History Main / ThreeWishes

* Theseus gets three wishes from Poseidon, and in {{Euripides}}' play ''Hippolytus,'' he uses one of them to kill the titular character.

* The first wish is one typically made in haste, perhaps not quite believing that it would be granted. Sometimes they specifically wish for something trivial, just to "test" if their wish will really be granted at all. Other times they may waste it on something frivolous, like wishing that the neighbor's damned dog would stop barking. (Granted! [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor A car plows into the neighbor's house, killing the dog in the process]].) Sometimes the second wish may also be wasted on something equally frivolous.

Related to the RuleOfThree.

For this to work, the person with the wishes has to not be GenreSavvy enough to know to use the first wish to wish for the knowledge and wisdom to know what to use the last two wishes for.

* [[http://www.explosm.net/comics/2243/ In this]] CyanideAndHappiness strip, a character [[LoopholeAbuse manages to get around the tree wishes limit]] by [[spoiler:wishing more genies!]]

* A story by RobertSheckley features a man who received three wishes from the Devil, with no strings attached (appparently, Hell has more than enough souls as it is). Except that his worst enemy, naturally, gets the same twice. His final wish? "I want a woman who's the limit if my desires."

** A story by RobertSheckley features a man who received three wishes from the Devil, with no strings attached (appparently, Hell has more than enough souls as it is). Except that his worst enemy, naturally, gets the same twice. His final wish? "I want a woman who's the limit if my desires."

* According to {{XKCD}}, [[http://xkcd.com/152/ if you do the first wish right ...]]

* There is a joke about the Devil offering a {{Doom}} fan three wishes, and then he'll take him to Hell. First wish: [[GodMode IDDQD]]. Second wish: IDKFA. Third wish... what wish? '''Take me to hell now'''! A variation exists where the Devil is not stupid... and sends him to [[NintendoHard Nightmare]].

Also, as the Genie in ''{{Alladin}}'' stresses, ''"No wishing for more wishes!"''

* The remake of {{Bedazzled}} has the main character forced by TheDevil to make his final wish, which in this case is to make sure that the object of his affection live a good life. The Reset Button is hit, with the Devil telling him that using one of his wishes for a selfless purpose voids the contract with her and he no longer owes her his soul.

* In "[[http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/mnkyspaw.htm The Monkey's Paw]]" by W. W. Jacobs, the characters skip straight to wishing for lots of money. The second wish is then used in an attempt to undo the side-effects of the first wish, and the third wish to lay the side-effects of the second (fortunately without creating any new side-effects of its own).

[[AC:{{Film]}}]

** A variation of this joke has the wisher as a woman instead, and the genie saying that her ex-husband will get ten times the things she wishes for. The woman uses her first and second wishes on typical things like money and houses. Her third wish? "I'd like to give birth to twins."

* ''TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "The Man in the Bottle". The genie actually granted ''four'' wishes; with the first wish being used solely to test the genie, the second being "one million dollars" (which they give away to friends, before federal and state income tax claims the rest), the third being a clear Type 2, and the fourth to return everything to normal. A closing TwilightZoneTwist ultimately undoes their first wish as well, leaving them with nothing but some wisdom learned from the experience.

* ''TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "The Man in the Bottle". The genie actually granted ''four'' wishes; with the first wish being used solely to test the genie, the second being "one million dollars" (which they give away to friends, before federal income tax claims the rest), the third being a clear Type 2, and the fourth to return everything to normal. A closing TwilightZoneTwist ultimately undoes their first wish as well, leaving them with nothing but some wisdom learned from the experience.

* A short version is given as a ShaggyDogStory in ''PlanescapeTorment'', in the Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lusts:

* There is also a scary anecdote out there, that goes like this:
---> An old man comes to a rest after having travelled who knows how long.
---> He is tired, his bones ache and sits down by the roadside.
---> He remembers not who he is or why he travels.
---> Suddenly a young woman comes up to him and asks:
---> ''"What be your third wish?"''
---> He remembers not having been granted two wishes before this one.
---> ''"I wish I could remember it all,"'' he says.
---> She laughs.
---> ''"Why do you laugh?"'' he asks perplexed.
---> ''"That was your first wish."''
---> ''"And why is that funny?"''
---> ''"Your second wish was to forget it all again."''

->''An elderly man was sitting alone on a dark path. He wasn't certain of which direction to go, and he'd forgotten both where he was traveling to and who he was. He'd sat down for a moment to rest his weary legs, and suddenly looked up to see an elderly woman before him. She grinned toothlessly and with a cackle, spoke: "Now your *third* wish. What will it be?"\\

* A short version is given as a ShaggyDogStory in ''PlanescapeTorment'', in the Intellectual Brothel. An old man is sitting on a bench, with absolutely no recollection of who he is, where he is, and how he got there. A genii descends on him and offers to grant his third wish. The man replies in confusion, "I wish to know who I am!" The genii says, "That was your first wish."

* Genies in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' movies must give whomever hold their lamps three wishes, with three restrictions: they can't kill anybody (but [[CatchPhrase you'd be surprised what you can live through]]), they can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else, and they can't bring people back from the dead ([[CameBackWrong it's not a pretty picture...]] ''[[CameBackWrong they don't like doing it!]]'') And of course, wishing for more wishes is strictly forbidden. (But they can be goaded into using their powers anyway.)
** Aladdin actually gets himself 4 wishes by tricking the Genie, essentially getting himself a free "test wish" by saying "I bet you can't get us out of this cave!" (Genie takes the dare without realizing Aladdin didn't wish for anything)

* ''TheTwilightZone'' TOS episode "The Man in the Bottle". A variation because the genie granted ''four'' wishes, with the second and third being Wish 2 type.

In most fiction, [[MakeAWish inanimate wish-granting objects]] (such as wishbones and birthday candles[[hottip:* :though a monkey's paw is a notable exception.]]) tend to grant only one wish. But when you're fortunate enough to find a living creature that can grant wishes, you'll most likely receive three (3) of them.

* The first wish is one typically made in haste, perhaps not quite believing that it would be granted. Or, they may [[BeCarefulWhatYouSay not be careful what they say]] and unknowingly wish for another character to shut up, or something equally frivolous. Sometimes the second wish is also wasted in this manner. Alternately, the first wish can be a test wish for something simple, to prove their wishes can really be granted.
* The second wish is made with much greater care than the first wish, but the LiteralGenie will still succeed in eliciting [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor tragic consequences]] from the wish, especially since the wisher now knows what the genie is capable of and has probably gotten greedy.
* The last wish, as that famous quote puts it, "[[ResetButton undoes the harm the first two wishes caused]]." A carefully-worded {{Wishplosion}} is laid, returning everything to normal. But if nothing of consequence came of the first two wishes, the third wish, desperately made in an attempt to elicit ''some'' gain from the wish-granting enterprise, will also backfire, but with hilarious consequences rather than tragic consequences.

Related to RuleOfThree.

---> ''"your second wish was to forget it all."''