History SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/LifeIsStrange'':
** Victoria's counterpart in the Dust timeline is predictably ashamed of her previous behavior as a teenager and speaks of her time as a bully in a very unflattering way. Seeing her now boyfriend acting similarly to how she used to is enough to make her visibly cringe, and they end up temporarily breaking up over it.
** In the Waves timeline, Chloe never got to see Victoria's HiddenDepths. Thus, all she knows her for is her status as the AlphaBitch; as a result, she's confused as to why Max watches her vlog.

** On one occasion, Super Goof is challenged by his rival, the FlyingBrick Megatop, in a superhero-ing contest. Megatop is stronger and not a klutz, but has had only a couple of weeks on the job, and Super Goof outperforms him with ease in all three tasks:

*** The second contest consists of putting out a burning building. Megatop uses his SuperBreath -- not only does it ''not'' extinguish the flames, they ''threaten the watching public on the nearby stand'', all in the second it takes for Super Goof to carry them away, as he already knew that this would happen.

** Mickey is [[PintSizedPowerhouse quite the fighter for his small size]]. As his [[ArchEnemy usual opponent]] in a scuffle is Pete, who is ''much'' taller and tough, this is rarely an advantage for him -- on the other hand, years of getting into fights with Pete make him ''formidable'' against less tough opponents.

*** The problem is that treasure hunters are devastating the factory's wheat fields because rumors of an Etruscan inscription say that the fields hide an ancient treasure. Huey, Dewey and Louie immediately point out that it's most likely a rumor because Etruscan is nearly impossible to interpret, suggesting that Scrooge just put a fence around the fields along with [[AngryGuardDog guard dogs]].

*** Lottery organizers, casino owners, and others who rely on many people betting and losing for their income outright ''fear'' Gladstone: him being seen buying a single lottery ticket ''will'' cause everyone else to ignore said lottery because they know he'll win. One story has Rockerduck mention that he has a license to open a casino in Duckburg but doesn't use it because he knows that Gladstone would just win ''everything'' when he'd first be in the mood to visit. In the same story, Rockerduck lures Gladstone out of town on a cruise so that Rockerduck can use the casino to give Scrooge an [[TheGamblingAddict addiction to gambling]]; [[spoiler:Paperinik's retaliation consists of getting Gladstone back in town, disguising him as Scrooge, and sending him in the casino, where he indeed wins ''everything'']].
*** People who (for whatever reason) have to compete with him in some contest invariably try to plan around his luck, or even counter it. Most of them fail, with only Paperinik being reliably able to outplay Gladstone's luck... and, as mentioned above, the experience with Paperinik has taught Gladstone that his luck is ''not'' invincible, resulting in him planning to counter such attempts and even having stopped relying exclusively on it.
** Pete is an extremely skilled thief and formidable criminal mastermind, easily able to bring Mouseton to his knees once he has the time to build up some resources, but most of the time, he's stopped early by Mickey. As a result, he has a reputation as a poor criminal; he may have the talent, but he can't consistently get his enterprises off the ground without being stopped. Even the police, who should know better, tend to [[NotSoHarmlessVillain underestimate him]] at times, which Pete ''gleefully'' takes advantage of.

*** The Evronians are {{Emotion Eater}}s who use guns that fully drain the emotions of a victim, turning them into an emotionless slave, but [[HumansAreSpecial Earthlings are so emotionally rich]] that a single shot often isn't enough, and they can fully recover if given time. To the Evronians, this means that [[BlessedWithSuck Earth is a plentiful banquet and an alternative solution to their energy crisis]] if that aforementioned plan with Xadhoom doesn't work out.
*** When Everett Ducklair invented what would become Paperinik's [[CoolCar PKar]], he made it run on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomethylhydrazine monomethylhydrazine]], the same fuel as the Space Shuttle. When Paperinik has to leave the Ducklair Tower and loses One's support, usage of the [=PKar=] diminishes because he can't make the fuel at home and doesn't have the kind of support network to buy it. Since One silently took care of maintenance and refueling, by the time when Paperinik loses his support, he's forgotten how to do any of this and has to look it up in the user's manual. Paperinik ultimately switches back to the 313-X in the ''PKNE'' revival stories, as it runs on gas.

** One of Paperinik's foes, the Perfidious Perfidus, is the result of one such moment: he used to be a simple hobo who one night decided to throw rocks at bottles of various cleaning agents, breaking them... and promptly falling victim to the poisonous vapors caused by the chemicals mixing, not dying only because by [[FrwakLabAccident freak chance]] when the chemicals mixed in such a way that the vapors enhanced his intelligence and destroyed his morals.
* In ComicBook/EarthwormJim, A giant snowman appears and attempts to attack Earthworm Jim, but then it immediately melts because it showed up in a fiery place. This was lampshaded by Jim afterwards...

* Mark Waid's ''{{ComicBook/Empire}}'' revolves around a Lex Luthor-style supervillain named Golgoth finally managing to unite his fellow supervillains and taking over the world. After he does so, he proceeds to learn the hard way that his supposed allies are far more of a threat to him than the heroes ever were. They all wanted to take over the world too and are all just as amoral as Golgoth, so he's now constantly fighting off rebellions and assassination attempts, all while hopelessly trying to keep his court under control.

** Amusingly one of the first times Empowered comes across as actually being badass. She points out, quite effectively, that driving an SUV at 75 miles an hour into a villain's back is much more effective than hitting him with a thrown one at about 5 miles an hour. This allows her to defeat a villain that the entire superhero squad she's a ButtMonkey for was defeated by. Unfortunately, the car is totaled, leaving her tied up and unable to brag, and her superhero squad walks off, assuming they and the villain knocked each other out. ([[TheWoobie Forgetting about Empowered in the process.]])
** A super-doctor explains to Emp in no uncertain terms that despite the fact that most heroes have some flavor of SuperToughness, they still have a very high chance of accumulating severe brain damage due to constant low-level head injuries; they are specifically compared to professional athletes and soldiers, who have similar problems. In fact, supers are the only demographic besides infants who suffer from "shaken baby syndrome," due to super-strong enemies throwing them across the city like a ragdoll.

* ''ComicBook/GhostbustersIDWComics'': Gozer tries to open the chamber where his essence was trapped in by the ghostbusters while possessing [[spoiler: Ray]]. The door has a palm reader, so it should work... except Gozer causes TransformationHorror on his victim, so his hand is bony and calloused and not very [[spoiler: Ray]]-like at all.
* In ''Comicbook/GrimmFairyTales'', Mercy Dante is a young woman whose parents were killed by a hitman when she was a child. Years later, she tracks down the hitman and finds out that he's retired and now has a young daughter named Trisha. Mercy kidnaps Trisha and then forces her father to watch as she shoots the girl in the head, killing her. When Mercy next appears many issues later, we see that [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty revenge has brought her absolutely no comfort]], as she's now [[HeelRealization wracked with guilt]] over having slain an innocent child. [[spoiler: She ends up being given a second chance after being sent back to the day she killed Trisha, and this time, [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong she opts to let her go]].]]

** The Plutonian's tragic childhood where he was shuffled and bounced between numerous foster homes was caused by the simple fact that MuggleFosterParents really wouldn't know ''how'' to deal with a kid with superhuman abilities.
** Another flashback from Plutonian's early teen years showed that he heard his foster mother was about to commit suicide, and got there in a fraction of a second, intending to stop her. But sound takes almost ten seconds to travel two miles. She had already been dead when he heard her.
** When Plutonian revealed his SecretIdentity to his {{Love Interest|s}}, instead of [[TheRevealPromptsRomance being awestruck by his awesomeness]], she's freaked out that he deceived her like that and wants nothing more to do with him.

