History Main / WhosLaughingNow

* Invoked by ''Magazine/TheEconomist'' on the subject of UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} intervention in [[UsefulNotes/MiddleEastUprising2011 Libya's civil war]]:

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': When Creator/AdamSandler returned to host for the first time since leaving the show 24 years prior, he opened up by singing a song about how Creator/NBC fired him that ended with this:

* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPN0qhSyWy8 It Just Works]]'', ''The Chalkeaters''' five-minute-long musical TakeThat aimed at Creator/{{Bethesda}} and Creator/ToddHoward, ends on the phrase "So, who's laughing now?" as its final lyric.

&&** With Brexit being implemented, many who voted for Brexit are finding that Brexit would impact them in ways they'd not foreseen. Here are [[https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/europe-news/brexit-regret-leave-voters-wish-remained-7908356 a]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/LeopardsAteMyFace/comments/l15pxe/brexit_a_two_act_story/ few]] [[https://twitter.com/archer_rs/status/1277505330885386240 examples]], causing some Anti-Brexiters to invoke this trope in response.&&

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', White Mage (after having her world view invalidated) tries to be evil for a couple panels. She turns back because, it turns out, she doesn't like hurting people. She's also really bad at it unless the inflicting of pain is directed upon Black Mage, usually in response to one of his questionable come-on lines. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Onion Kid]] manages to pull a Who's Laughing Now with [[AGodAmI a bit more success]].

* When the original Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens in 1996, Browns owner Art Modell was vilified by fans and the press as a "Judas" due to the Browns' storied past as an NFL franchise. One football analyst, ex-NFL tight end Bob Trumpy, was so incensed that he wished the Ravens "high winds and muddy fields ... empty roads to and from the ballpark ... cold hot dogs ... nothing but bad" in a 1996 NFL season preview for ''Inside Sports'' magazine. Still, the Ravens persevered through it all, and have often had the last laugh, with two Super Bowl wins, a Hall of Fame tackle in Jonathan Ogden, and a future Hall of Fame linebacker in Ray Lewis, both of whom were drafted by the Ravens and spent their entire careers with the team.

* On a different note, this is why nations and armies are expected to follow [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar certain laws and customs during warfare]]. Don't follow the rules and your enemy will have no motivation to do the same and will try to pay you back... ''with interest'' (and unfortunate consequences).

* On a different note, this is why nations and armies are expected to follow [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar certain laws and customs during warfare]]. Don't follow the rules and your enemy will have no motivation to do the same and will try to pay you back... ''with interest'' (and unfortunate consequences). [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment We'll just leave it at that]].

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': Upon hearing that the boy who bullied him as a child--"He used to call me "Shorts In The Shower Boy!""--is now in prison, Niles sips his coffee and smugly queries:

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': [[spoiler: Obnoxious, [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] lab rat Stuckey has been catching hell all season by Stabler and his senior lab partner]] [[note]](yelling "we've got a dead body here!!", in public, ''where a child is buried, '''in Stabler's presence''''' is edging into TooDumbToLive territory)[[/note]], [[spoiler:but it comes to a head after a small error allows a serial killer to go free and he gets mocked and yelled at by a bunch of people, including ''the killer himself''. Stuckey then kills an innocent to plant evidence and get a second chance at the killer, then kills the lawyer, almost kills the judge, kills his lab partner, and tortures Stabler for a bit. Were it not for the arrival of Olivia and Stuckey's feelings for her....]]

* The ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' novel ''Calling All Creeps'' features protagonist Ricky Beamer who is picked on by everyone in school just ForTheEvulz and is even kicked out of the newspaper ''twice'' for something that wasn't even his fault. He decides to get even with the editor of the paper, Tasha, by sending her message on the editor, only to discover that it backfired on him, [[spoiler: and now Ricky receives calls from the four Creeps'' that venerate him as his commander. In the end, however, [[FaceHeelTurn Ricky decides to not warn the class about the seeds in the cookies and gets the opportunity to enslave everyone who picked on him in the beginning]].]]

