History Main / SmiteMeOMightySmiter

-->''(a cricket keeps chirping in Frasier's apartment)''
-->'''Frasier:''' Dear God, can't you make him shut up?!
-->'''Martin:''' ''(muttering)'' That prayer doesn't get answered around here.

* Music/{{Beck}} does this at the start of "Missing" from ''Music/{{Guero}}'', seemingly as a way to deal with romantic angst.

* [[WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow The Music Video Show]] suggests doing this to Scott Stapp of Music/{{Creed}} in [[https://youtu.be/SbIdmXe6q9o Episode 7]] since God is trying to kill him but "has very lousy aim."

** At the end of "[[Recap/SouthParkS15E1HumancentiPad HUMANCENTiPAD]]", Cartman gets angry after having his new present, the Apple [=HUMANCENTiPAD=], taken away from him. He shouts at God to stop "fucking" him -- and this time, Cartman ''does'' get smited, [[BoltOfDivineRetribution getting nailed with a bolt of lightning out of the blue]] and winding up in the hospital. WordOfGod *[[IncrediblyLamePun cough]]* says they were going to have him moon God and get struck in the ass, but the censors nixed that one.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' had an excellent example of this trope. [[http://manishchawley.com/calvin-hobbes/ch910317.gif The universe has an attitude, Mom!]]
* It's not quite the same thing, but a ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' strip had Linus doing one of his annual Halloween vigils in the pumpkin patch, beseeching the Great Pumpkin to show himself, vindicate his faith, etc. In his frustration, he finally blurts out, ''"Show up, stupid!"''...then clamps his hands over his mouth in horror.
* In ''ComicStrip/PricklyCity'', Winston demands "Why?" on a cliff. (Answer: "Why not?")
* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' had a strip where he proclaimed "And if I'm lying may lightning... (pause to consider what he says) ...strike the dog next door!"
--> '''KRA-KOOM!'''\\
'''Dog:''' YIPE!
** In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1983/10/16 another strip,]] Garfield gets progressively angrier at Odie's blithe happiness, insulting him more and more. When he finally reaches the end of his patience, he looks upward and shouts "Who could possibly love a grinning idiot like you?" It promptly begins to rain...on everything ''except'' Odie. Garfield's not amused: "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!"
[[/folder]]

* Probably the most famous scene from Theatre/KingLear exhibits this trope.

-->Come, flame of the sky,
-->Pierce through my head!

** They actually appreciate the really angry type of atheist (as opposed to the philosophical ones mentioned earlier), since all that rage against them for not existing is almost better than belief and worship. Om, at the end of ''Small Gods'', was favorably impressed when a character declared his atheism before the obvious incarnation of his god.

* As part of his routine, Creator/GeorgeCarlin challenged God to strike ''the audience'' -- and ''then'' himself -- dead to prove that an Almighty exists. Needless to say, it never happened. Although he did report a small twinge in his leg.

* At points of great dispair both ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' and Niles have resorted to cursing the heavens.

[[TruthInTelevision We've all had]] [[http://www.livescience.com/10391-god-rage-anger-almighty-common.html one of those days.]] See also ClifftopCaterwauling, CrisisOfFaith, RageAgainstTheHeavens. Compare and contrast PrayerOfMalice, when the character asks God to smite someone else.

* The Wrestling/{{WWE}} once had an angle with Wrestling/VinceMcMahon ultimately founding "[=McMahonism=]". On his way there, he (at the behest of [[OnlySaneMan his son, Shane]]) stops at a Catholic church. After [[DudeNotFunny using holy water to mimic Triple H's "water spitting" entrance]] and claiming he has a better work ethic than God because he doesn't take Sundays off, he dares God to strike him down. Shane [[Funny/ProfessionalWrestling promptly puts some distance in between him and Vince]].

* Part of the origin of the [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Blue Lantern]] Saint Walker. After reaching the end of a spiritual journey that cost the lives of his entire family, he demanded that God show him the Messiah. A lightning bolt illuminated his own reflection on a slab of stone.

* Inverted in the Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar series. In the {{backstory}} to the ''Mage Storms'' trilogy, the violently theocratic Karsites abruptly [[HeelFaceTurn clean up their act]] and sue for alliance with Valdemar after their deity, Sunlord Vkandis, takes it upon himself to actually answer an invocation during the country's annual high holy ceremonies... with a BoltOfDivineRetribution which incinerated the thoroughly corrupt high priest of their religion (and that was just for starters).