** Career criminal and major enemy of Plutonian Max Damage resolves to turn over a new leaf after witnessing firsthand the Plutonian's rampage in Sky City. He even goes as far as to torch his wealth and gadgets since it's all in his words ''blood money.'' Unfortunately Max not only being a notorious crook for so long but also keeping his pseudonym, appearance, and even sidekick from his life of crime doesn't help to make him more trustworthy in the eyes of not just the public but already established heroes as well. It's not until it [[spoiler: looks like he chased Plutonian away from Coalville]] that he starts to become really accepted by the public. {{Heel Face Turn}}s flew more smoothly in the Silver Age comics (Hawkeye and Black Widow being key examples), but not anymore after Surprisingly Realistic Outcome happens.

** Victoria's counterpart in the Dust timeline is predictably ashamed of her previous behavior as a teenager and speaks of her time as a bully in a very unflattering way. Seeing her now boyfriend acting similarly to how she used to is enough to make her visibly cringe and they end up temporarily breaking up over it.
** Chloe in the Waves timeline never got to see Victoria's hidden depths, thus all she knows her for is her status as the AlphaBitch, and is confused why Max watches her vlog as a result.

** An issue of ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' had Franchise/{{Batman}} [[CaptainErsatz clone]] Nighthawk break his ankle trying to pull off a DynamicEntry by jumping off a building to attack some mooks. The same issue deconstructs the concept of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits by showing how badly a group of people (ComicBook/TheDefenders), inexperienced at superheroing with the exception of one, perform during their first outing as superheroes.
** In ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates Ultimate Avengers]]'' the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Nerd Hulk]] challenges a vampire named Anthony to a fight. Anthony agrees, and Nerd Hulk decapitates him with one punch. Hulk has SuperStrength and doesn't have any reason to hold back against a vampire so...
** The same arc has the introduction of the new Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}. After Matt Murdock is killed during the events of ''Comicbook/{{Ultimatum}}'', Stick lucks out and finds a young boy named Ray Connor, who has gained similar SuperSenses after being blinded in an accident. He trains Ray and makes him the new Daredevil, only for Ray to end up overwhelmed and bitten by a swarm of vampires during one of his first superhero outings. A KidHero is still just that, a ''kid'', so tossing them into the thick of battle probably isn't the best idea.
** ''Comicbook/OldManLogan'' revolves around a LegionOfDoom wiping out the superheroes with sheer numbers after all the villains are able to finally put aside the personal differences that keep them apart in the mainstream continuity.
** A similar 'villain army' plot is central to the comic book series ''Comicbook/{{Wanted}}''.

*** A teenager with no powers or special training decides to become a superhero. Especially when Kick-Ass fights crime for the first time he ends up getting stabbed by one of the thugs. Then subverted by...most of the comic after that point. To start with, getting stabbed and hit by a car gave him just enough, very specific nerve damage to stop feeling almost any pain.
*** The {{Tykebomb}}-turned-superhero Hit-Girl is clearly damaged by her upbringing, escalating into disturbing hallucinations of her father still giving her orders and advice.

*** In the second volume, the Motherfucker goes on a rape/murder spree through a suburb so extreme [[EvenEvilHasStandards even the gang of supervillains he hired to act as his enforcers are disturbed]], all in order to get at Kick-Ass. He thinks he's firmly cemented his VillainCred, only to learn the very next issue how big of a mistake he just made; his monstrous actions have caused the [[DirtyCop corrupt police]] to [[EveryoneHasStandards no longer be able to turn a blind eye to his crimes]], half of his gang [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandon him]], and [[PersonaNonGrata all the other mobs in the city want him dead]]. And without the mobs and police covering his back, the Motherfucker is just a normal guy with a few hired guns who has [[SuperTeam an army of superheroes]] barging down on his position, [[ItsPersonal most of whom are now looking for blood]], and [[CurbStompBattle things don't end well]]. There's a very good reason RealLife mobs operate on PragmaticVillainy.
** The second issue of ''Superior'' has a kid testing out the superpowers of his favorite SupermanSubstitute. He attempts to use his "super-breath" to put out a house fire, only to ''demolish'' the house and spread the fire over a much larger area.
* In "ComicBook/MarshalLaw Takes Manhattan", a psychotic parody of ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} is falling to his death from a skyscraper and manages to grab hold of a flagpole protruding from the building... whereupon the inertia rips his arms off.
* [[ComicBook/TheMask The original Mask comics]] make a big deal of the fact that while whoever wears the titular mask operates under ToonPhysics, the same does not extend to anyone else, leading to a large number of grisly deaths as we're shown what really happens when someone gets SquashedFlat or has [[TorsoWithAView a hole blown through their chest.]]

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' book "The Mansion of the Gods" Asterix and Getafix, to foil the latest Roman plan to conquer the village (absorbing them into the empire through cultural osmosis by building a luxury high-rise for Roman citizens near the village), supply the slaves building the titular mansion with the magic potion, expecting them to use their newfound SuperStrength to rise in arms... Except the Romans are ''terrified'' of slaves rebellions and don't want to pay their upkeep when they grow old, thus they have laws that grant them various rights and even stipends that they use to eventually buy back their liberty and prescribe painful executions for any act of rebellion, motivating the slaves to demand a higher stipend and to be freed upon completing the Mansion and the Romans to accept. While Asterix and Obelix resume their original plan of magically replanting the trees the slaves tear down at night, this just leads to a stalemate, which only ends when the head slave visits the Gauls village and asks the heroes to stop sabotaging their work so the slaves can be legitimately freed and paid for their labor. The Gauls accept his reasoning, realizing that preventing the Mansion from being built isn't working, and that they'll have to defeat the Romans at a later stage of the plan instead. As a result, the Mansion is quickly finished, the slaves are freed, paid, and left to their own devices, [[PragmaticVillainy just as the Romans had agreed to.]]

** In the 1950's, a reporter sees a fantastic battle of the Honor Guard and some cultists. However, his editor keeps cutting down the story because he can't prove any of it and the Honor Guard not talking about it. Thus, the tale simply becomes a report on [[ItMakesSenseInContext a frozen shark derailing a train]]. When he become editor himself, the reporter admits his boss was right on not printing what can't be backed up by facts.
** The comic defies ComicBookTime by having characters age and heroes often forced to retire. One story arc has Crackerjack and Quarrel, two regular, non-powered street fighters, forced to acknowledge that in their 40's, they're not as physically capable as they once were.
* ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'': Louis and Martin's reckless approach to their scientific endeavors gets them into serious trouble every time. The first time they almost destroy the world, they're simply ReassignedToAntarctica, but the second time, they end up doing the same thing and getting ''sixty people'' killed at the same time, so it's off to jail forever for them.
%%* ''Comicbook/{{Bone}}'': Phoney Bone's Mystery Cow scam involves Smiley wearing a cow costume to play the part of the Mystery Cow. Unfortunately, the small town the Bones are in does not have a costume shop, so Smiley has to make the costume himself. Naturally, the result looks terrible, and Phoney has to jump through hoops to keep his suckers from getting a good look at the "cow".%%ZCE: Why would audiences expect the costume to be convincing?
* In Dark Horse's ''[[ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian Conan the Avenger]]'', the main protagonist's allies attempt to pull some SlaveLiberation by assaulting a slave-trading hub, killing all slavers, and freeing the prisoners. Their glory is short-lived as a massive military force is assembled from [[EnemyMine warring city-states that joined forces]] to destroy them, as this attack is a massive disruption to their economy. Trying to go around freeing slaves by kicking ass and taking names like [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire Daenerys]] [[Series/GameOfThrones Targaryen]] will only get a massive army breathing down your neck.