* There are a lot of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' stories out in fan fiction land which have [[BadassNormal Xander Harris]] be the Scooby the demons are most afraid of. Not Buffy, the Slayer's leader, nor Faith the Uncontrollable Slayer. Not Willow the all-powerful witch. Not Giles, who has an army of superpowered women at his command and is a sorcerer in his own right. The reason he's the most feared is two-fold: first, he has no visible means to power, yet survived fighting alongside the Slayer, so most demons figure he has to have ''some'' power, and that it's very effective and difficult to detect. And second, it's widely known that Willow once tried to destroy the world and it was ''Xander'' that stopped her. No one outside of the Scoobies knows how, and ''they aren't telling!''

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', White Mage (after having her world view invalidated) tries to be evil before a couple panels. She turns back because, it turns out, she doesn't like hurting people. And she's really bad at it unless the inflicting of pain is directed upon Black Mage, usually in response to one of his questionable come-on lines. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Onion Kid]] manages to pull a Who's Laughing Now with [[AGodAmI a bit more success]].
* In ''Author Space'', Cream the Rabbit was used as the ButtMonkey for a long time, until episode 100, where she went loose in a giant Ride Armor suit that seemed to be invulnerable to all damage. After they beat up Cream, she goes back to her prior status.

* The UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} High shooters are sometimes falsely portrayed as this. Many other school shooters, both before and after, were this trope to a T. There's also the 2007 Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho. His videos that he mailed to NBC directly stated that this was his motive.

** Germany after WWI for example, was a broken nation, with the economy in shambles, the military in ruins, a new government forced upon the public, and national morale at an all-time low. The victorious Allies were responsible for many of these, deliberately weakening Germany to prevent it from rising again. Unfortunately, the Allies were conflicted in what should be done, resulting in the job only being half-done; what they did was enough to anger the German people (who rallied for vengeance soon afterwards) but not enough to actually cripple Germany's ability to recover (not helping was that Germany wasn't allowed to join the negotiations due to losing World War 1). The results were, shall we say, [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII unfortunate]] for everyone involved.
*** Then, after said unfortunate results, Germany was once again utterly ruined and this time divided and of course, the pariah of the world. And yet again, Germany (more precisely its western two thirds or so) rose again, at least economically, and is now the dominant European economic power, having had to reabsorb the eastern part in the process. Interestingly, on the military side, the 70 odd years since WWII have been spent avoiding military appearances. But that is of course a side effect of being shielded by other powers.

* When UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar was a young man, he was once kidnapped and ransomed by pirates. During his captivity, Caesar told them that he will have them executed and they mocked him for what seemed a joke. After being freed, Caesar assembled a fleet, captured the pirates, and carried out his threat.
* Machiavelli warned rulers against becoming victims of this trope. He wrote to never inflict "small injuries" against enemies because people will seek to avenge small injuries, but are unable to avenge large injuries. Kill or befriend, but never insult or humiliate. Similarly, his famous quote 'If one cannot be loved, be feared' often leaves off the last part of the quote, to 'avoid being ''[[ZeroPercentApprovalRating hated]]'',' to avoid [[TheDogBitesBack what often happens when the people won't take it anymore.]]
* Creator/GrantMorrison invokes this in their notes for the 15th Anniversary edition to ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''. An early version of the script was passed around for people to look at and most of them balked at the attempt to integrate psychological horror and heavy symbolism. They then says, "Who's laughing now, asshole?"

So you have a character who is the [[ButtMonkey butt of every joke]]. They are regularly put through hell, at times [[TheChewToy purely for the audience's amusement]], but just as often to the audience's disgust. They might be innocent victims or they might be pitiable villains. One thing is for certain. They have [[UnstoppableRage had enough]].

