History Main / TarotTroubles

* ''ThatsMyBush'' had the "Gay" card come up in ever reading.

* So does Temperance Brennan on {{Bones}}, who is also named after a tarot card. Hers gets done by Cyndi Lauper.

But what is the point of all that? Isn't it more fun just to do daft things with them? After all, most people only know one Tarot card, Death. Also, most people assume Death is a very bad card, when in fact it just means "stuff will end/change" (curiously enough, there is Ten of Swords in Minor Arcana with basically same meaning as Hollywood's Death). Among the most common examples of comedy is the introduction of new cards or, perhaps the most famous, many copies of the Death card.

But what is the point of all that? Isn't it more fun just to do daft things with them? After all, most people only know one Tarot card, Death. Also, most people assume Death is a very bad card, where in fact it just means "stuff will end/change" (curiously enough, there is Ten of Swords in Minor Arcana with basically same meaning as Hollywood's Death). Among the most common examples of comedy is the introduction of new cards or, perhaps the most famous, many copies of the Death card.

->'''Dave''': "What's that card?"\\
'''Damien''': "Death."\\
'''Dave''': "And that one?"\\
'''Damien''': "The Hanged Man."\\
'''Dave''': "I'm not sure I like the look of that one with all the swords, either."

* In the MSTing of ''{{The Eye of Argon}}'', Crow gets not one, not two, not three but NINE times the Death card. ([[FridgeLogic Can robots die?]])

** To clarify, Harry meets Trelawney being her usual [[strike: inerbirated]] doomy self, and makes mention of [[{{TheTower}} drawing The Lightning Struck Tower]]. Harry ignores this because Trelawney always makes these sort of predictions [[spoiler: and he's more interested in something she reveals a moment later.]] The title of a later chapter is "The Lightning Struck Tower", which indeed involves a tower [[spoiler: and a death.]]

* So does {{Bones Temperance Brennan}}, who is also named after a tarot card. Hers gets done by Cyndi Lauper.

* Tim Powers's ''Last Call'' is ''all'' about the power of the Tarot. The main character ends up at risk of losing both body and soul due to a card game from years ago, and goes to Tarot readers at two points for an answer of how to get out of it. The first reader, an amateur, gets three cards in before a sudden rain storm descends on Las Vegas, then says he's quitting the business because he'll never be able to read the Tarot again.

* ''TheLastDetective'' episode "Dangerous and the Lonely Hearts". Dangerous draws the Hanged Man, which the script implies is a dire portent; it's actually associated with transformation (like much-maligned Death), hard-earned wisdom, and being caught between two worlds. [[hottip:*:May be subject to a bit of FridgeBrilliance when one realizes that Dangerous had been specifically asking about his ''happiness'', not his career or wealth, and that he will, indeed, learn from his past mistakes in choosing his career over his marriage, and transform enough to reconcile with his estranged wife.]]

* The Classic ''DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl Image of the Fendahl]]" showed a couple of Tarot spreads in progress.
* ''TheLastDetective'' episode "Dangerous and the Lonely Hearts". Dangerous draws the Hanged Man, which he thinks is a dire portent; it's actually associated with transformation (like much-maligned Death), hard-earned wisdom, and being caught between two worlds.

->''The cards, the cards, the cards will tell\\
The past, the present and the future as well\\
The cards, the cards, just take three\\
Take a little trip into your future with me''
--> -- '''Dr. Facilier''', ''ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', "[[VillainSong Friends on the Other Side]]"

** ''Tales of MonkeyIsland'' has [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep The Voodoo Lady]] do a Tarot reading at the start of most chapters to recap the story so far.

* In ''ThePrincessAndTheFrog,'' [[EvilSorcerer Doctor Facilier]] reads Naveen and Lawrence's fortunes. Though no cards are named, we clearly see TheFool, Three of Pentacles, and the Tower in Naveen's hand, while Lawrence is almost a replica of Ten of Wands - mirroring their situations in life perfectly. And it gets better. Naveen's hand also shows a card of himself between two lovely ladies, which resembles [[TarotMotifs The Lovers.]] However, the number itself on the card is XV - the number of the Devil, symbolizing temptation and a need for self-control. Next the card flips into something with a IX on it, probably the Nine of Coins (physical independence from marrying a wealthy woman). [[ShownTheirWork It all works, and it's not a little delightful.]]

* An issue of the JusticeLeagueOfAmerica comic book had them battling the actual characters of the Tarot, summoned by their enemy, Amos Fortune. (This was years before {{Yugioh}}.) They curse each hero with a weakness based on his or her respective personality. Of course, in the end not only do they free themselves, but Fortune [[HoistByHisOwnPetard ends up trapped inside The Tower card]].

** [[spoiler: Later materials establish this as a case of YankTheDogsChain, as the Dark Powers prevent Jander's death and deposit him elsewhere. They don't like to let go of their toys.]]

** [[spoiler: Later materials establish this as a case of YankTheDog's Chain, as the Dark Powers prevent Jander's death and deposit him elsewhere. They don't like to let go of their toys.]]

** [[spoiler: Later materials establish this as a case of YankTheDog's Chain, as the Dark Powers prevent Jander's death and deposit him elsewhere. They don't like to let go of their toys.]]]]
*** Or they [[spoiler:[[AlternateCharacterInterpretation don't want their champions committing suicide.]]

** [[spoiler: Later materials establish this as a case of YankTheDog's Chain, as the Dark Powers prevent Jander's death and deposit him elsewhere. They don't like to let go of their toys.]]

** [[spoiler: Later materials establish this as a case of YankTheDog'sChain, as the Dark Powers prevent Jander's death and deposit him elsewhere. They don't like to let go of their toys.]]