* In ''ComicBook/DastardlyAndMuttley'' real world is being transformed into the one of a cartoon. ToonPhysics are treated as BodyHorror and behavior out of a ZanyCartoon causes total chaos and panic [[spoiler: especially after the president of the United States gets affected]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'' examples:
** Kidnappings are almost always incredibly traumatizing, even when the victim knows they'll get out without a scratch.
** Diabolik is [[TheDreaded incredibly feared]], to the point he earned such fully justified names as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast King of Terror, Murderer with a Thousand Faces]], and many others. When he's arrested, the terror he caused leads to a KangarooCourt by complete accident, as the judge and the public are terrified and want a scapegoat (even if he's actually guilty) and his court-assigned lawyer too is too scared to do a good job, and he's sentenced to death even if there wasn't enough evidence yet.
*** Also, having a famous criminal being sentenced to death in a KangarooCourt is liable to be a formidable occasion for activists to demand a retrial to have him sentenced to life in jail... But, considering the evidence that popped up ''after'' the trial, the judge refuses.
** Elisabeth Gay's descent into madness is all about this: spending months with your fiancée, then getting him arrested and finding out he's the King of Terror ''by accident'' took a heavy toll on her psyche, and finding out he was about to dump her like all her previous boyfriends pushed her over the edge.
** Diabolik [[BladeEnthusiast only uses knives]] and various gadgets, but [[DoesNotLikeGuns finds guns too noisy for his stealthy modus operandi]]. A man with a gun could easily kill him, and the only reason nobody did it yet is that he's smart enough to know it and make sure nobody gets a clear shot. He still had a number of close calls, including the one time he ''was'' shot and would have bled out had he not been rescued by a third party.
** Diabolik [[NeverRecycleYourSchemes never reuses a gadget or plan]], with the only exceptions of his knives, needle launchers for poisoning or putting someone to sleep and his trademark [[LatexPerfection perfect masks]]. That's because he knows that the next time the police will be ready for it... As shown by the police having the habit of pinching someone's face to check for masks once they found out about them and often wearing protective knife and needle-proof vests and gas masks.
*** Also, the police recycles ''their own'' anti-Diabolik schemes only when they have reason to believe Diabolik didn't realize what happened, as they know that the next time ''Diabolik'' will be ready, as shown by the many times Diabolik waltzed through a mask check (always with different tricks of course, as the next time the police will be ready for that one).
** In a world where only one man can create LatexPerfection, that man is a target for ''everyone''. And since said man is a known thief and murderer, [[ParanoiaFuel people never know if their friend or loved one is acting funny because he's actually Diabolik]].
*** The effect of the mask on people's paranoia is seen in full in "The Bounty", in which some wealthy businessmen put a large bounty on Diabolik and Eva. Given the masks and their reputation for walking through any alarm system, people started assaulting anyone in the street they mistook for Diabolik and Eva while the two waited out in one of their refuges. By the time the Minister of Justice forces the businessmen to retract the bounty a few days later, two people have died due having been mistaken for Diabolik or Eva... Who, knowing this would happen, had been waiting it out in a cave.
** At times Diabolik and Eva go on vacation in countries where they aren't known and don't bother wearing masks, on the assumption that even if they happened to be spotted by a visitor from a place where they're known they haven't done anything there and the police won't arrest them. In "The Beginning of the End" they're spotted by a journalist from Clerville and the scenario plays out as expected... Up until the journalist involves Ginko, who calls the local police chief and points out that Diabolik and Eva may be preparing a heist and if it came out he knew they were around he'd be blamed and adds that, being wanted criminals, they can't be possibly using real [=IDs=]. Diabolik and Eva end up arrested the same day on charges of using fake [=IDs=].
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', the main character joined a society dedicated to the preservation of an endangered squirrel. The idea was to tranq the last male and mate it with the last female.[[note]]Which wouldn't provide sufficient genetic diversity, but these guys aren't exactly geniuses.[[/note]] Dilbert's team get to work, they fire the tranq from the rifle from a few feet away, there's a ReactionShot of their OhCrap faces, and then one of them points out that, perhaps, they should've used a smaller dart.

