History PlayingSick / WesternAnimation

** In "Arthur's Chicken Pox", younger sister D.W. pretends to have come down with the titular sickness, since she's jealous of all the special treatment Arthur is getting from Grandma Thora due to his chicken pox. It works until the fake spots she drew on with marker wash off in the bath.

** One episode revolves around [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Anne]] trying this to get out of some outdoor chores on a stormy day. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody in Amphibia knows anything about human biology, she claims to have a debilitating disease called the "[[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign mocha lattes]]".

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' has Angelica [[ObfuscatingDisability faking having a]] [[InjuredLimbEpisode broken leg]] so she can more easily boss the adults around. It works when there is a [[FileMixUp mix up]] with the X-Rays at the hospital.

** In 'Grandpa's Bad Bug" Lou fakes having a stomach ache to cover up his lying about staying out all night. The babies, hearing him say he has a "bad bug" think he has an actual bug inside him and try various methods to get it out.

* Jokey Smurf does it at least twice in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'': once in "Jokey's Funny Bone" in order to get attention, and another time in "Calling Doctor Smurf" in order to make Dabbler feel useful as a doctor. Although in the latter case, Jokey actually became sick when it turned out that he was allergic to the pink paint he used to make himself and several other Smurfs look like they came down with a sickness.

* A positive example happens in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Llanargollen}}'' episode, "Dirgelwch y Llythyr Coll". It's Prys' birthday and yet [[ForgottenBirthday nobody seems to have remembered it]]. Ceri appears to come down with a cold, so she tells him that she can't help solve the mystery of Prys' lost letter, but she still tags along with him anyway. Near the end, [[spoiler:it's revealed that Ceri was faking her sickness and stole Prys' letter, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness much to the surprise of everyone in the room]]. The reason she did so is that she could help Prys solve the mystery of the day [[ThrowTheDogABone for once]], and it ''worked''. He finally figured out the mystery of the day by himself, and the letter was revealed to be a sweet birthday card for him from Ceri, thanking Prys for being the best detective in Llan-ar-goll-en.]]

PlayingSick in WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' did a variation in which Jerry painted spots on Tom to [[InducedHypochondria make him believe he had measles]]. Tom eventually finds out and goes after Jerry, only to find that now Jerry had the measles for real. Prior to all of this, Tom was pretending to be sick to keep Mammy Two-Shoes from sending him outside in the rain.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "Oskar Gets a Job", [[LazyBum Oskar]] gets a job as a paper boy to pay off a debt. This job requires him to wake up early, and Arnold wakes up early as well to make sure that Oskar actually does the job. On the first day, Oskar tells Arnold that he has the Chinese Stomach Flu, and on the second, Oskar tells Arnold that he hurt his back, both times resulting in Arnold having to do Oskar's job for him. Arnold soon discovers that Oskar was faking when he sees him eating pancakes on the first day and dancing on the second. After covering for Oskar on the second day, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Arnold outright calls him a "huge loser" while calling him out for his lies after asking him what his next excuse will be since he's not going to cover for him anymore]]. This episode was likely [[BewareTheNiceOnes the maddest Arnold has ever been]]. [[spoiler:On the third day, Oskar ends up doing his job anyway after overhearing Mr. Hyunh and Ernie, and Arnold and Suzie, talk about his tactics of trying to avoid doing the job.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'': In "Playing Hookie", Chicken pretends to be sick so he won't have to take a test he didn't study for. When he finally convinces his parents, they call a Doctor who happens to be the Red Guy. After deeming Red's treatments scarier than the test, Chicken admits to be playing sick, prompting the Red Guy to confess he was just playing doctor.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' episode "Too Sick to Notice" - Bon Bon feels ignored by her family when her youngest brother gets sick, so she decides to pretend she's sick too. At first she enjoys it, then regrets it when she is forced to stay in bed all day while her friends have fun outside and her family gets more and more stressed by her ever increasing demands. Wracked with guilt, she confesses. Her family seems to forgive her, but then they all claim that they are sick and force her to care for them.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Attempted in "Family Appreciation Day" by Apple Bloom (as shown in the page image above). It doesn't work. Granny Smith, having raised first her own children as well as Apple Bloom's older siblings before her, sees right through it.
** Fluttershy does it in "Hurricane Fluttershy" to avoid tornado duty, painting spots on her face and making rather obviously fake sneezes. Rainbow Dash isn't fooled, dumping water on her and washing away the spots.
** "Three's A Crowd": [[spoiler: Discord does this by claiming to have the "Blue Flu" and having Twilight and her visiting sister-in-law Cadance tend to him. Naturally he's doing this for his own amusement in the hopes it'll spoil the visit (though he claims it's also a SecretTestOfCharacter for Twilight to see if she really does care for him). It winds up backfiring since Cadance didn't mind it since it gave her some much needed excitement from her princess duties. Plus, he catches a real disease in the process.]]
** In "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies", Fluttershy looks after a flock of Breezies (tiny winged creatures who fly on the breeze), and their leader Seabreeze wants them to get home, but the others want to stick around so they pretend to have colds.

*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS6E6ABugsStrifeAllTheRage A Bug's Strife]]", Lynn Sr. fakes being sick to avoid visiting [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Aunt]] [[ObnoxiousInLaws Ruth]] when she forces the kids to watch her Malls of the Midwest slideshow (with [[TeensLoveShopping Leni]] being the only one enjoying it), only for him to contend with an annoying cricket.

