History Main / UnexpectedlyObscureAnswer

* In ''LightNovel/WhenSupernaturalBattlesBecameCommonplace'', Andou and Chifuyu enter a quiz competition in a pool resort with animal-related questions. The last three questions presented are vaguely animal related, where the answers are UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat, Raven paradox and Brazen Bull, designed so that no one would realistically be able to win the top two prizes (a whale plush for eight correct answers or a car for all ten answer). Fortunately Andou is such a huge {{chuunibyou}} that he has the obscure knowledge to answer those questions.

* Played for drama in the episode "Quiz Show" of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld''. A traditional Quiz Bowl-type game show is revamped in order to [[WeAreStillRelevantDammit appeal to youngsters]] by ditching their acadamia-themed questions for pop culture and "stupid question-stupid answer" type questions -- much to Feeny's dismay. Naturally, this made goofballs Cory and Shawn (and the not-so-goofy-but-still-on-the-team Topanga) popular returning champions. When the executives wanted Cory and Shawn out of the game, they brought back the academia to force the team to lose (bordering the line of what caused the quiz show scandals), including one question that Feeny answered in a ChekhovsLecture earlier in the episode, which the team wasn't able to answer.

* The ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "The Beginning of The End" featured an unfair NBC game show called ''Homonym'' as a CutawayGag; the contestant has to give the correct definition for a word that has homophones, [[LuckBasedMission but always ends up incorrectly giving the answer for "the other one"]]. The CreditsGag features a contestant getting a second chance on "Sent" wrong because of "the third one", and then is told that the correct answer for "Au pair" was "Oh, pear!", an exclamation about a fruit. Later episodes featured celebrity and Iranian versions.

*** Endemol's ''Brainteaser'' was caught out faking their on-air winners (or more or less, using names of their '''production staff''') in their phone-in segments during the 2007 British Phone-In Scandal, leading to the show's axing and a hefty fine being given to Channel 5, the show's broadcaster.

* Invoked on ''Series/{{Pointless}}''; the final round, where the last remaining couple go for the jackpot, gives the couple a choice of four different categories. For reasons of this trope, the category "Rare breeds of poultry" has gone unchosen for so long that it's become a RunningGag, with the presenters advising viewers at home who are thinking of applying to appear on the show to start researching this subject.

* The Mayor's Quiz from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Mega Man Legends 2]]''. Unlike one might expect, all the question are about real life knowledge. There are some examples: Who was the leader of the Italian Unification Movement?[[note]]Garibaldi[[/note]], Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire with what?[[note]]Edict of Milan[[/note]], What is the tilt of the Earth's axis?[[note]]23.5 degrees[[/note]].

** Played straight in the second game, where Sam must [[ItMakesSenseInContext answer an employee questionnaire to gain access to an executive washroom key]]. The questions range from easy to impossible-to-answer-wrong, except for the last one, where Sam is asked a difficult economics question. Once again, all four answers are variants of "I don't know." The secret is to locate [[ItMakesSenseInContext a friendly carrot who has been studying economic theory]], and bring him to the question. He answers the question for you, making the next MacGuffin reachable and teaching the player what Giffen's Paradox is. [[note]](Situations in which people consume more of a good, the higher it is priced, in apparent contradiction to the usual dictates of supply and demand. The classic, though apocryphal, example is potatoes during Ireland's Great Famine -- as the price of potatoes {the basic staple of the Irish diet} rose, families could no longer supplement their diets with even more expensive meat or bread. Therefore, they began buying and consuming even more of the pricier, but still relatively affordable, potatoes.)[[/note]]

** Daffy is the host of a radio game show parody of ''Series/TruthOrConsequences'' and Porky is the hapless contestant. Daffy throws several of these at Porky throughout the cartoon, including asking for the maiden name of Cleopatra's aunt, or asking him to name an opera based on hearing ''a single note''.