What did the villains do wrong? Ahem, everything. But they are going to pay for at least one of their KickTheDog moments. And what better way to go about it than to [[FaceHeelTurn become a villain]]?

* In ''Webcomic/{{Vexxarr}}'', after the titular character manages to convince the vegetable-based AI that's been trying to kill him that he's their supreme leader, he gets some [[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=050409 incredibly creative revenge]].

-->Yeah you're getting scared now, [[Film/Deliverance piggy,]]\\
[[Film/Deliverance Go ahead and squeal]]\\

* The song “Who’s Laughing Now” from the 2020 debut album Heaven & Hell by newcomer Ava Max.

-->Yeah you're getting scared now, piggy,\\
Go ahead and squeal\\

* Creator/GrantMorrison invokes this in his notes for the 15th Anniversary edition to ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth''. An early version of the script was passed around for people to look at and most of them balked at the attempt to integrate psychological horror and heavy symbolism. He then says, "Who's laughing now, asshole?"

[[TitleDrop Who's laughing now, hero? Who's laughing NOW?!]]

** In the ''Skin Deep'' story arc Peter's former classmate, who was mercilessly bullied at school, gets superpowers and after he sees two of his former tormentors mocking at him on TV he goes and kills them. In the end Spider-Man got him frozen, probably for the rest of his life. [[AndIMustScream And he is conscious]].

* One story in ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' story involved a monster that turned out to be an abused kid that woke up with unlimited shapeshifting powers.

* In the climax of the IDW crossover ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' ''X'' ''Franchise/GIJoe'', the Joes and World Warriors defeat the super powered dictator [[BigBad M. Bison]] and win his crooked fighting tournament. After they publicly reveal that the tournament was fixed, an incensed [[FatIdiot Rufus]] challenges [[AllAmericanFace Guile]] for bragging rights. He [[OneHitKO is soundly defeated]] and everyone laughs. Angry and humiliated, [[note]]who can blame him? his girlfriend has been shamelessly flirting with Joe member Roadblock as Rufus gets pummeled[[/note]] Rufus unwittingly absorbs Bison's residual evil energy [[note]]Bison's Psycho Power is fueled by negative emotions[[/note]] becomes the monstrous Psycho Rufus, and unleashes hell on all the good guys.

* Set up to be the case in the ongoing ''Series/LostGirl'' story ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9376844/1/Change-of-State Change of State.]]'' After being abused and mistreated by the Light Fae for at least 7 years, Lauren is taken in by the Morrigan. She treats Lauren politely, and has another Fae slightly alter Lauren's memories/mind. This Fae (without ever outright lying) reminds Lauren of every time [[HumansAreBastards humans were needlessly cruel]] or [[UngratefulBastard ungrateful]], how the Light Fae mistreated her (while reminding Lauren the Dark Fae haven't mistreated her), Dyson and Kenzi endlessly mocked and insulted her, and Bo constantly failed her. As a result, Lauren is just as brilliant, but is now a TortureTechnician SocialDarwinist. At one point, she quite cheerfully comments to the Morrigan that she is capable of committing genocide.
** This other Fae actually warns the Morrigan about this, saying Lauren wont take any abuse lying down. Which isn't to say Lauren is above having fun with it. After the Morrigan refers to Lauren as a dog once to often, she awakens the next morning restrained with a golden retriever (named Lauren Jr.) in her room, and peanut butter on her nether regions.

* In ''Fanfic/ConversationsWithACryptid'' All for One was originally a vigilante who was trying to protect his family and working alongside with his brother, the First One for All wielder. But then unauthorized Quirk use was deemed illegal and out of hundreds of vigilantes, only seven were permitted to become the first pro-heroes. While All for One didn't make the cut, his brother did. In protest, All for One gathered his fellow vigilantes and formed the League of Villains. From then on, All for One terrorized Japan, for two hundred years and become the most feared supervillain.