** On one occasion, Scrooge [=McDuck=] and his family ventured into the ruins of an ancient civilization to look for the secrets of their LostTechnology. They find scrolls with all the necessary blueprints and they immediately go home where Scrooge shows them to his engineers... Who proceed to tell him that these designs are nearly identical to their latest project. After all, just because technology is lost, doesn't mean it can't be independently redeveloped later, especially over the course of centuries. Scrooge then destroys the ancient blueprints in anger... And Huey, Dewey and Louie decide not to tell him that he just destroyed ancient documents that prove the high advancement of an ancient civilization that any museum would pay a fortune to purchase.
** Typically, whenever someone ''other'' than Scrooge tries their hand at the "Swim around in money" thing, they just hit their heads while diving onto a pile of metal and fall unconscious, if they're lucky. Coins are very hard, after all. The in-universe explanation for how Scrooge can do it with no ill effect is that he's been diving around in money for so long that his body has just adjusted to it. ("I'll admit, it's a trick!" Scrooge once stated). Granted, this talent has limits. When Scrooge tries it on a giant chest full of silver coins pulled from a sunken shipwreck, he hurts himself because the coins, after centuries in a high-pressure environment, have fused into one solid chunk.
** The Beagle Boys provide a lot of it:
*** The people of Duckburg often laugh at the Beagle Boys due their repeated failures to rob the Money Bin... not realizing that an independent group of thieves consistently able to pose a serious threat to a ''fortress'' defended by incredibly advanced technologies are actually more than formidable at their jobs. Whenever they decide to dedicate themselves to other targets, there's a sudden and ''unstoppable'' crime wave that the police simply cannot stop, and more than once Scrooge's business rivals had to ''beg for his help'' after the BB started targeting them.
*** A group who dedicates themselves to robbing the Money Bin to the detriment of anything else are incredibly stubborn and determined - hence why they will ''never'' [[CutLexLuthorACheck use their immense array of technical skills to get honest jobs]]. They're also the only non-supervillain criminals who still consistently try to fight or run when caught by [[UnscrupulousHero Paperinik]], as they just don't know when to quit.
** [[WickedWitch Magica DeSpell]] is well known in Naples for being a witch, being [[HotWitch very attractive]], and for living on the Vesuvius. Much to her chagrin, her home is considered a ''tourist attraction'', no matter how many people she turns into frogs for trespassing.
** Super Goof is Goofy as a FlyingBrick. [[TheKlutz A Klutz]] with such powers has caused a lot of collateral damage, at least early on.
** On one occasion, Super Goof was challenged by rival FlyingBrick Megatop in a superheroing contest. The challenger was stronger and not a klutz... and had only a couple weeks on the job, and Super Goof outperformed him with ease in all three tasks:
*** When it came to catch two "criminals", Super Goof casually arrived on target with ease while Megatop was still accelerating because Goof knew exactly how much speed he needed and when to start slowing down, and only lost that one because the "criminals", being Emil Eagle's henchmen, were on Megatop's side and managed to distract him.
*** The second contest consisted into putting out a burning building. Megatop used his SuperBreath... And not only did it ''not'' extinguish the flames, they ''threatened the watching public on the nearby stand''- for all of the second it took to Super Goof to carry them away, as he already knew what would happen.
*** The third contest was an all-out battle. At first Super Goof is overpowered, then some rain gives him a moment to recover and reveals that Megatop is actually a robot by making it go out of control with a short circuit... And a quick PunctuatedPounding later, Megatop is ''decapitated'': Super Goof had been holding back because he didn't want to kill his opponent, but if said opponent is a robot ''and'' has gotten out of control he's free to just scrap it.
** Mickey is [[PintSizedPowerhouse quite the fighter for his small size]]. As his usual opponent in a scuffle is Pete, who is ''much'' taller and tough, it rarely goes well for him.
*** On the other hand, years of getting into fights with Pete mean he's ''formidable'' against less tough opponents.
** John Rockerduck [[RunningGag eats his hat every time he's defeated by Scrooge]]. After a while, it became known he's having stomach issues from all the hats he's eaten.
** The story about AsteroidMining is rife with this, from Scrooge not initially engaging into it due the expense not being worth it until that is solved by competitors (not Glomgold or Rockerduck, but a group of "lesser" billionaires) trying to put an asteroid into Earth orbit... and ''missing'', almost [[ColonyDrop dropping it on Duckburg]] instead. At the end of it Scrooge is hailed as a hero for deviating the asteroid, while his competitors, who are caught in the act by a probe, being banned from space operations outright.
** In one Italian story, Scrooge decides to test Donald and the Nephews to see who is worthier of being his heir, and has them advise him on how to solve a problem his pasta factory in Tuscany is having:
*** The problem is that treasure hunters are devastating the factory's wheat fields because of rumors of an Etruscan inscription saying the fields hide an ancient treasure. The Nephews immediately point out it's most likely a rumor because Etruscan is nearly impossible to interpret, and suggest to just put a fence around the fields along with [[AngryGuardDog guard dogs]].
*** Donald is convinced that it's possible someone did leave treasure there, and convinces Scrooge to buy other fields and dig for the treasure himself. They find two Etruscan bronze statues of wolf pups and, after various adventures, discover they were originally part of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Wolf Capitoline Wolf]]. The Nephews suggest to turn them in to the Italian state, as prescribed by law, but Donald convinces Scrooge to bring them to the US, reveal them in public, and ''then'' "donate" them to Italy. When they're caught trying to smuggle them out of country, the judge informs Scrooge he would have been entitled to a finder's fee if he had turned them in... but since he tried to smuggle them out of the country [[TaxmanTakesTheWinnings he's getting a hefty fine]]. Given the poor result of Donald's greedy advice, Scrooge decides to make the Nephews his heirs.
*** As the bronze pups were part of the Capitoline Wolf they're given to the city council, as the main statue is already the city's symbol... And as the pups would replace the baby twins and thus ruin the symbol, they put them into a box and hide them into the basement of a museum. The basement that is ''full'' of boxes: Italy has an immense archaeological heritage, and the museum has a large backlog.
** The non-billionaire villains all need to make a living somewhat... and, much to their chagrin, at times they have to take honest jobs.
*** Differently from the others, Magica's ''main'' activity is her honest job of selling potions and charms. As she lives in Naples, whose inhabitants are well known in Italy for their belief in lucky charms and magic, she's actually well-off, and would be outright rich if she didn't spend a decent chunk of her income in her assaults on Scrooge's Money Bin.
** Most of Magica's experience with flying brooms comes from high-speed attack runs on the Money Bin and the occasional high-speed chase in which she tries to get back to Naples before Scrooge can recover the Number One Dime. As such [[DrivesLikeCrazy she has an incredibly aggressive flying style]], and when flying licenses are introduced she almost fails her test in spite of her skills and experience, because she has serious trouble flying slow.
** No matter how attractive a chance for wealth may be, Scrooge's adventures for new and revolutionary business options invariably start with him consulting Gyro or Ludwig, his trusted experts, to verify if the proposal is feasible, as he didn't become the richest duck in the world by wasting money. Similarly, Rockerduck, while more prone to spend money and try to rival Scrooge in everything, will also consult his own experts to see if it's worth it, and is notably on the sidelines during Scrooge's foray into asteroid mining. The implication being that he knows that without a genius like Gyro he couldn't possibly hope to make money from such an expensive endeavor and thus didn't try.
** Gladstone's outrageous luck is well known by everyone in Duckburg. As such, not only many envy him, lottery organizers, casino owners, and others who rely on many people betting and losing for their income outright ''fear'' him: Gladstone being seen buying a single lottery ticket ''will'' cause everyone else to ignore said lottery because they know he'll win, and one story has Rockerduck mention he had a license to open a casino in Duckburg but didn't use it because he knew Gladstone would just win ''everything'' the first time he was in the mood to visit. That story also has Rockerduck get Gladstone out of town on a cruise so he'll be able to use the casino to turn Scrooge into a [[TheGamblingAddict Gambling Addict]], [[spoiler:and Paperinik's retaliation consisted in getting Gladstone back in town, disguise him as Scrooge, and sending him in the casino, where he indeed wins ''everything'']].
*** People who for whatever reason have to compete with him in some contest invariably try and plan around it, or even to counter it. Most of them fail, with only Paperinik being reliably able to outplay Gladstone's luck... and, as mentioned above, the experience with Paperinik means Gladstone has learned his luck is not invincible and has started planning to counter such attempts and even stopped relying exclusively on it.
** Pete is an extremely skilled thief and formidable criminal mastermind, easily able to bring Mouseton to his knees once he has the time to build up some resources, but most of the time he's stopped early by Mickey. As a result he has a reputation as a poor criminal; he may have the talent, but can't consistently get his enterprises off the ground without being stopped. Even the police, who should know better, tends to underestimate him at times... something Pete ''gleefully'' takes advantage of.
*** Similarly, one story had Phantom Blot's reputation as a criminal mastermind sink after repeated defeats. As [[CardCarryingVillain Phantom Blot wants to be feared]] and actually banks on having a fearsome reputation, this results in him coming up with an incredibly cruel scheme just to terrorize Mouseton.
** In the Italian story ''Topolino e il serial-ladro'', an FBI agent arrives to help the Mouseton police with a particularly high-profile investigation. When she learns that Mickey is not a police officer, she is shocked that the chief of police would allow a random civilian to participate in the investigation and freely roam the police depot unsupervised, and immediately has him thrown out of the building.
** An European comic has Mickey face an Imp that is a pretty blatant {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Mr. Mxyztplk]]. The entire story is told by Mickey to his therapist - since Mickey is an everyman in this story, not a superhero, the experience left him traumatized and terrified of the Imp's return.