* [[Series/{{Supernatural}} Dean Winchester]] has taken to yelling at God after a bad day during Seasons 4 and 5. The only answer he ever gets is Castiel showing up.

* In ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' The Hexagonal Phase, a previously untold event during Ford and Arthur's time on prehistoric Earth (i.e. a DeletedScene from ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'') introduces the Consultant, a mysterious figure from a nearby universe who gets very worked up when Arthur says "in God's name", insisting there isn't a God and getting increasingly vehement on the subject, despite Arthur and Ford trying to calm him down. Eventually he snarls "If there is such a thing as God, may He strike me down where I stand" and is immediately hit by a BoltOfDivineRetribution. Just before he dies, he manages to say "Now, I don't want you jumping to any conclusions..."

* There is a chain email in which an atheist college professor stands on his desk and challenges God to knock him off. Finally, a student stands and punches him off, saying that God was too busy protecting soldiers in Iraq and sent him to do it. This event are generally acknowledged to be fictional.

* In episode 7 of ''WebVideo/AvatarTheAbridgedSeries'', Sokka gets so fed up with everything that he demands that he be struck down. For all his trouble, he gets attacked by a duck.

* In the [[Literature/TheBible Book of Job]] {{Satan}} accuses God of unfairly favoring Job, and insists that if should Job lose his possessions, the human would turn instantly away. God grants Satan permission to divorce Job and his possessions (here including his family), and Job is eventually left wallowing in ruin in the streets. The book is spent at first by Job insisting that he is guiltless of any personal sin on his own part, contrary to the suggestions of his [[WithFriendsLikeThese friends]], though is later rebuked by Eliu (who also rebukes the friends for being [[JerkAss assholes]], mind you). At the end of the book, {{God}} himself steps down and, while he ultimately restores Job to double his wealth, takes a fair bit of time [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech chewing him out]], which provides us with the interesting situation of [[RageAgainstTheHeavens The Heavens Raging Back]]. Oh, and did you know this is considered the oldest book of the Bible?

* In the Literature/LeftBehind book series, both Nicolae Carpathia and Leon Fortunato have separately challenged God to strike them dead to prove that He is truly God. Of course, God doesn't respond to either of their challenges, since [[PropheciesAreAlwaysRight they are permitted to live only to face judgment]] at the end of the Battle of Armageddon by Jesus Christ before they are sent to the Lake Of Fire.

** In Season 4, Jimmy Novak [[spoiler: Castiel's vessel]] calls him out on supposedly abandoning him and his family when he gave him literally ''everything.''

* In Deuteronomy it is stated that "You shall not put the Lord Your God to the test", a line repeated by Jesus in the Gospels when being tempted in the desert by {{Satan}}. In context an inversion as its actually warning against [[HoldingOutForAHero being too dependent on God to solve your problems]] or, worse, putting yourself in danger and expecting God to save you; however, it still applies as a more general rule.
* Some of the psalms, those written to express feelings of anger, fall into this category (although often with a desire to repent expressed shortly thereafter). Psalm 42, verse 3: "My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?"
* The Book of Job references it, too -- Job's friends, and eventually his wife, repeatedly suggest that he 'curse God and die' to end his suffering. He simply replies that as creator of everything, God can do whatever he wants. He never does curse God... who comes down and tells him that mere humans have no right to complain, especially against the Creator of absolutely everything, whose ways he knows not. Job is humbled and repents, and in return, he and his wife get a new brood of children, gets even richer than before, and lives another 140 years before dying peacefully. The part here that everyone misses is that Job was still ''right'' and his friends, who told him he must be suffering for his sins, weren't; he was really innocent and Satan was just testing him to try and break his faith, as shown both by the backstory and God's response to his friends.

* ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' has Asura, already angry at his former colleagues for killing his family, go into full RoaringRampageOfRevenge when he discovers that they've become near-''[[PhysicalGod gods]]'' after he spent centuries crawling up from Naraka. When [[AGodAmI Wyzen]] gives TheReasonYouSuckSpeech followed by a [[OneWingedAngel massive increase in size]], almost dwarfing the planet, Asura goes for this trope (see picture). [[spoiler:And even manages to win.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Despite the Eastern mythology-based "spirits" introduced on the show, Prince Zuko has such a scene in the episode "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderBitterWork Bitter Work]]". After a day of failing to learn to bend lightning, on top of everything else that's happened in his life, he stands on top of a mountain during a raging thunderstorm and screams at the heavens. Unusually for this trope, he actually ''wants'' the lightning to hit him so he can practice redirecting it. Of course, this being [[CosmicPlaything Zuko]], it [[SpringtimeForHitler doesn't go anywhere near him]].

* Inverted on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Homer interprets the lesson of the episode as "The Lord is Vengeful!" and wants God to turn him into the instrument of His divine retribution. "Oh Spiteful One, show me who to smite, and he shall be smoten!"

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E1TheAlgaesAlwaysGreenerSpongeguardOnDuty SpongeGuard on duty]]", [=SpongeBob=] claims to be as cool as [[LovableJock Lifeguard]] [[ChickMagnet Larry]]. "And if I'm not, may I be struck by--" ''[[[TemptingFate thunder booms]]]'' "...a flying ice-cream truck." Cue ShadowOfImpendingDoom accompanied by chiming. Right before the truck is about to hit him, [=SpongeBob=] plays it safe and shouts "AND LIVE!" The truck conveniently stops in mid-air right above him as he says this, then falls on him. [[{{Slapstick}} He lives.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** In "[[Recap/SouthParkS7E9ChristianRockHard Christian Rock Hard]]", Cartman and his band are being signed onto a Christian record label, and the heads tell him they want to make sure that his band isn't just in it for the money. Cartman replies, "I have [[BlatantLies never in my life]] done anything just for the money. If I'm lying, may the Lord strike me down right now." Nothing happens, but Butters scootches away, just in case. This could well be a case of FridgeBrilliance in that Cartman is, in fact, telling the truth: he really doesn't do anything [[ExactWords just for the money]]... every motivation also involves spite.
** At the end of "[[Recap/SouthParkS15E1HumancentiPad HUMANCENTiPAD]]", Cartman gets angry after having his new present, the Apple [=HUMANCENTiPAD=], taken away from him. He shouts at God to stop "fucking" him -- and this time, Cartman ''does'' get smited, [[BoltOfDivineRetribution getting nailed with a bolt of lightning out of the blue]] and winding up in the hospital. WordOfGod *[[IncrediblyLamePun cough]]* says they were going to have him moon God and get struck in the ass, but the censors nixed that one.
* Inverted on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Homer interprets the lesson of the episode as "The Lord is Vengeful!" and wants God to turn him into the instrument of His divine retribution. "Oh Spiteful One, show me who to smite, and he shall be smoten!"
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E12FifteenMinutesOfShame Fifteen Minutes of Shame]]", Meg asks God to "kill me now." We then see God on a cloud with a sniper rifle... (He gets interrupted by a phone call.)

* In the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode "Jet Can't Sleep", the Propulsion family is playing charades. In one round, Celery pretends to be sleeping. Carrot guesses a coffee table, but then Sunspot correctly guesses that Celery is sleeping. Carrot then remarks that he was gonna say that. Carrot says: "If I wasn't, may lightning strike me!" Then lightning flashes in the sky, and Carrot jumps into Jet's arm. Carrot then remarks that tonight isn't a good night to say that.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' had a character say, "And if I'm wrong, may lightning strike me dead!" Cue a lightning bolt hitting the spot directly next to him. "See? It didn't even wind me!"

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Christian Rock Hard," Cartman and his band are being signed onto a Christian record label, and the heads tell him they want to make sure that his band isn't just in it for the money. Cartman replies, "I have [[BlatantLies never in my life]] done anything just for the money. If I'm lying, may the Lord strike me down right now." Nothing happens, but Butters scootches away, just in case. This could well be a case of FridgeBrilliance in that Cartman is, in fact, telling the truth: he really doesn't do anything [[ExactWords just for the money]]... every motivation also involves spite.
** At the end of another episode, "[=HUMANCENTiPAD=]," Cartman gets angry after having his new present, the Apple [=HUMANCENTiPAD=], taken away from him. He shouts at God to stop "fucking" him -- and this time, Cartman ''does'' get smited, [[BoltOfDivineRetribution getting nailed with a bolt of lightning out of the blue]] and winding up in the hospital. WordOfGod *[[IncrediblyLamePun cough]]* says they were going to have him moon God and get struck in the ass, but the censors nixed that one.