* Syndrome from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is a glaring example. Being a total screwup of an unwanted sidekick leads him to be rejected by his idol, which leads him to try and kill off all the world's superheros and rub it in his idol's face. In a twist, his actions as a BigBad result in him becoming the ButtMonkey again and again, because while he is a legitimate threat, he has no idea how to work under pressure. Once things don't go the way he planned, he ends up scrambling to rerail the scenario until it blows up in his face.

* In ''A Room For Romeo Brass'', after Gavin plays a prank on Morrell (tricking him into making an idiot of himself in front of Romeo's sister, who he is in love with), Morrell responds by threatening him with a knife, telling him he'll kill his family, and turning Gavin's best friend, the titular Romeo, against him. Later, after Romeo's sister rejects him, he not only turns on Romeo too, but [[spoiler:unsuccessfully attempts to make good of his threats earlier in the film]].

* ''Film/KungFuHustle'' plays with this using the main character Sing. When he was a child, he tried to save a girl from bullies, only to be badly beaten up. As an adult, he intentionally becomes a thief and "tough guy" in an attempt to ''invoke'' this trope. Problem is, he's a horrible thief and everyone around him are Kung-Fu Masters, so he ends up as the ButtMonkey. [[spoiler: When Sing manifests super-mega-Kung-Fu might however, the film subverts this. Rather then take revenge on everyone who laughed at him, as he claimed he was going to do throughout the film, he decides to be the good person he wanted to be as a child and becomes a gentle and forgiving man.]]

* Invoked in ''Film/SpacedInvaders'' when much-abused nerd Vern, upgraded to a cyborg and under mind control by the Martians, uses their technology to create the giant irrigation machine he's always dreamed of, and with it destroy "butthead" [[{{Jerkass}} Klembecker's]] car in revenge for years of bullying. When the Martians set him free he retains his newfound confidence, and steals Klembecker's date for good measure.

** Professor Snape is an infamous example of this. Having an abusive father and neglectful mother, he sought to escape his shoddy upbringing by becoming a powerful and clever wizard. As such, he's motivated to one-up anyone who has ever wronged him or hurt his pride, most notably James Potter, who he possessed a ''bitter'' resentment. James was his intellectual equal, but had a loving family, came from a wealthy background and was talented at sports, being the BigManOnCampus. James, from the little we do know on him, hated Snape for his association with the Dark Arts and for [[spoiler: being friends with Lily despite being, well Snape.]] In the present day, Snape cannot help but savor an opportunity to get back at the Maruders, including wrongfully getting someone falsely accused to a FateWorseThanDeath and getting rewarded for it. When said opportunity is ruined, he outs his co-worker (who was also a Maruder) out of spite. However, [[spoiler: the death of Lily pretty much cracked him since it was his own fault and serves as his other motivation, representing his nuance.]]

* Luduschka the Ogre in Sukhinov's ''Emerald City'' tales. As a child, he was clumsy, lazy and dumb. Now he is using this image to trap people. He even gets back at Corina later on.

* Raistlin Majere from ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' has this as part of his initial motivation to gain power, having been born sickly and not expected to survive and always feeling that he stood in the shadow of his [[CainAndAble twin brother]] [[PolarOppositeTwins Caramon]]. Early on in the first book he launches into a rant against his friend Tanis about this that Tanis' narration notes he's done so many times that he's just used to it. This also foreshadows his eventual FaceHeelTurn where he takes the black robes of an evil wizard. He then outgrows these feelings and moves on to far greater plans and [[KillTheGod far bigger targets]].

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': [[spoiler: Obnoxious, [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] lab rat Stuckey has been catching hell all season by Stabler and his senior lab partner]] [[note]](yelling "we've got a dead body here!!", in public, ''where a child is buried, '''in Stabler's presence''''' is edging into TooDumbToLive territory)[[/note]], [[spoiler:but it comes to a head after a small error allows a serial killer to go free and he gets mocked and yelled at by a bunch of people, including ''the killer himself''. Stuckey then kills an innocent to plant evidence and get a second chance at the killer, then kills the lawyer, almost kills the judge, kills his lab partner and tortures Stabler for a bit. Were it not for the arrival of Olivia and Stuckey's feelings for her....]]

