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12[[quoteright:350:[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/its_fun.png]]]]
13[[caption-width-right:350:Can't argue with that logic.]]
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15->'''Raven:''' Great Bird Spirit! Why? Why did you lead us into this death trap?\
16'''Bird Spirit:''' No particular reason. I thought itā€™d be funny.
17-->-- ''[[ComicBook/{{Fables}} Jack of Fables]]''
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19%% One quote. Extras go on the quotes tab.
20
21It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the motivation of an amoral character seeking... well, amusement. It's not that they enjoy being good or evil ā€” they may not know or care about the difference ā€” but they do whatever they feel like without regard for others. They don't need a motivation or justification for doing anything beyond the amusement of the act itself. As a result, they almost inevitably do things that are dickish, maybe even cruel, but generally not ''outright'' evil. This same character will lead you into a trap, fight you to the deathā€¦ and then stop on the brink of killing you to laugh and say "Are you all right?" They won't kill the hero, because they find their attempts to save the day amusing, or are intrigued by the sheer selflessness of their thinking. They may help the hero, they may help the villain, they may do both at once or screw over both at once. They are rarely if ever a driving force behind a story, but they nonetheless play a significant role. And why do they do all this? Why do they [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor switch sides so often]]? Why are they [[TheDragon working below]] the BigBad when they're [[DragonWithAnAgenda just as powerful and intelligent as they are]], [[HyperCompetentSidekick if not more?]] Why did they [[FauxYay make out with the hero]] [[IncompatibleOrientation of the same gender]]?
22
23Because it was fun. They'd do just about anything for a lark, really.
24
25Please note, this is different from ForTheEvulz. Whereas a character who commits evil acts For the Evulz does so because they like seeing other people suffering, if this character does evil things it is only because they shatter the boredom of everyday life ā€” the character's not out to hurt anyone per se, but they don't care (much) if they do.
26
27They usually believe VictoryIsBoring, and if they're a PunchClockHero or a PunchClockVillain, they're in it primarily for the entertainment value. They're incredibly dangerous to trust, and even they know it, perhaps noting how foolish the hero is to trust them. In action movies, they can be a really awesome fighter, but they won't attack either side unless there's some entertainment value to be had, or if their life is in danger.
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29If they stick with the good guys all the way through, when victory comes, they may leave to have more wacky adventures, or maybe character development will have them taking things more seriously.
30
31Just how much they care about collateral damage and hurting innocent people (if at all) varies. One of the few ways to really make an It Amused Me character take things seriously is to put one of their playthings in danger.
32
33Often such a character will be the WildCard, an EnigmaticMinion, TheTroublemaker, or ChaoticNeutral. A common saying of TheTrickster characters, the EccentricMillionaire. But be wary of the character [[{{Flanderization}} devolving into]] ChaoticStupid.
34
35As you may have noticed, the line dividing For the Evulz and It Amused Me is something of an academic distinction. It is often hard to tell from a single act whether a character enjoys evil actions solely for the amusement value of the acts (It Amused Me) or whether they also/mostly enjoy the thrill of acting evilly (For the Evulz). Generally, a character who truly does things For the Evulz will do things that aren't fun or interesting in the name of evil, which they seek at every opportunity ā€” a character who does things because It Amused Them wouldn't bother because if it's not fun or interesting, why do it? Such characters are not necessarily without a sense of morality, as they have been known to minimize the collateral damage of their schemes, for example, or even to ''stop'' what they're doing if they think they're harming the 'wrong' person or people. Someone motivated by For the Evulz would never do this.
36
37On the other end of the scale, when a villain repeatedly gives this justification for supporting the protagonists, it can overlap with IWasJustPassingThrough.
38
39The trope is usually all the motivation one needs if one is a {{Troll}}. See also TheGadfly, who does things that trolls do, but for reasons besides amusement.
40
41Subtropes include TeasingFromBehindTheLanguageBarrier, PrankPunishment, DelightingInRiddles, and LovesSecrecy.