* Meg in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' asks God to "kill me now." We then see God on a cloud with a sniper rifle... (He gets interrupted by a phone call.)
** In another episode Brian and Stewie accidentally embarrass the Pope, who gets mad and commands God to "smite them!". Nothing happens, but he warns them that "He's a cooking up something!"

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E1TheAlgaesAlwaysGreenerSpongeguardOnDuty SpongeGuard on duty]]", [=SpongeBob=] invokes this when he claims to be as cool as [[LovableJock Lifeguard]] [[ChickMagnet Larry]]. "And if I'm not, may I be struck by--" ''[[[TemptingFate thunder booms]]]'' "...a flying ice-cream truck." Cue ShadowOfImpendingDoom accompanied by chiming. Right before the truck is about to hit him, [=SpongeBob=] plays it safe and shouts "AND LIVE!" The truck conveniently stops in mid-air right above him as he says this, then falls on him. [[{{Slapstick}} He lives.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Despite the Eastern mythology-based "spirits" introduced on the show, Prince Zuko has such a scene in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "Bitter Work." After a day of failing to learn to bend lightning, on top of everything else that's happened in his life, he stands on top of a mountain during a raging thunderstorm and screams at the heavens:
-->'''Zuko:''' "You've always thrown everything you could at me! Well I can take it! And now I can give it back! Come on! ''Strike me!'' [[CosmicPlaything You've never held back before!]] Aaaaaargh!"
** Unusually for this trope, he actually ''wants'' the lightning to hit him so he can practice redirecting it. Of course, this being [[CosmicPlaything Zuko]], it [[SpringtimeForHitler doesn't go anywhere near him]].
* WesternAnimation/{{SpongeBob|SquarePants}} invokes this when he claims to be as cool as [[LovableJock Lifeguard]] [[ChickMagnet Larry]]. "And if I'm not, may I be struck by--" [[TemptingFate *thunder booms*]] "...a flying ice-cream truck." Cue ShadowOfImpendingDoom accompanied by chiming.
** Also, right before the truck was about to hit him, Spongebob played it safe and shouted "AND LIVE!" The truck conveniently stopped in mid-air right above him as he said this, then fell on him. [[{{Slapstick}} He lived.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:'''COME ON!''']]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' film, when the Lorax confronts the Once-Ler about the latter's big business at the expense of nature, the Once-Ler sarcastically asks why the Lorax simply didn't stop him with the 'nature's curse' the Lorax mentioned when they first met. The Lorax morosely responds "It doesn't work that way." Minutes later, the last truffula tree is chopped down, marking an end to thneed production. The Once-Ler's business goes down the pits, his employees abandon him, the Lorax just lifts himself away, and all the Once-Ler has to show for his efforts is a dilapidated house where he seals himself up for several decades until a random kid wanders by asking about trees.

* The title character in ''Film/CoffinJoe'' has a raving episode during a thunderstorm, daring God to strike him.

[[caption-width-right:350:'''[[Awesome/AsurasWrath COME ON!]]''']]

->''"Fine! The gloves are off, pal! C'mon, lemme see a little wrath! [[TropeNamers Smite me, O mighty smiter!]] You're the one who should be fired! The only one around here not doing his job is '''you'''! '''ANSWER ME!'''"''

->''"Fine! The gloves are off, pal! C'mon, lemme see a little wrath! [[TropeNamer Smite me, O mighty smiter!]] You're the one who should be fired! The only one around here not doing his job is '''you'''! '''ANSWER ME!'''"''

** The music that plays in this scene is God's theme from ''Film/TheTenCommandments'', which featured the same actor (Henry Wilcoxon) and composer (Elmer Bernstein).

** Ajax from ''Literature/TheIliad'' (the other, cowardly one) does this: His boat sinks during a storm ([[TooDumbToLive Poseidon is pissed at him cursing the gods]]), but he manages to swim to a rock that just sticks out of the water. What does he do then? Why, [[WhatAnIdiot Ajax keeps cursing and blaspheming away]] until [[BoltOfDivineRetribution Zeus lets him have it]].