* In an omake of ''Manga/BinboGamiGa'', Momiji hosts a quiz show. One of the questions is the full, formal name of the Thai capital Bangkok [[note]] Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit[[/note]]. Even the host herself quipped how creepy it was that one of the contestants knew it!

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' short "One Minute 'Til Three", Granny quizzes each student with a ridiculous-sounding question, with Plucky as Granny's last student and dreading every second of it, hoping for the clock to reach 3:00 so he can leave and not have to answer. Granny DOES gets to Plucky, however, and tells him, "Using Faustic's Method of bifractal computation, give me the minimum number of quantified pixels needed on a bilateral view screen." (This is complete gibberish, for the record.) After a bit of stalling, Plucky tells her, "But Granny! It's two-fifty-nine!" regarding the time--which turns out to be the correct answer of 259.

** Some phone-in game shows actually got into legal issues for using this in combination with encouraging viewers to phone in multiple times (which of course keeps racking up revenue for the operator). One British show got fined for a game where "balaclava" (you know, those full-face masks the burglars always wear) and "rawlplugs" (a piece of hardware used to anchor a screw into a drywall or plaster wall) were listed as items a woman would keep in her purse. ''Seriously?''

* In the Book of Job in ''Literature/TheBible'', God poses a series of impossible challenges to the book's title character, including asking him to count the number of clouds (presumably across the whole Earth), something that God knew only He could do, making this trope [[OlderThanDirt Older Than Dirt]].

While ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' was the inspiration for this trope (see the discussion page for the most egregious examples), it's Administrivia/NotAnExample because the writers honestly thought that someone among the contestants would get the answer right. Most examples of this sort (i.e., Nine Times Out Of Ten that it happens in RealLife) fall under MoonLogicPuzzle.

* One moment from the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime is particularly infamous. The cast take on an exam that allows instant access to the Pokemon League if passed, and one question shows a circular silhouette and asks participants to name the Pokemon. Rather than the obvious Voltorb or Electrode, it's... a Jigglypuff seen from above. This gag was used again many years later in the "Who's that Pokemon?" EyeCatch for a episode that featured Jigglypuff.
* In an omake of Manga/BinboGamiGa, Momiji hosts a quiz show. One of the questions is the full, formal name of the Thai capital Bangkok [[note]] Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit[[/note]]. Even the host herself quipped how creepy it was that one of the contestants knew it!

** In the ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' story "The Crazy Quiz Show" by Creator/CarlBarks, Donald and his nephews participate in a television quiz, hoping to win a (literal) barrel of money. The nephews each successfully answer their question, but to Donald's dismay they pick a new bicycle instead of the cash. When it's finally his turn, the quizmaster decides that since Donald has been such a JerkAss throughout the show, he gets the most difficult question ever: How many drops per hour fall from the Niagara falls? [[spoiler:He knows the answer! But the stress of reciting it causes him to go mad and ''also'' pick the bicycle as his prize.]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Played for laughs in the "Bridge of Death" segment of ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', with a man who asks three questions to those who cross a bridge, and anyone who fails to answer is thrown into the gorge. The third question alternates between "What is your favourite colour?" and questions like these. When it's King Arthur's turn, the question is "What... is the airspeed velocity of an [[BrickJoke unladen swallow]]?" Arthur turns the tables on him by asking "What do you mean? African or European?" When the man can't clarify which he was intending, ''he'' is the one to get ejected from the bridge.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** Another Python sketch had a British television host a game show with the leading figures of Communism: Creator/KarlMarx, UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin, UsefulNotes/CheGuevara, and UsefulNotes/MaoZedong. Marx, Che, and Lenin are shot down with obscure English First Division Football questions and to name the Teddy Johnson and Pearl Carr song which won at the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest ("Sing Little Birdie"), to which Mao unexpectedly knows the answer. In the ''Film/MontyPythonLiveAtTheHollywoodBowl'' version this last question is changed to naming "Great Balls Of Fire" by Music/JerryLeeLewis.

* The music video for "I Lost On Jeopardy" by Music/WeirdAlYankovic is full of this. How may bricks are in the Great Wall of China?