*** Before this series, Paperinik started out as a vigilante who avenged himself by committing what were effectively crimes, and never lost his sadistic streak or [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight habit to ignore the rules to do the right thing]]. With a past like this one, [[HeroWithBadPublicity a charismatic and cunning journalist like Angus Fangus can ruin his reputation with ease]], and the TimePolice, who ''knows'' he's a hero, doesn't trust him anyway because they expect him to screw up the space-time continuum by doing anything that he believes is the right thing in the moment ([[JustifiedTrope and they're right]]).
*** The job of the TimePolice is to prevent alteration to the space-time continuity. This means that not only they won't lift a finger to prevent a cold fusion experiment from going awry and nuking Duckburg, but when it's actually prevented they send an assault squad to cause it anyway, only relenting when attempts at causing it anyway start risking to cause even more alterations.
*** Altering history by changing a single event [[TheButterflyEffect almost invariably has unforeseen consequences]]. Examples shown are the Organization sending an operative to kill Paperinik while ruining his reputation spiraling out into [[spoiler:the Time Police being disbanded and the Organization being taken over by two artificial intelligences]], an attempt at preventing an experiment that could destroy the entire space-time continuum ends up [[spoiler:getting it to start earlier so the mysterious saboteurs won't ruin it]], Paperinik preventing the destruction of Duckburg apparently [[spoiler:gave the Evronians a chance to recover from the destruction of their empire]], and Paperinik [[spoiler:preventing the Alpha Spore from [[DemonicPossession taking Ur-Evron as a host]] and become the first Evronian without killing the Alpha Spore]] results in the event happening anyway ''and'' the successful Evronian conquest of Earth by a much more powerful Evronian Empire (it helps that [[spoiler:the Alpha Spore is working with a time-traveling Evronian, but said Evronian almost ruins his own plans when his machinations brought Paperinik where he could interfere with the Alpha Spore becoming the First Evronian]]). In the reboot, a group of Evronians stealing a time machine and preventing the founding of their arch-enemies, the Guardians of the Galaxy, causes the Evronian Empire to demilitarize, with the only alteration that does exactly what is supposed to be is Odin Eidolon [[spoiler: kidnapping Trip, the son of the Raider, so he won't grow up to be the Organization operative that ruined Paperinik's reputation and nearly killed him, and that's because kidnapping him at the precise time he did [[PapaWolf got the Raider to abort the mission in which he died to track his son down]]]]. In fact time criminals are wary of altering history precisely because they know the risks (even inventing a device to change history without unforeseen consequences for when they decide they have to), as the owner of the time machine stolen by the Evronians gloated about TheButterflyEffect when they found out of the consequences of their actions.
*** [[EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion The Evronian invasion appears to be prevented entirely by Paperinik]]. It's later shown that the interstellar empire with vast armies and advanced technology simply has bigger fish to fry (including [[PhysicalGoddess Xadhoom]]) and can't spare the resources to assault Earth directly and its massive nuclear arsenal, and all Paperinik is doing is (barely) preventing a sliver of their forces from establishing a bridgehead on a single planet. In fact, in one of the few times the Evronians play for keeps, [[TheAllegedCar an antiquated and run down cruiser]] (by Evronian standards) [[CurbStompBattle decimates the full force of Earth's most advanced military]], and doesn't finish the job only due to the antimatter alternator breaking down.
*** The antimatter alternator of the Evronian cruiser mentioned above often makes an annoying noise, and the assigned technician tends to "fix" it by [[PercussiveMaintenance punching it]], doing this so often he's taken to call it "standard procedure". As said above, the antimatter alternator broke down the first time it actually has to supply a large amount of energy, crippling the ship until the alternator is dismantled, has all the broken down parts identified and replaced, and is finally reassembled and mounted, something that takes a whole day... which is the correct way to actually fix a complex machine, let alone a critical power generator.
*** The Evronians power many of their machines with emotional energy. This means they have to continuously invade new worlds to keep their civilization running, and even then their energy situation is so desperate that their plan to deal with [[PhysicalGoddess Xadhoom's vendetta against them]] is to try and turn ''her'' into an energy source.
*** The Evronians are {{Emotion Eater}}s who use guns that fully drain the emotions of a victim, turning it in an emotionless slave, but [[HumansAreSpecial Earthlings are so emotionally rich]] that a single shot often isn't enough, and they can fully recover if given time. To the Evronians, this means that [[BlessedWithSuck Earth is a plentiful banquet and an alternative solution to their energy crisis]] if that aforementioned plan with Xadhoom doesn't work out.
*** When Everett Ducklair invented what would become Paperinik's [[CoolCar PKar]] he made it run on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomethylhydrazine monomethylhydrazine]], the same fuel as the Space Shuttle. When Paperinik has to leave the Ducklair Tower and loses One's support, usage of the [=PKar=] diminishes because he can't make the fuel at home and doesn't have the kind of support network to buy it. Ultimately Paperinik switches back to the 313-X in the PKNE revival stories, as that one runs on gas.
*** Speaking of the [=PKar=], Paperinik is initially shown knowing it runs on monomethylhydrazine, but since One silently took care of maintenance and refueling... by the time he had lost his support, Paperinik has forgot how to do any of this and has to look it up in the user's manual.
** Paperinik masks his identity with only a DominoMask. As such, by the third "classic" story ''everyone'' has guessed he is Donald Duck, to the point a newspaper stops just shy of saying it outright and when Paperinik appears out of town the police immediately went to his home to catch him in the act. It's only after Paperinik and Donald appear outside at the same time, courtesy of a robot that looks just like Paperinik, that people stop assuming he's Donald.
*** The only two people in the third story who have bought into that conclusion are Scrooge and Gladstone, the latter of which even calling the idea ridiculous... because they had already seen that Paperinik owns LatexPerfection masks, including one that reproduces Donald's mask. These masks later become how Donald defends his identity, because as Paperinik's fame as a MasterOfDisguise who occasionally disguises himself as Donald spreads... everyone just assumes he wears a Donald mask under the domino mask as another layer of deception. The only way to get past it is to use methods that reveal there's only the domino mask, such as 23rd century technology (used in ''Paperinik New Adventures''), taking the mask off from his face, or outright mind reading.
** One of Paperinik's foes, the Perfidious Perfidus, is the result of one such moment: he used to be a simple hobo who one night decided to throw rocks at bottles of various cleaning agents, breaking them... and promptly falling victim to the poisonous vapors caused by the chemicals mixing, not dying only because by freak chance the chemicals mixed in such a way the vapors enhanced his intelligence and destroyed his morals.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome/TheDCU

*** The antimatter alternator of the Evronian cruiser mentioned above often makes an annoying noise, and the assigned technician tends to "fix" it by [[PercussiveMaintenance punching it]], doing this so often he's taken to call it "standard procedure". As said above, the antimatter alternator broke down the first time it actually had to supply a large amount of energy, crippling the ship until the alternator is dismantled, has all the broken down parts identified and replaced, and is finally reassembled and mounted, something that takes a whole day... which is the correct way to actually fix a complex machine, let alone a critical power generator.

*** The Evronians are {{Emotion Eater}}s who use guns that fully drain the emotions of a victim, turning it in an emotionless slave, but [[HumansAreSpecial Earthlings are so emotionally rich]] that a single shot often isn't enough, and they can fully recover if given time. To the Evronians, this means that [[BlessedWithSuck Earth is a plentiful banquet and an alternative solution to their energy crisis]] if that aformentioned plan with Xadhoom doesn't work out.