* ''Series/TeenWolf'': ZigZaggingTrope with Isaac and Erica. They don't seem to channel their anger at those who tormented them once they turn to werewolves. Then they reveal they DO have grievance they want to rectify, but only act on them opportunistically.

* Playboy Gary Hart was just a kid whose parents were humoring his desire to become a pro wrestler in the Chicago territory during the 1960s. He was derided for his seeming lack of athleticism and PrettyBoy looks, however, so he turned to managing The Spoiler, and then Spoiler #2, who created havoc throughout the TagTeam divisions of the Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA, then assisted The Fabulous Freebirds against the ever popular Wrestling/VonErichFamily, as well as playing pivotal role in the success of other famous trouble makers like Wrestling/KevinSullivan and Wrestling/BruiserBrody.
* Wrestling/JimCornette was initially just a photographer selling his work at Jarrett family Continental Wrestling Association shows. One day he asked his mother, who also sold merchandise in the area, for more money so he could become a manager, an aspiration that earned him endless mocking from the likes of Bill Dundee and Wrestling/JerryLawler, derision from what wrestlers would give him a chance and lots of jeering from the fans. Laughed out of CWA, Cornette went to Mid-South, found Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton, then put together one of the greatest tag teams of all time, Wrestling/TheMidnightExpress, who helped him get back at the fans by antagonizing popular acts like Wrestling/{{MagnumTA}}, The Street People, Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors and, [[ArchEnemy of course]], Wrestling/TheRockNRollExpress. He'd also manage the likes The Grappler, Wrestling/{{Vader}}, The Heavenly Bodies and The Head Hunters against former managerial clients who spurned him, lead his [[Wrestling/{{SMW}} own promotion]] in an invasion of Wrestling/{{WCW}} and the NWA itself against the WWF, which resulted in the oft overlooked skirt wearing Head Bangers being thrust into stardom.

* Wrestling/MollyHolly in 2003. After spending 2002 as a Butt Monkey (thanks to WWE's insane idea that the best way to get her over as a villain was to have everyone call her "fat-ass"), she regained the Women's Championship, drafted Wrestling/GailKim to be her mook and unleashed hell on Wrestling/TrishStratus, who initiated the verbal abuse in the storyline. Sadly, it didn't last. In 2004, she reverted back to her Butt Monkey status after getting her head shaved at ''[=WrestleMania=] 20''.
* Wrestling/EricYoung's FaceHeelTurn in [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] in 2009 is a textbook Who's Laughing Now. Young had a comedy gimmick for much of his run in TNA, and eventually began to perceive himself as the ButtMonkey of the company, especially when he joined the Front Line and dumped many of the comedy aspects of his gimmick. Eric's inability to get title shots and opportunities for whatever reason resulted in him forming the World Elite faction, a group of [[{{Eagleland}} Anti-American]] {{Foreign Wrestling Heel}}s who believe their perceived lack of success and popularity is because they were not born in the United States.

** The Iron Warriors legion turned traitor because of this. They became amongst the most bitter and hateful entities in the franchise after being used during the most hellish sieges of the Great Crusade, or relegated to garrison duty - in some cases ten-man squads of Iron Warriors were expected to maintain order on entire worlds. During the Literature/HorusHeresy they sided with the other traitors, and took particular, vicious glee in dismantling the defenses of the Imperial Palace.

* This is the main reason why the Gruul Clans from ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' are so violent. The guild was originally created to protect the environment of [[CityPlanet Ravnica]], but after it was destroyed save for a few pockets of wild for the sake of city expansion, the members of the guild were no longer treated like citizens and instead [[SlaveRace are treated as slaves]]. This made the Gruul Clans vengeful towards anything that has to do with Ravnican civilization and more then willing to raid and destroy the city to reclaim land for the wild and themselves.

* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': Deconstructed by Cyrano: he has been TheGrotesque all his life, now he is the most badass swashbuckler in all Paris. Notice that this, instead of diminish the bullying he suffers, makes [[BullyingADragon him even more bullied]] and contributes to [[{{Tragedy}} Cyrano’s downfall]].

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', White Mage (after having her world view invalidated) tries to be evil before a couple panels. She turns back because, it turns out, she doesn't like hurting people. And she's really bad at it, unless the inflicting of pain is directed upon Black Mage, usually in response to one of his questionable come-on lines. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Onion Kid]] manages to pull a Who's Laughing Now with [[AGodAmI a bit more success]].

** Also, Xykon to a degree. In ''StartOfDarkness'', every time he encounters a wizard, they take a moment to state that as a sorcerer, he is inferior to them. (To compare, a sorcerer develops magic naturally while a wizard has to study for it; as far as wizards are concerned, the way sorcerors use magic is like comparing a rubber mallet to a finely tuned watch.) Xykon's response each time is to kill the wizard.

-->'''Skitter:'''I’d say you have nobody to blame but yourselves for the fact that you have ''me'' to deal with, but I’m willing to admit I’m largely at fault for the decisions I made. You guys… you just greased the wheels, I suppose.
* Lee Phillips from ''WebVideo/KateModern'' is constantly bullied by Gavin and Tariq, which is played for laughs. However, Gavin goes too far in "Subservient Lee", and Lee runs off with the software Gavin and Tariq were developing in the following video, "The Leak". Lee only becomes an enemy of Gavin and Tariq, on whom he wants revenge; he remains amiable enough towards the other characters, and is portrayed largely [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain sympathetically]] from then on.

** Germany after WWI for example, was a broken nation, with the economy in shambles, the military in ruins, a new government forced upon the public, and national morale at an all time low. The victorious Allies were responsible for many of these, deliberately weakening Germany to prevent it rising again. Unfortunately, the Allies were conflicted in what should be done, resulting in the job only being half-done; what they did was enough to anger the German people (who rallied for vengeance soon afterwards) but not enough to actually cripple Germany's ability to recover (not helping was that Germany wasn't allowed to join the negotiations due to losing World War 1). The results were, shall we say, [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII unfortunate]] for everyone involved.

-->The only European state pressing hard for air strikes in Libya is France, which has no bitter memories of foolish support for the invasion of Iraq because France opposed that invasion. Who's a [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys cheese-eating surrender monkey]] now, eh?

* When UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar was a young man, he was once kidnapped and ransomed by pirates. During his captivity, Caesar told them that he will have them executed and they mocked him for what seemed a joke. After being freed, Caesar assembled a fleet, captured the pirates and carried out his threat.

* Nigel Farage, leader of the UKIP, and an outspoken supporter of Eurosceptism, invoked this in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1ewRNSfyiI his address to the European Union after the success of the Brexit campaign]].

* On a different note, this is why nations and armies are expected to follow [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar certain laws and customs during warfare]]. Don't follow the rules and your enemy will have no motivation to do the same, and will try to pay you back... ''with interest'' (and unfortunate consequences). [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment We'll just leave it at that]].

* The ''Literature/FrannyKStein'' book ''The Fran That Time Forgot'' had Franny time-travel back to the day she was born in order to change her EmbarrassingMiddleName. Before returning to her proper time, she also decides to visit the future, where she finds to her horror that changing her middle name from Kissypie to Kaboom still got her laughed at, plus her lecture to her infant self that there is nothing worse than being laughed at has worsened Franny's anger at her peers laughing at her middle name, resulting in her teenage self planning to get back at everyonw who laughed at her by creating an army of elephant monsters.