 2010 after the MontrealScrewjob he said that he guessed hell just froze over.
* At ''TLC 2011'', CMPunk, ZackRyder, and [[BryanDanielson Daniel Bryan]] walk out as the WWE Champion, US Champion, and World Heavyweight Champion respectively. Punk and Bryan are Indies wrestliers, which have great difficulty in the WWE and them alone would be enough. ZackRyder? He was a ''jobber'' who worked his way up to this point through sure, home grown PopularityPower he got purely by himself! This is probably the single biggest CueTheFlyingPigs moment in ''WWE history!'' CMPunk, being who he is, [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] to no end the next night.
** Speaking of CMPunk, this was the general reaction when Punk made Vince apologize to him. [[HolyShitQuotient On live television]].

* For some, the fact that Bruno Sammartino, who has had a long-standing hatred of VinceMcMahon and Pro Wrestling today in general, is finally going into the WWE Hall Of Fame, which he has turned down for years on end, thanks to TripleH in part.

* GEICO's new ad has a pig using his GEICO mobile app on a plane in preparation for takeoff. The flight attendants say, "I'll believe that when pigs fly," at which point the pig turns to the guy next to him and says, "Did she seriously just say that?" Although if they're preparing for takeoff, pigs haven't flown yet.

* A Geico commercial has a pig checking his insurance on his phone. The stewardesses tell him he shouldn't be able to do that and assume he's playing a game since you'll be able to do your quotes online "when pigs fly". In case you haven't guessed: they're on an airplane. The pig even asks the guy next to him if they really just said that.

* A [[spoiler: spoof]] news story from 2002: "Pigs flew over the frozen landscape of Hell yesterday as amazon.com reported its first ever profit."

* In ''VisualNovel/MemorySorrowAndThorn'', [[RebelliousPrincess Miriamele]] tells Cadrach she will trust him again "when the stars shine at midday!" [[spoiler:Of course, during the Storm King's attempt to return to the world at the end, the midday sky appears as the night sky did on the night of his death, and Miriamele trusts Cadrach enough to walk across his invisible magic bridge during his HeroicSacrifice.]]

* In the ''CSI'' episode "Appendicitement", the BBQ restaurant's kitschy decor includes a plastic pig statue with white feathery wings. The subplot set ''at'' the restaurant is, itself, rather tongue-in-cheek, with one implausible event after another.

* ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' recently had a ''spectacular'' example where Dennis boldly proclaims that if Charlie becomes King of the World, [[TemptingFate 'I'll blow myself']]. Cue episode title: [[spoiler: Charlie Rules the World.]]

* In [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=041030 this]] Sluggy Freelance strip, Satan has stoked the fires of Hell to the point where they would sear the flesh from a demon queen's bones... and suddenly it's snowing. The Red Sox won the World Series!

->''"Holy crap!! They TALK! They actually '''TALK!''' The Apocalypse has finally begun! Pigs are learning how to fly! Satan is skating to work, and I'm pretty sure that I just became a monkey's uncle!"''

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "Crowing Pains", where Foghorn Leghorn gets halfway through the phrase when an ominous rumble of thunder and a lightning bolt appearing behind him forces him to reconsider.

* In the Creator/DianaWynneJones book ''DarkLordOfDerkholm'', an elf makes a sarcastic prophecy that he'll find his brother "when pigs fly". As it happens, the main character is a wizard who breeds flying pigs...

* In ''ItsAVeryMerryMuppetChristmas'', Miss Bitterman is threatening the Muppet Theater with foreclosure, and says they will raise the money to save it "when pigs fly." In swoops Miss Piggy, still suspended from the cables from the act they had been practicing. After a {{beat}}, Bitterman adds, "For the record, I consider that a coincidence, and not a sign from God."

!!Examples:

* In one episode of the ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' TV spin-off, the rarity of two genies falling in love is illustrated by the presence of [[UpToEleven flying pigs playing croquet in the skies above Agrabah]].

* ''{{ComicStrip/Dilbert}}'': During a brief period when Dilbert had a steady girlfriend, Phil the Prince of Insufficient Light barges in:

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* ''[[DonkeyKongCountry Donkey Kong Land]]'' [[InvokedTrope invokes this trope]] with the [[{{Feelies}} Guidebook]] talking about how people shouldn't invoke the flying pigs, and then introduces a [[LiteralMinded Flying Pig enemy]] [[TakeThatUs Hogwash]].

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* There's a Bush's baked beans ad where the talking dog asks the human if he can sell the secret family recipe. The guy replies "sure, when pigs fly". Cut to the dog talking to a pig with improvised wings getting ready for takeoff. "All you have to do is buzz the house once."

-->'''Smithers:''' Will you be donating that money now, sir?
-->'''Burns:''' No, I'd still rather not.

* SteveAustin aligning himself with long-time ArchEnemy VinceMcMahon at ''{{WrestleMania}} X8''.

* "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" recently had a ''spectacular'' example where Dennis boldly proclaims that if Charlie becomes King of the World, [[TemptingFate 'I'll blow myself']]. Cue episode title: [[spoiler: Charlie Rules the World.]]