*** Speaking of the [=PKar=], Paperinik is initially shown knowing it runs on monomethylhydrazine, but since One silently took care of maintenance and refueling by the time he had lost his support he had forgot and had to look it up on the user's manual.
** Paperinik masks his identity with only a DominoMask. As such, in the third "classic" story ''everyone'' had guessed he was Donald Duck, to the point a newspaper stopped just shy of saying it outright and when Paperinik appeared out of town the police immediately went to his home to catch him in the act. It's only after Paperinik and Donald appear outside at the same time, courtesy of a robot that looks just like Paperinik, that people stop assuming he's Donald.
*** Two people who in the third story had not taken the conclusion were Scrooge and Gladstone, the latter of which even calling the idea ridiculous... Because they had already seen Paperinik owns LatexPerfection masks, including one that reproduces Donald's mask. These masks later become how Donald defends his identity, because as Paperinik's fame as a MasterOfDisguise who has occasionally disguised himself as Donald spreads everyone just assumes he wears a Donald mask under the domino mask. The only way to get past it is to use methods that reveal there's only the domino mask, such as 23rd century technology (used in ''Paperinik New Adventures''), taking the mask off from his face, or outright mind reading.
** One of Paperinik's foes, the Perfidious Perfidus, is the result of one such moment: he used to be a simple hobo who one night decided to throw rocks at bottles of various cleaning agents, breaking them... And promptly falling victim to the poisonous vapors caused by the chemicals mixing, not dying only because by freak chance the chemicals mixed in such a way the vapors enhanced his intelligence and destroyed his morals.

** In ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates Ultimate Avengers]]'' the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Nerd Hulk]] challenges a vampire named Anthony to a fight. Anthony agrees, and Nerd Hulk decapitates him with one punch. Hulk has SuperStrength and doesn't have any reason to hold back against a vampire so...

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' book "The Mansion of the Gods" Asterix and Getafix, to foil the latest Roman plan to conquer the village, supply the slaves building the titular mansion with the magic potion, expecting them to use their newfound SuperStrength to rise in arms... Except the Romans are ''terrified'' of slaves rebellions and don't want to pay their upkeep when they grow old, thus they have laws that grant them various rights and even stipends that they use to eventually buy back their liberty and prescribe painful executions for any act of rebellion, motivating the slaves to demand a higher stipend and to be freed upon completing the Mansion and the Romans to accept. The end result is that the Mansion of the Gods is completed in a single day by the superpowered slaves, much to Asterix and Getafix' bafflement, and the slaves are indeed paid and freed.

** The story about AsteroidMining is rife with this, from Scrooge not initially engaging into it due the expense not being worth it until that was solved to competitors (not Glomgold or Rockerduck, but a group of "lesser" billionaires) trying to put an asteroid into Earth orbit... And ''missing'', almost [[ColonyDrop dropping it on Duckburg]] instead. At the end of it Scrooge is hailed as a hero for deviating the asteroid, while his competitors, who had been caught in the act by a probe, being banned from space operations outright.
** In one Italian story, Scrooge decided to test Donald and the Nephews to see who was worthier of being his heir, and had them advice him on how to solve a problem his pasta factory in Tuscany was having:
*** The problem was that treasure hunters were devastating the factory wheat fields because of rumors of an Etruscan inscription saying the fields hide an ancient treasure. The Nephews immediately point out it's most likely a rumor because Etruscan is nearly impossible to interpretate, and suggest to just put a fence and [[AngryGuardDog guard dogs]].
*** Donald is convinced that it's possible someone did, and convinced Scrooge to buy other fields and dig for the treasure himself. They find two Etruscan bronze statues of wolf pups and, after various adventures, discover they were originally part of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Wolf Capitoline Wolf]]. The Nephews suggest to turn them in to the Italian state, as prescribed by law, but Donald convinces Scrooge to bring them to the US, reveal them in public, and ''then'' "donate" them to Italy. When they're caught trying to smuggle them out of country [[TaxmanTakesTheWinnings the judge informs Scrooge he would have been entitled to a finder's fee if he had turned them in but since he tried to smuggle them out of the country he's getting a hefty fine]].
*** Given the poor result of Donald's advice, Scrooge decides to make the Nephews his heirs.
*** As the bronze pups were part of the Capitoline Wolf they're given to the city council, as the main statue is already the city's symbol... And as the pups would replace the baby twins and thus ruin the symbol, they put them into a box and hide them into the basement of a museum. Basement that is ''full'' of boxes: Italy has an immense archaeological heritage, and the museum has a large backlog.
** The non-billionaire villains all need to make a living somewhat... And, much to their chagrin, at times they have to take honest jobs.
*** Differently from the others, Magica's ''main'' activity is her honest job of selling potions and charms. As she lives in Naples, whose inhabitants are well known in Italy for their belief in lucky charm and magic, she's actually well-off, and would be outright rich if she didn't spend a decent chunk of her income in her assaults to Scrooge's Money Bin.
** Most of Magica's experience with flying brooms comes from high-speed attack runs on the Money Bin and the occasional high-speed chase in which she tries to get back to Naples before Scrooge can recover the Number One Dime. As such [[DrivesLikeCrazy she has an incredibly aggressive flying style]], and when flying licenses were introduced she almost failed in spite of her skills because she had serious trouble flying slow.
** No matter how attractive a chance for wealth may be, Scrooge's adventures for new and revolutionary business options invariably start with him consulting Gyro or Ludwig, his trusted experts, to verify it's feasible, as he didn't become the richest duck in the world by wasting money. Similarly, Rockerduck, while more prone to spend money and try to rival Scrooge in everything, will also consult his own experts to see if it's worth it, and was notably on the sidelines during Scrooge's foray into asteroid mining, the implication being that he knew that without a genius like Gyro he couldn't possibly hope to make money from such an expensive endeavor and thus didn't try.
** Gladstone's outrageous luck is well known by everyone in Duckburg. As such, not only many envy him, lottery organizers, casino owners, and others who rely on many people betting and losing for their income outright ''fear'' him: Gladstone being seen buying a single lottery ticket ''will'' cause everyone else to ignore said lottery because they know he'll win, and one story had Rockerduck mention he had a license to open a casino in Duckburg but didn't use it because he knew Gladstone would just win ''everything'' the first time he was in the mood. That story also has Rockerduck get Gladstone out of town on a cruise so he'll be able to use the casino to turn Scrooge into a [[TheGamblingAddict Gambling Addict]], [[spoiler:and Paperinik's retaliation consisted in getting Gladstone back in town, disguise him as Scrooge, and sending him in the casino, where he indeed won ''everything'']].
*** People who for whatever reason had to compete with him in some contest invariably try and plan around it, or even to counter it. Most of them fail, with only Paperinik being reliably able to outplay Gladstone's luck... And, as mentioned above, the experience with Paperinik means Gladstone has learned his luck is not invincible and has started planning to counter such attempts and even stopped relying exclusively on it.
** Pete is an extremely skilled thief and formidable criminal mastermind, easily able to bring Mouseton to his knees once he has the time to build up some resources, but most of the time he's stopped early by Mickey. As a result he has a reputation as a poor criminal, and even the police, who should know better, tends to underestimate him at times... Something Pete ''gleefully'' takes advantage of.
*** Similarly, one story had Phantom Blot's reputation as a criminal mastermind sink after repeated defeats. As [[CardCarryingVillain Phantom Blot wants to be feared]] and actually banks on having a fearsome reputation, this resulted in him coming up with an incredibly cruel scheme just to terrorize Mouseton.
** In the Italian story "Topolino e il serial-ladro", an FBI agent arrives to help the Mouseton police with a particularly high-profile investigation. When she learns that Mickey is not a police officer, she is shocked that the chief of police would allow a random civilian to participate in the investigation and freely roam the police depot unsupervised, and immediately has him thrown out of the building.

