History Main / NeverTellMeTheOdds

-->'''AP-5:''' I am estimating mission success at 38.5%.\\

'''AP-5:''' I know. I calculated that without me, this mission would be at 0%.

'''Han/Peter:''' Never tell me the o... well that's not bad.

* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Before the Battle of Beruna in ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', a Narnian soldier informs Peter and his centaur general Orious that the enemy has greater numbers.
-->'''Orious:''' Numbers alone do not win a battle.\\

* In the first arc of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' Lina expresses a logical explanation for this trope: If you dwell on the fact that you only have a MillionToOneChance, you'll go in expecting to fail, which guarantees that you will.

* In ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'', the super Redstone computer PAMA tells Jessie the odds of defeating it. Jessie can respond with this quote.

** ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' takes this UpToEleven as Misato defies impossible odds practically OnceAnEpisode.

* In VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode, the super Redstone computer PAMA tells Jessie the odds of defeating it. Jessie can respond with this quote.

Website/TheOtherWiki calls this [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability "neglect of probability"]]. Contrast ILikeThoseOdds, which have a similarly badass sentiment.

** In episode 2 Cecile says to Suzaku that "It's possible, but the chances are close to zero." In one of the previous scenes he asked Cecile if his friend Lelouch can be alive. Unsurprisingly it turns out that he is alive [[spoiler: and leads terrorist force against Britanian army.]]

* Averted in ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}'', which is about gambling -- the path to success is to find a strategy or cheat that leaves as little as possible to chance. In the first season finale, [[spoiler: Kaiji's rigged lottery fails and he panics, taking a blind chance for the first time and missing an opening purposefully left him by the BigBad. He suffers a humiliating defeat]].

* Also happens enough times in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. When [[spoiler: anti-spiral Nia]] tells Simon that the probability of success is less than one percent, Simon says that as long as it is not zero, it's as good as 100%. Lampshaded and taken BeyondTheImpossible when the Dai-Gurren Dan is faced with an actual ''zero percent chance.'' As [[spoiler: Lordgenome's head]] states: "This operation had a zero percent chance of succeeding, but it seems that theoretical calculations are pointless with you."

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Starslip}}'' [[http://www.starslip.com/archive/20081211.shtml here]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', Sentinel Prime orders Jazz to bring the ship to full power and take the route through an ion storm, as it is the quickest way back to Cybertron. Jazz states why both reasons are a bad idea. His response: He pulls rank on him and threatens to throw him into the brig with the Decepticons imprisoned on the ship. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well. But for different reasons...]]

Wiki/TheOtherWiki calls this [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neglect_of_probability "neglect of probability"]]. Contrast ILikeThoseOdds, which have a similarly badass sentiment.

** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' is the trope namer here, although it happens elsewhere in the ''Star Wars'' works.

* Forgath lifts the exact quote in [[http://www.goblinscomic.com/01152013/ this page]] of ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}''.

[[quoteright:217:[[Webcomic/{{Goblins}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_20130115.png]] ]]

* When Korea wanted to scrap the navy because it had 12 ships left after a major defeat, and the enemy had hundreds, Korean admiral Yi-Sun Sin told them he was gonna have a last stand, and won in a battle of ca. 130 vs. 12 ships.

-->'''Avon:''' Zen, can we withstand an attack of this magnitude? \\

'''Han Solo:''' [[TropeNamers Never tell me the odds]]!

'''Han Solo:''' Never tell me the odds!

[[quoteright:218:[[Webcomic/{{Goblins}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_20130115.png]] ]]

* Also happens enough times in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. When [[spoiler: anti-spiral Nia]] tells Simon that the probability of success is less than one percent, Simon says that as long as it is not zero, it's as good as 100%. Lampshaded and taken BeyondTheImpossible when the Dai-Gurren Dan is faced with an actual ''zero percent chance.'' As [[spoiler: Lordgenome's head]] states: "This operation had a zero percent chance of succeeding, but it seems that theoretical calculations are pointless with you." Sheer awesomeness and RuleOfCool beat even impossible odds!
** In strict fairness, [[spoiler: Lordgenome]] probably wasn't taking into account that [[spoiler: King Kittan was carrying a used Giga Drill inside the [[MetaMecha Space King Kittan]] frame]].
** Plus, in probability while an impossible event has a probability of zero, an event can have a probability of zero and not actually be impossible - it would simply have to be the one event out of an infinite number of possible outcomes, like picking out the ''exact'' number of a point randomly chosen between, say, zero and one.

** In ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'', the [[GenreSavvy characters note that saying "It's a million to one chance but it just might work" practically guarantees success]]. Needless to say, this leads to the comic relief team engaging in a painstaking process of rebalancing their odds of success to be EXACTLY one in a million. By the time they're done, the archer who's supposed to hit the dragon's weak point as it flies overhead has been handicapped to truly amazing levels. [[spoiler:He then misses, naturally]].
** In ''Discworld/EqualRites'', Esk tries a feat of magic which, if she'd actually studied magic, she'd know is impossible. [[AchievementsInIgnorance As she hasn't and doesn't, she succeeds]]. (It does have consequences later, though.)

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' is the trope namer here, although it happens elsewhere in the ''Star Wars'' works.
** ''Film/RogueOne''. K-2SO is always able to provide the unfavorable odds. Unlike 3PO, he's able to understand people don't want to hear them.
--->'''K-2SO:''' Would you like to know the probability of her using it against you? ''[referring to a blaster Jyn has]''\\
''[Cassian just looks at K-2SO]''\\
'''K-2SO:''' It's high.\\
'''Cassian Andor:''' Let's get going.\\
'''K-2SO:''' It's very high.

* The ExpositoryThemeTune of ''Film/TheGunsOfNavarone'' mentions the incredible odds ''twice''.
* ''Film/IRobot'' has the premise of Creator/WillSmith as a robot-hating cop, due to a traffic accident in which a robot chose to save him instead of a small girl, simply because his chances of survival were better.[[note]]The robot was forced to do so based on The First Law of Robotics ("A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm") -- Will Smith's character had the highest probability of survival, and logically the better choice to save first.[[/note]] In a flashback, Smith's character can be seen begging the NS-4 to save the girl instead of him.
-->'''Spooner:''' That girl was somebody's baby. 11% was more than enough. A human being would've known that.
* Before the Battle of Beruna in ''Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', a Narnian soldier informs Peter and his centaur general Orious that the enemy has greater numbers.
-->'''Orious:''' Numbers alone do not win a battle.\\
'''Peter:''' No... but I bet they help.

* ''Film/Apollo13'': When President Nixon starts asking for odds on the astronauts' safe return, Gene Kranz simply says, "We're not losing those men!" Inverted, in that he already knows the odds, but refuses to give them out.
* ''Film/{{Barbarella}}''. Barbarella's spaceship is damaged in a [[SpaceX space]] hurricane. The computer tells her that chances of survival are 0 point 0000[[OhCrap 0h..0h...0h...]][[ElectronicSpeechImpediment 0hhhhh....]] Our heroine, of course, survives unharmed.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'':

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Han Solo's use of the phrase is referenced in [[http://www.cinemabums.com/?p=482 this]] Webcomic/CinemaBums strip.

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Return of the King'', when Aragorn suggests that Gondor march against Mordor as a diversion, Gimli comments, "Certainty of death, ''small'' chance of success... What are we waiting for?" On the other hand, Gimli is almost definitely well-aware of their history of not only surviving such odds, but winning outright, so he may just be working off a different set of statistics.