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason comes up with a quiz show called "I Want to Be a Millionaire", which he talks his dad into playing. He starts off by switching to math questions after Roger says that he was an English major, and the first question is "What is the 8,346th digit of pi?" The trick being that every time Roger gets a question wrong, ''he'' has to pay ''Jason'' that amount (as Jason points out, the name of the game is "'''I''' Want to Be a Millionaire").

[[folder:Pinball]]
* ''VideoGame/ProPinballTimeshock'' allows the player to "combine" various TimeTravel souvenirs to unlock various awards, such as a papyrus scroll + first wheel = Ultra Spinner. And that's one of the more straightforward examples...
[[/folder]]

-->'''Humph:''' Now, pay attention here, because I'm going to go quite fast, and these are quite tricky questions. Barry, you first -- what is the capital of England?
-->'''Barry:''' London!
-->'''Humph:''' Willie -- what is one and one?
-->'''Willie:''' Two...?
-->'''Humph:''' Graeme -- what is the name of the Queen of England?
-->'''Graeme:''' Elizabeth.
-->'''Humph:''' Tim -- what is the pharmacopean name for turpentine?
-->'''Tim:''' ...Nigel?
-->'''Humph:''' No, I'm sorry -- the word is 'terebinthina'. Tim loses his shirt on that one.

---> '''Garfield:''' Just as well, seeing as how I can't talk.

* Played for laughs in the "Bridge of Death" segment of ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', with a man who asks three questions to those who cross a bridge, and anyone who fails to answer is thrown into the gorge. The third question alternates between "What is your favourite colour?" and questions like these. When it's King Arthur's turn, the question is "What... is the airspeed velocity of an [[BrickJoke unladen swallow]]?" Arthur turns the tables n him by askiong "What do you mean? African or European?" When the man can't clarify which he was intending, ''he'' is the one to get ejected from the bridge.

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "Albuquerque" has the protagonist win a radio contest that involved guessing the number of molecules of Creator/LeonardNimoy's butt.

** Some phone-in game shows actually got into legal issues for using this in combination with encouraging viewers to phone in multiple times (which of course keeps racking up revenue for the operator). One British show got fined for a game where "balaclava" (you know, those full-face masks the burglars always wear) and "rawlplugs" (a piece of hardware used to anchor a screw into a drywall or plaster wall) were listed as items a woman would keep in their purse. ''Seriously?''

* One moment from the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime is particularly infamous. The cast take on an exam that allows instant access to the Pokemon League if passed, and one question shows a circular silhouette and asks participants to name the Pokemon. Rather than the obvious Voltorb or Electrode, it's... a Jigglypuff seen from above. This gag was used again many years later in the "Who's that Pokemon?" EyeCatch for a episode of ''Anime/PokemonSunAndMoon'' that featured Jigglypuff.

* One moment from the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime is particularly infamous. The cast take on an exam that allows instant access to the Pokemon League if passed, and one question shows a circular silhouette and asks participants to name the Pokemon. Rather than the obvious Voltorb or Electrode, it's... a Jigglypuff seen from above.

* Played for laughs in the "Bridge of Death" segment of ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', with an man who asks questions to those who cross a bridge, and anyone who fails to answer is thrown into the gorge. He alternates between "What is your favourite colour?" and questions like these. Ultimately, when he is unable to clarify which type of swallow he asked about, ''he'' gets thrown down.

** The tone is set by the first question: "What did Christopher Columbus have for breakfast the day he discovered America?" The answer? "He didnt have breakfast that day." The question also has a ridiculously low time limit, something like three seconds tops.

* In ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'', Jason comes up with a quiz show called "I Want to Be a Millionaire", which he talks his dad into playing. He starts off by switching to math questions after Roger says that he was an English major, and the first question is "What is the 8,346th digit of pi?" The trick being that every time Roger gets a question wrong, he has to pay Jason that amount.