*** Before this series, Paperinik started out as a vigilante who avenged himself by committing what were effectively crimes, and never lost his sadistic streak or [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight habit to ignore the rules to do the right thing]]. With a past like this one, [[HeroWithBadPublicity a charismatic and cunning journalist like Angus Fangus can ruin his reputation with ease]], and the TimePolice, who ''knows'' he's a hero, doesn't trust him anyway because they expect him to screw up the space-time continuum by doing anything that he believes is the right thing ([[JustifiedTrope and they're right]]).

*** Altering history by changing a single event [[TheButterflyEffect almost invariably has unforeseen consequences]]. Examples shown are the Organization sending an operative to kill Paperinik while ruining his reputation spiraling out into [[spoiler:the Time Police being disbanded and the Organization being taken over by two artificial intelligences]], an attempt at preventing an experiment that could destroy the entire space-time continuum ends up [[spoiler:getting it to start earlier so the mysterious saboteurs won't ruin it]], Paperinik preventing the destruction of Duckburg apparently [[spoiler:gave the Evronians a chance to recover from the destruction of their empire]], and Paperinik [[spoiler:preventing the Alpha Spore from [[DemonicPossession taking Ur-Evron as a host]] and become the first Evronian without killing the Alpha Spore]] results in the event happening anyway ''and'' the successful Evronian conquest of Earth by a much more powerful Evronian Empire (it helps that [[spoiler:the Alpha Spore was working with a time-traveling Evronian, but said Evronian almost ruined his own plans when his machinations brought Paperinik where he could interfere with the Alpha Spore becoming the First Evronian]]). In the reboot, a group of Evronians stealing a time machine and preventing the founding of their arch-enemies, the Guardians of the Galaxy, causes the Evronian Empire to demilitarize, with the only alteration that does exactly what is supposed to be is Odin Eidolon [[spoiler: kidnapping Trip, the son of the Raider, so he won't grow up to be the Organization operative that ruined Paperinik's reputation and nearly killed him, and that's because kidnapping him at the precise time he did [[PapaWolf got the Raider to abort the mission in which he died to track his son down]]]]. In fact time criminals are wary of altering history precisely because they know the risks (even inventing a device to change history without unforeseen consequences for when they decide they have to), as the owner of the time machine stolen by the Evronians gloated about TheButterflyEffect when they found out of the consequences of their actions.

** Diabolik [[KnifeNut only uses knives]] and various gadgets, but [[DoesNotLikeGuns finds guns too noisy for his stealthy modus operandi]]. A man with a gun could easily kill him, and the only reason nobody did it yet is that he's smart enough to know it and make sure nobody gets a clear shot. He still had a number of close calls, including the one time he ''was'' shot and would have bled out had he not been rescued by a third party.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome/AvatarTheLastAirbender

* A one-shot story from ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' comic features Bart, Milhouse, Martin, and Ralph wanting to go to an R-rated movie, but the ticket seller said he could only sell them tickets to a cheesy kids movie. Bart accepts, and he and the rest sneak into the R-rated movie and continue to do so for sometime. Everything goes well until Milhouse revealed their scam, and soon every kid starts buying a ticket to a kiddie film and then sneak into an R-rated one. [[DidntThinkThisThrough As a result, mushy kids movies have suddenly become incredibly profitable, and studios react by halting production on films with mature content and crank out the cutesy stuff like there's no tomorrow]].

* In ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeBananaGuardAcademy'', Punch Bowl's backstory is a parody of Kool-Aid adverts that shows how annoying a party-obsessed bowl of punch would actually be.
* ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'':
** Everyone (except for Reggie) easily accepts Kevin's sexuality. [[spoiler:Nancy]] is convinced she and [[spoiler: Ginger]] wouldn't be as accepted as a well-off white boy and that's largely why they are closeted.
** Sabrina ignoring her aunts' warnings and using her magic however she pleases is usually treated lightly in [[ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch her source series]]. Normally there are no lasting consequences and she simply gets a minor punishment, if any at all. Here it causes a ZombieApocalypse and her Aunts respond by [[spoiler: turning into horrific monsters and banishing her to purgatory while taking her mouth away so she couldn't plead with them.]] Moreover, it's revealed that her reckless use of magic summons [[spoiler:''Cthulhu''.]]
* ''ComicBook/AgeOfReptiles'': In ''Ancient Egyptians'', when the male Spinosaurus encounters the previous chicks of the female, he immediately goes into KillEmAll mode on them, as this is what a male trying to bring a female to season in real life would do.