*** Then there's "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS13E2UnderTheSmallTopSquidwardsSickDaze Squidward's Sick Daze]]", where he has a nightmare about what he will likely face for his upcoming workday, [[spoiler: which eventually comes true the next day,]] and decides to feign illess in an effort to get out of work for the day. However, Mr. Krabs isn't fooled and sends [=SpongeBob=] to annoy and torture him until he decides to come back to work.

*** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS8E1AccidentsWillHappenTheOtherPatty Accidents Will Happen]]", [[ObfuscatingDisability he supposedly twists his ankle while trying to sleep on the job in the storage room]] and threatens to get Mr. Krabs fined by the Office Worker Safety (OWS) Department for negligence. Near the end of the episode, a security camera reveals he was faking his injuries the whole time. [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine After Mr. Krabs spent most of the day pampering Squidward for his so-called injury, Squidward now has to do so to Mr. Krabs as punishment]].

*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS6E6ABugsStrifeAllTheRage A Bug's Strife]]", Lynn Sr. fakes being sick to avoid visiting [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Aunt]] [[ObnoxiousInLaws Ruth]].

** [[LazyBum Squidward]] hates [[ApatheticClerk his job at the Krusty Krab]] and dealing with the [[HatesEveryoneEqually general]] [[UnsatisfiableCustomer public]], his [[PennyPinchingCrab cheapskate]] [[BadBoss boss]], and his annoying coworker (also one of two of his annoying next-door neighbors) every day that he does this to get out of work on some occasions, but some of these attempts backfire right in his face.

** A non-Squidward example is in "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E15SleepyTimeSuds Suds]]". After [=SpongeBob=] gets a rather relaxing treatment at the doctor's office and gets [[PostTreatmentLollipop a giant lollipop]] out of it, a jealous Patrick briefly pretends to be sick in the hopes of getting the same prize. It doesn't work, ending with him [[LaserGuidedKarma getting SpongeBob's treatment]] [[HumiliationConga in a harsh manner]] after lying to him and Sandy about the doctor earlier in the episode.

*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS3E12GownAndOutBreakingDad Gown and Out]]", when Lola is picked to a regional pageant and becomes anxious that she could lose for the first time, she attempts to play sick by covering herself in spots, using makeup.

*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS6E6ABugsStrifeAllTheRage A Bug's Strife]]", Lynn Sr. fakes being sick to avoid visiting Aunt Ruth.

*** In "Head Poet's Anxiety", Lucy is set to be first kid to perform at the Royal Woods Theatre, something that Luan has been trying and failing to be for years. After learning about this, a guilty Lucy decides to fake an illness so she won't have to steal Luan's dream.
*** "Lucha Fever with the Casagrandes" has Ronnie Anne faking being sick in order to watch La Tormenta's final wrestling match before she retires, which happens to be taking place on the same night as her Uncle Carlos's award ceremony. Hector and Rosa have spread the word about Ronnie Anne's supposed illness and everyone is checking up on her, making it hard for her and Sid to watch the match.
*** In "A Bug's Strife", Lynn Sr. fakes being sick to avoid visiting Aunt Ruth.

*** "Miss Step" has Frida being [[DrillSergeantNasty a very intense baile folklorico instructor]] that Carlota, Ronnie Anne and Maria all [[ObfuscatingDisability fake]] [[InjuredLimbEpisode being injured]] (Carlota with a sprained elbow, Ronnie Anne with an injured foot and Maria with a broken leg) so they can get out of having to dance at the showcase that evening.

** In "Head Poet's Anxiety", Lucy is set to be first kid to perform at the Royal Woods Theatre, something that Luan has been trying and failing to be for years. After learning about this, a guilty Lucy decides to fake an illness so she won't have to steal Luan's dream.
** "Lucha Fever with WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes" has Ronnie Anne faking being sick in order to watch La Tormenta's final wrestling match before she retires, which happens to be taking place on the same night as her Uncle Carlos's award ceremony. Hector and Rosa have spread the word about Ronnie Anne's supposed illness and everyone is checking up on her, making it hard for her and Sid to watch the match.
** In "A Bug's Strife", Lynn Sr. fakes being sick to avoid visiting Aunt Ruth.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':

** [[LazyBum Squidward]] hates [[ApatheticClerk his job at the Krusty Krab]] and dealing with the [[HatesEveryoneEqually general]] [[UnsatisfiableCustomer public]], [[BadBoss his cheapskate boss]], and his annoying coworker (also one of two of his annoying next-door neighbors) every day that he does this to get out of work on some occasions, but some of these attempts backfire right in his face.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "Oskar Gets a Job", [[LazyBum Oskar]] gets a job as a paper boy to pay off a debt. This job requires him to wake up early, and Arnold wakes up early as well to make sure that Oskar actually does the job. On the first day, Oskar tells Arnold that he has the Chinese Stomach Flu, and on the second, Oskar tells Arnold that he hurt his back, both times resulting in Arnold having to do Oskar's job for him. Arnold soon discovers that Oskar was faking when he sees him eating pancakes on the first day and dancing on the second. After covering for Oskar on the second day, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Arnold outright tells him what a "huge loser" he is while calling him out for his lies after asking him what his next excuse will be since he's not going to cover for him anymore]]. This episode was likely [[BewareTheNiceOnes the maddest Arnold has ever been]]. [[spoiler:On the third day, Oskar ends up doing his job anyway after overhearing Mr. Hyunh and Ernie, and Arnold and Suzie, talk about his tactics of trying to avoid doing the job.]]