* ''[[VideoGame/ProPinballTimeshock Pro Pinball: Timeshock!]]'' allows the player to "combine" various TimeTravel souvenirs to unlock various awards, such as a papyrus scroll + first wheel = Ultra Spinner. And that's one of the more straightforward examples...

* In the ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' [=DLC=] ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'', Tina asks Torgue three geeky questions to prove he's a real geek. Torgue gets the first two right, but the third is for a very specific piece of in-universe geek trivia, and Torgue doesn't know the answer. Therefore, according to Lilith, [[NoTrueScotsman Torgue isn't really a geek]].
* Subverted in the first ''VideoGame/PajamaSam'' game, in which one of the questions of an in-game quiz concerns the response of a young French duke when he was presented a question on policy. All four possible answers are variants on "I have no idea," "That's too hard, I'm just a kid," or simply, "Huh?" All four answers are correct (except, of course, the duke said it in French).

--> '''Porky:''' ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalleria_rusticana C-C-Cavalleria Rusticana?]]''\\

** After winning a cash jackpot of exactly $26,000,000.03 (...yep), Porky gets even by buying the radio station with it. Daffy begins receiving the same sadistic treatment immediately after being asked by Porky, "At what latitude and longitude did [[Literature/TheWreckOfTheHesperus the wreck of the]] ''[[Literature/TheWreckOfTheHesperus Hesperus]]'' occur?"
* The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' had a segment where Garfield goes on a gameshow hosted by Binky the Clown to win a birthday gift for Jon. One of the increasingly ridiculous challenges is "Name That Fish", with Garfield given a selection of fish species to choose from. The fish's name? "[[ExactWords Walter]]", an option that ''wasn't even on the board!'' The bizarre nature of the show is eventually justified when it turns it was AllJustADream.
** The challenge before that is even worse, Garfield has to answer the question "What did Christopher Columbus have for breakfast the day he discovered America?" The answer? "He didnt have breakfast that day." The question also has a ridiculously low time limit, something like three seconds tops.
--> '''Garfield:''' Just as well, seeing as how I can't talk.

* Happens frequently on ''Series/{{QI}}'', which has an explicit policy of asking questions that nobody's likely to know, and awarding points for how ''interesting'' a contestant's answer is, regardless of whether it's ''correct''.
** In a Series 3 episode, Helen Atkinson-Wood correctly answers a question "so impossible that Stephen Fry shall award a gigantic 200 points if anyone gets the answer right." After she answers, the other contestants, rightly astonished, ask "How the hell did you know that?" For the curious, the question was "What does this chemical equation: "C[[subscript:6]]H[[subscript:12]]O[[subscript:6]] + 6O[[subscript:2]] --> 6CO[[subscript:2]] + 6H[[subscript:2]]O", represent?" Her answer: "An explosion in a custard powder factory." The equation is for the combustion of glucose (a key element of said powder). According to those behind the show, "an explosion in a custard factory" is the standard TextbookHumor example used when the combustion of glucose is taught at school (it's also a common example of the effects of static electricity), hence how she knew it.

** After winning a cash jackpot of exactly $26,000,000.03 (...yep), Porky gets even by buying the radio station with it. Daffy begins receiving the same sadistic treatment immediately after being asked by Porky, "At what latitude and longitude did the wreck of the ''Hesperus'' occur?"

* ''EllensGameOfGames'' invokes this with the category choices of the final round, with which you must identify celebrities by their picture in three second. For example, one episode had the choices of "Emmy-Winning Actresses", "Grammy-winning Gals", or "Baltic Ballerinas from the 1940s".

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands2}}'' [=DLC=] ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'', Tina asks Torgue three geeky questions to prove he's a real geek. Torgue gets the first two right, but the third is for a very specific piece of in-universe geek trivia, and Torgue doesn't know the answer. Therefore, according to Lilith, [[NoTrueScotsman Torgue isn't really a geek]].

* In ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', Vetinari comes up against this, courtesy of a new crossword compiler. "Who would know that 'psdyxes' are ancient Ephebian needle holders?"