** Another tale has Supersonic, a long-retired hero called on to stop a massive robot tearing up the countryside. The problem, of course, is that it's been twenty years since he was in costume so while he is able to stop the robot, it's without the skill or speed he could have and ended up causing far more damage than the robot alone would have.
*** Off that, Supersonic berates the old police ally who pushed him to do this...then realizes it's because the cop was facing mandatory retirement himself and couldn't accept he was too old for the job. Trying to brush off your own anxiety by reliving your "glory days" never works out.
** In a shot on the Silver Age "Lois and Superman" stories, Irene Merryweather is obsessed with proving that her co-worker Adam Peterson is the famous superhero Atomicus. Finally fed up with his games, Irene publicly pulls Adam's shirt off to reveal his costume. Atomicus is enraged, erupting on how all he wanted was a quiet and normal life, and leaves Earth. Irene realizes too late this was never a "game" to him and her own career suffers driving a hero off the planet.
** A thief finds himself using a magic talisman to bond with his pet dog into a dog-themed hero. Sadly, the magic does not extend the dog's lifespan as, after a decade, the owner realizes his beloved pet is reaching the end of his life.
** A lawyer is given the impossible task of defending an obviously guilty mobster. He hits upon the novel defense that in a world of evil twins, shapechangers, mind-controllers, and even people coming back from the dead, is there such a thing as "guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?" However, it gets flipped around at the end of the story, where the now-retired lawyer notes that "the law caught up" and the trick wouldn't work in the present day, since the defense would need proof of superhuman or otherwordly shenannigans for such claims to be taken seriously.
** One issue shows how many people with superpowers, rather than put on a costume and fight/commit crimes, prefer to live quiet and normal lives.
* ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'':
** Louis and Martin's reckless approach to their scientific endeavors gets them into serious trouble every time. The first time they almost destroy the world, they're simply ReassignedToAntarctica, but the second time, they end up doing the same thing and getting ''sixty people'' killed at the same time, so it's off to jail forever for them.
** Task Force ULTRA have zero specialists or scientific knowledge, relying entirely on stolen tech that they do not (and never did) understand themselves, and they throw themselves into the Biomega conflict of ''The Ring of Fire'' with zero effort to actually gather intel about the opposition first. Their anti-Biomega taskforce was annihilated with contemptuous ease, with a final kill count of zero. On top of that, their public actions have destroyed their reputation with the American public and have caused several international incidents. By the end ULTRA finds itself [[HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee having to defend its actions before congress]], and are very close to being shut down entirely.
* In ''Comicbook/TheBeano'''s 60th anniversary issue, Tim Traveller goes back in time to 1938 to try and get a cheap copy of issue 1. Unfortunately, [[WorkOffTheDebt it turns out they had different money in 1938]].
* ''ComicBook/BerrybrookMiddleSchool''
** The Art and Science Club come to blows when the Science Club accuses the Art Club of stealing their drone remote. Meanwhile, the Art Club members maintain they wouldn't sink ''that'' low while defending their art projects, and Peppi wonders where the heck Mari is since she was the real thief. A brawl ensues, on school grounds. The next day, the principal says both clubs are suspended because they can't fight on school grounds and the members showed poor sportsmanship.
** Jorge notes wryly that in the movies, it's a lot easier to ask your crush out after you defend them from an ex. Telling Zeke to buzz off does not give him the confidence to approach Jazmine.
** When Garrett confesses of his own initiative that he framed Jorge by accident for being an online troll, Jorge expects that means Liv will forgive Garrett and things will go back to normal. To his shock, Liv is still furious on Jorge's behalf. She says that apology aside, Garrett still said those mean comments about her and her friends and has been for a while. Garrett may have been peer-pressured but he still had a choice. While Liv does give Garrett a second chance, it's only after he agrees to apologize to the girls he insulted, stop copying other's homework, and be honest. Even with that, several girls like Brooke reject his apologies and most of the student body is staring daggers at him when Garrett's suspension ends.
* ''Comicbook/{{Bone}}'': Phoney Bone's Mystery Cow scam involves Smiley wearing a cow costume to play the part of the Mystery Cow. Unfortunately, the small town the Bones are in does not have a costume shop, so Smiley has to make the costume himself. Naturally, the result looks terrible, and Phoney has to jump through hoops to keep his suckers from getting a good look at the "cow".
* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' is a ''massive'' {{Deconstruction}} of the underlying corporate nature of superheroes and the comic book industry, and of the idea of Silver Age-style superheroes existing in real life. The superheroes in this setting were raised from birth with everything handed to them on a silver platter from Vought-American. Because of how MerchandiseDriven superheroes ''by nature'' are, spoiling them with [[Fiction500 all the wealth in the world]] is pretty much all Vought can do to make sure [[BewareTheSuperman they don't one day go off the deep end]]. That being said, the superheroes, as a result of all the power they've been given right from the moment they were born, end up sociopathic, immature, spoiled, and utterly hedonistic--fixated only on their own individual satisfactions without much regard for the innocents whose lives are in their hands. What's even worse is that since superheroes are such a massive investment and turn in extremely huge profits, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Vought's management]] is very much willing to do ''whatever they deem necessary'' to ensure their business remains afloat.
** The events of 9/11 unfolded differently in this setting; the President listened to the CIA's suspicions of an impending terrorist attack and ordered the planes to be shot down, but Vought-American called off the jet that would have shot down one of the ones heading for the World Trade Center so they could have The Seven save it as part of a publicity stunt. What happened next shows ''exactly'' what would happen if a Justice League-esque superhero team tried to stop a midair plane hijacking; The Seven had '''[[DidntThinkThisThrough no plan]]''' beyond "enter through the forward doors", resulting in the death of one of their teammates and the plane smashing into the Brooklyn Bridge, which ends up doing even more damage to New York than the loss of the World Trade Center and kicks off the comic's plot.
-->'''The Legend:''' They ain't trained for this, see. They ain't ''practiced''. They don't know shit about hijackin', or hostage situations, or how a goddamn plane ''flies through the air''... They ain't even got a '''plan'''. They just think-- We're The Seven. We're super. ''We can do this''. […] You imagine how things'd be right now if the assholes'd manage to ''land'' that 'plane? But instead... Well. That's what you get when a bunch of fucks in tights '''try to save the goddamn day'''.
* In ''ComicBook/CommonGrounds'', a fight between a superhero and supervillain ends up killing a civilian caught in the crossfire. The result is both hero and villain getting arrested and sentenced to prison for manslaughter. After they get out, the hero ends up homeless and struggling to find employment, as it's difficult for ex-cons to get jobs.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Crossed}}'' a band of survivors is trying to stay undetected while a large group of the infected psychopaths are in the area. One survivor asks a soldier in the group if he can just snipe them down from a distance. The soldier informs her that this isn't the movies where magazines are bottomless and shooters are uncannily accurate. He only has half a magazine left in his rifle, and even if every shot was a hit and every hit was a kill, he can't take them all out.
* A common situation with superheroes since the end of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]]. It's resulted in some great stories, but [[SturgeonsLaw falls flat a lot of the time]]. The problem being that [[NecessaryWeasel some of the basic tenets of superheroes, namely the ones that require a greater suspension of disbelief, have to be kept in order for the genre to work]].

** On one occasion, Scrooge [=McDuck=] and his family ventured into the ruins of an ancient civilization to look for the secrets of their LostTechnology. They find scrolls with all the necessary blueprints and they immediately go home where Scrooge shows them to his engineers... Who proceed to tell him that these designs are nearly identical to their latest project. After all, just because technology is lost, doesn't mean it can't be independently redeveloped later, especially over the course of centuries. Scrooge then destroys the ancient blueprints in anger... And Huey, Dewey and Louie decide not to tell him that [[WhatAnIdiot he just destroyed ancient documents that prove the high advancement of an ancient civilization that any museum would pay a fortune to purchase]].

* A one-shot story from ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' comic features Bart, Milhouse, Martin, and Ralph wanting to go to an R-rated movie, but the ticket seller said he could only sell them tickets to [[TastesLikeDiabetes a cheesy kids movie.]] Bart accepts, and he and the rest sneak into the R-rated movie and continue to do so for sometime. Everything goes well until Milhouse revealed their scam, and soon every kid starts buying a ticket to a kiddie film and then sneak into an R-rated one. [[DidntThinkThisThrough As a result, mushy kids movies have suddenly become incredibly profitable, and studios react by halting production on films with mature content and crank out the cutesy stuff like there's no tomorrow]].

** In the Italian story "Topolino e il serial-ladro", an FBI agent arrives to help the Mouseton police with a particularly high-profile investigation. When he learns that Mickey is not a police officer, he is shocked that the chief of police would allow a random civilian to participate in the investigation and freely roam the police depot unsupervised, and immediately has him thrown out of the building.

* [[ComicBook/TheMask The original Mask comics]] make a big deal of the fact that while whoever wears the titular mask operates under ToonPhysics, the same does not extend to anyone else, leading to a large number of grisly deaths as we're shown what really happens when someone gets SquashedFlat or has [[TorsoWithAView a hole blown through their chest.]]

* ''ComicBook/AgeOfReptiles'': In ''Ancient Egyptians'', when the male Spinosaurus encounters the previous chicks of the female, he immediately goes into Kill 'Em All mode on them, as this is what a male trying to bring a female to season in real life would do.

* In the [[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse Mickey Mouse]] story "Topolino e il serial-ladro", an FBI agent arrives to help the Mouseton police with a particularly high-profile investigation. When she learns that Mickey is not a police officer, she is shocked that the chief of police would allow a random civilian to participate in the investigation and freely roam the police depot unsupervised. She immediately has him thrown out of the building.
** One European comic has Mickey face an Imp that is a pretty blatant {{Expy}} of [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Mr. Mxyztplk]]. The entire story is told by Mickey to his therapist - since Mickey is an everyman in this story, not a superhero, the experience left him traumatized and terrified of the Imp's return.

*** Differently from the others, Magica's ''main'' activity is her honest job of selling potions and charms. As she lives in Naples, whose inhabitants are well known in Italy for their belief in lucky charm and magic, she's actually well-off, and would be outright rich if she didn't spend part of her income in her assaults to Scrooge's Money Bin.