42
43----
44!!Examples:
45[[foldercontrol]]
46
47[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
48* [[spoiler:Ronnie Schiatto]] of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' cites this as the motivation for most of his actions. Very old and very powerful {{Eldritch Abomination}}s tend to also get very ''bored''.
49* ''Manga/BlackButler'': Sebastian's reasons for [[DevilInDisguise becoming a butler]] seem to stem from his amusement with humanity.
50* [[TricksterMentor Urahara]] from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' also has a tendency to screw with people just for the hell of it. When beginning training, he gives Ichigo a helmet and claims that Ichigo needs to yell "Take this! The power of justice! Justice armor! Justice hachimaki! Attack!" When Ichigo does so almost instantly, Urahara mutters, "Wow! I can't believe he actually said that!"
51** Or the famous scene where he writes directions to Ichigo, Orihime, Ishida, and Chad outside of their houses... in blood. Scrawled underneath these directions are the words, "If you thought this was straight out of a horror movie, you have no sense of humor." Incidentally, that is ''exactly'' what they all thought.
52*** For extra hilarity, Chad had gone for a walk and received Urahara's instructions... about twenty feet from Urahara's shop.
53* The protagonist of ''Manga/BokuGirl'' gets turned into a girl by Loki, because she got bored of screwing with Thor.
54* In ''Anime/CodeGeass R2'', [[spoiler:Lelouch]] (falsely) claims this is the reason for his various actions when [[spoiler:the Black Knights turn against him]].
55* Par for the course in ''Manga/DeathNote'':
56** In the first chapter, Ryuk, a god of death, drops his [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin notebook of death]] in the human world because he's bored. It falls into the hands of Light Yagami, who decides to use it to try bending the world to his will because, he explains, he too is bored, though his boredom extends to the point of outright disgust. He plays far too many unnecessary ā€” but entertaining ā€” mind games with the police for it to be anything else.
57** Light's primary antagonist L, a supergenius detective, as an {{expy}} of Literature/SherlockHolmes, chases Light's alter ego for the lulz. Part of L's reputation, again like Literature/SherlockHolmes, is that he refuses to take on a case that doesn't interest and challenge him, even though he's leagues above the rest of the world's police.
58** L's behavior is imitated by his fellow detectives [[spoiler:and successors]] Near (who wants to win the game) and Mello (who wants to defeat Near in the game). This is made apparent in the first special one-shot chapter when Near refuses to try and go after C-Kira because he wasn't interested. He believes L would have done the same.
59* The only reason Tsuyuri from ''Manga/DoujinWork'' stays involved with the rest of the cast is because their antics amuse her to no end -- and she is not above stirring things up even more.
60* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
61** ''Manga/DragonBallZ'': This is the basis for ''all'' of Cell's actions after he becomes Perfect, especially his setting up the Cell Games. He even admits that he ''could'' just [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the Earth]] and be done with it, but would much rather hunt down and kill every last human on the planet one by one, [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming savoring their fear and despair as he does so]], and then go to other planets and repeat the process because he finds it more entertaining.
62** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': [[DestroyerDeity Beerus]] actually uses this to ''spare'' planets. Since his biggest two concerns are eating and napping (since his predominant emotion before meeting Goku [[WhoWantsToLiveForever was boredom]]), his usual procedure was to visit a world and demand their finest cuisine and sometimes luxury creature comforts. If he's pleased, he'll depart the planet peacefully, if not, [[EarthShatteringKaboom well...]] Part of his EstablishingCharacterMoment was that he was eating the food of a planet's best (and terrified) chefs; he liked the food, but deemed it too salty, so he destroyed a full half of the planet and left.
63* Why Izaya does ''anything'' in ''Literature/{{Durarara}}''. For instance, he onced framed Shizuo for a NoodleIncident because it was funny.
64* Urumi Kanzaki in ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka''. While her actual reasons for hating adults is more complicated, she states her class terrorism to be a means of "killing time". Being a child prodigy leaves her often bored with the usual lectures, leading her to spend her class time giving teachers very hard questions, sabotaging their equipment, and other pranks. She eventually stopped coming to school altogether, until brought in by Miyabi to "kill time" with Onizuka.
65* Guu of ''Anime/HareGuu''. She often pretends to deliver {{Aesop}}s with her actions, but always keeps ignoring them just because she can have more fun that way, and gets Hale another inch closer to a total nervous breakdown.
66* The reason Haruhi does anything in ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya''. Considering her [[RealityWarper god-like powers]], one shudders to consider what she would do if aware of them.
67* Most of Hisoka's actions in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'', if not ALL of them, are based around either finding someone strong to fight against or building someone up to become someone strong to fight against, to the point of calling a battle off if he finds out his designated adversary can no longer fight. Hisoka behaves like this because he gets [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence incredibly sexually aroused]] fighting a WorthyOpponent.
68* ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'': [[BigBad Ryomen Sukuna's]] sole motivation is to indulge himself, more often than not at the expense of everyone else. During the Shibuya Incident, after [[PlayingWithFire Jogo]] uses his [[SuperSpecialMove Maximum Technique]] to [[MeteorSummoningAttack summon a meteor to attack him with]], Sukuna moves towards Kusakabe and Panda's position and forbids them, along with the curse users standing nearby, from trying to escape the meteor until he verbally allows them to, promising to mercilessly kill anyone who disobeys him even though they are not a threat to him and he stands to gain nothing from the situation. [[TheDreaded Because they know just how overwhelmingly powerful Sukuna is]], no one dares to move a muscle.
69* Heartseed in ''Literature/KokoroConnect'' constantly explains that the reason he continually screws with the protagonists' mental and physical states (i.e. switching bodies, releasing their innermost desires, reversing their ages, and allowing them to hear each other's thoughts) is for no greater reason than it entertains him to watch them constantly struggle. [[spoiler:The light novel explains that he is actually doing it to prepare them for facing Second, who is legitimately messing with them out of malicious intent, but the anime adaption never got that far, due in large part to the extremely cruel "prank" several of the Japanese crew and cast members pulled on an auditioning voice actor.]]
70* The Prince of Dogra from ''Manga/LevelE''. He's the kind of guy who [[strike:can]] will ''buy a planet'' and hand out advanced military tech just to play a (potentially deadly) prank on five random grade-schoolers and his second-in-command. Because he thinks it's funny.
71* This is why ''Manga/MagicKaito'''s Kaito Kid does things like tie-dye people's underpants while they're still wearing them, use blinding pink sleeping-gas, and flip Aoko's skirt. On the part of the author, this is probably why Kaito has a [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes phobia of fish]] and can't ice-skate.
72* Pretty much everything Kanade Suzutsuki does in ''Literature/MayoChiki'' is simply because it amuses her at the time.
73* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', the character Wang Liu Mei is TheMole during the entire series, pretending to be a valuable ally to the heroes, but then passing information on to the villains (and vice versa). As she expresses several times, she's simply bored and wants to see the world change ā€” but doesn't care at all whether it is for good or ill.
74* Orochimaru from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' gives this as his reason for arranging the war against the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
75-->'''Orochimaru:''' I guess that I do kind of have a goal. Let me see if I can explain it. I find it very interesting to watch things in motion; I get no pleasure when the world is still. Like a windmill that isn't turning: I suppose some might find it beautiful, even if it's immobile, but to me such a thing is truly boring. So now I want to put things in motion myself. The first step is crushing the Leaf Village.
76** Also from the series, the BigBad affected a goofball 'Tobi' persona for no tangible reason, especially since most of Akatsuki already knew it was fake, which can only lead to the conclusion that he did it for shits and giggles. [[spoiler:And this might be why he pretended to be Madara, too.]]
77* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Tsukuyomi pretty much has this as her modus operandi. Unfortunately, the things that seem to amuse her are [[SexIsViolence excessive]] [[OrgasmicCombat violence]], [[PsychoLesbian and Setsuna]].
78** [[NobleDemon Evangeline]] also fits this perfectly. She loves giving Negi outrageous orders just to see if he'll go through with them, such as demanding that he lick her feet before she would teach him magic.
79** Haruna is also like this, although in a (slightly) more benign way.
80* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', this is Mihawk's justification for destroying Don Krieg's fleet and pursuing the survivors: He was bored, and they were there. He also allows Zoro to live following their duel for the same reason: Zoro has potential to be amusing for a very long time, once he TakesALevelInBadass. [[spoiler:And after the TimeSkip, that's just what he's done... thanks to Mihawk himself teaching him the ways of the sword. Zoro proposing that is the only thing in the series so far that made Mihawk laugh.]]
81** In fact, it seems the more powerful someone is, the more likely they are to do immoral and/or pointless things for kicks. Crocodile constantly sent sandstorms to Yuba to keep hindering the efforts of an optimistic old man searching for water. He even admits that there's no point in doing so as it has no connection to his EvilPlan; he's just doing it ForTheEvulz.
82* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': When Akira asks his VirtualSidekick Alpha why some of the MechanicalMonster and WeaponizedAnimal designs he fights seem so odd or hobbled, Alpha explains that the ArtificialIntelligence installed by the {{Precursors}} to run the factories making these droids, after hundreds of years, simply got bored and designed their monsters as such for kicks.
83* Hikaru and Kaoru in ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' do this many times. MANY.
84* ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'' has numerous examples. Heaven is unchanging, and therefore said to be MINDNUMBINGLY DULL, which provides the motivation for the "merciful goddess" Kanzeon to do all sorts of things, from saddling her notoriously dull nephew with the heretic monkey-like Goku in ''Gaiden'', just for the lolz, to forcing Sanzo and his party to take the physical road to India instead of the heavenly one, which would get there infinitely faster. She says the latter is 'cause they need to grow over the journey, but admits it's also because it's much more interesting that way.
85** While Kanzeon is a bit of a bitch, she's ultimately on the side of the main characters, if only because one is her nephew, but Nii/Kenyuu/Ukoku is a genius who finds everything in life so easy it's deadly dull, so seeks out "eat or be eaten" situations so as to feel alive/find a challenge he can't meet so he can die. He is shocked by Koumyou's comment that since he finds everything boring, he must be a boring person. Koumyou is also a super-genius who in contrast is very lazy, avoids difficult situations, and can find joy in almost anything.
86* The only reason the ''Manga/{{Sekirei}}'' plan exists is because someone got the bright idea of a PokƩmon-style game.
87* ''Manga/ASilentVoice'': A mix of this and AllergicToRoutine was Shoya's entire motivation as a child; always sought a life free of boredom and was actually afraid of the thought of having nothing to do. [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]], as this drove him to ruthlessly torment Shoko, [[BullyingTheDisabled a deaf girl]], to levels just barely avoiding BullyBrutality just for the sake of having something to do.
88* '''''Xellos''''', from ''Literature/{{Slayers}}''. After about fifteen episodes' worth of hunting for the Claire Bible, it turns out that he knew where it was all along. He just didn't tell Lina and the others because he found it more entertaining to watch their antics as they went on multiple wild goose chases for the better part of a season. He also is prone to "forgetting" to state key pieces of information to watch the results.
89* In ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'', this is the sole motivation of Evil God D. She even outright admits to Kumoko that she's observing her solely for the entertainment of watching a weak spider struggle to survive.
90** The worst instance of this is her creation of the [[spoiler:Skill System]] to prevent a global catastrophe. She could have simply invested some of her own energy to do so, but she thought this method would be more entertaining. It just required another goddess to be trapped for thousands of years as a living battery while millions if not billions of souls reincarnate into a hellish existence. And just to add insult to injury, she got ''bored'' with the whole thing and ignored it in favor of video games.
91** Late in the story when Shiraori is on the verge of victory and [[spoiler:dismantling the System]], D reveals her plans to the ''entire world'', framed in the worst possible light, and issues a "World Quest" to side with or against Shiraori. This combined with [[spoiler:forcing Taboo on everyone, increasing potential casualties when the System collapses]], inspires [[spoiler:Gyurie]] to fight even harder and triggers a devastating world war. All of it to amuse D.
92* In ''Literature/TheTestamentOfSisterNewDevil'', Yahiro Takigawa, a boy at Mio and Basara's school, mentions befriending the latter because he found it amusing how he instantly became hated by all the guys at school due to being fought over by Mio and Yuki, another girl in his class that seems to be a childhood friend and like Mio, is considered an untouchable idol by the boys. When Basara asks if that wouldn't be a problem for him as well being associated with him, Yahiro casually mentions throwing him under the bus if it ever came down to it.
93* The titular character of ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' is this, without being on the side of evil anytime, whenever there's food involved that is. While venturing for a rare ingredient, there will most often be some Bishokuya that are after it for some overall good reason, but Toriko makes it blatantly obvious he just wants to eat it and nothing more. But there's always a villain after the ingredient to, so he ends up opening a can of whup-ass anyway because they violate his code.
94* In ''Manga/TwinStarExorcists'', this is the explanation Kamui gives for most, if not all, of his actions. He states outright that his "hobby" is leaving [[SadisticChoice mostly sadistic]] choices to humans, although it can be anything from "Do you want to die with your head crushed or your body squashed?" to "Do you want me to give you power or die?", immediately followed by "I'll wait while I count down to ten.". The reason he even considers the former is because he likes [[BloodKnight fighting strong opponents]].
95* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': [[spoiler:When he discovers he's actually part-{{Youkai}}, and thus one of the most powerful beings to exist]], Yusuke promptly tells [[AGodAmI everyone to "KNEEL BEFORE ME, YOU INSECTS!"]]... before he immediately [[DeadpanSnarker wonders why anyone would do that]], and has a good laugh at [[OhCrap his friends' faces]]. In the anime, he does something similar to an elite Spirit World warrior who's actually scared Yusuke's youkai side has awakened, so Yusuke {{Troll}}s him for a while before finally going, "Relax, you sap. I'm not an evil demon. I'm just Yusuke."
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Comedy]]
99* Creator/GabrielIglesias's "friend" Felipe constantly pulls off dickish pranks on his friends. Because of him, Gabriel has been nearly arrested for giving the impression that they were crossing the U.S.-Mexico border smuggling illegals in the boot of his car. Felipe made light of a cop showing off his scars ("Bullet wound, '96.") by showing the cop Gabriel's stretch marks ("Donuts, 1996."), which Gabriel thinks could have incited the cop to kill them. But what's Felipe's response to situations like these?
100--> "I know, but it was funny, huh?"
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Comic Books]]
104* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
105** ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Whereas most incarnations of the Joker are a For the Evulz MonsterClown, some versions of the character (particularly Golden/Silver Age ones) fall into this category. Like Joker's wild manner as portrayed in the animated show ''The Batman'' where he (although still wishing to either destroy Gotham or turn it into madness) will do things "...just for laughs..."
106---> '''Joker''': Kid, I don't just ''rand''omly ''kill'' people. I kill people when it's ''funny''. What would con''ceiv''ably be funny about killing ''you''?
107** ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': The Prankster's only real goal is to pull the biggest practical jokes on the largest number of people possible, and his favorite target is the most powerful being on Earth.
108* ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'': The titular protagonist steals because he likes the challenge, not because he needs to. In fact, he's filthy rich and a capable [[CutLexLuthorACheck engineer, inventor, actor, chemist, gymnast, car racer and detective]], and could easily support himself honestly with any of those professions or by simply marketing his [[LatexPerfection perfect masks]]. Also, he'll occasionally prank [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Ginko]] or someone else just to enjoy their reaction.
109* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
110** ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': This trope is Deadpool's prime motivation. For example, he once fought Bullseye while wearing a ''meatsuit'', solely for this reason.
111--->'''Deadpool:''' I don't even like chimichangas. [[InherentlyFunnyWords I just like saying it.]]
112** ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The Impossible Man is like this. His only real goal in life is to have fun, seeing as his entire race might have been bored to death if ComicBook/{{Galactus}} hadn't done them in.
113** ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Loki has shades of this when he isn't doing things For the Evulz. Especially notable is the ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures'' Loki who is far less malevolent and more just an omnipotent trickster. He even admits defeat after Captain America humiliated him and televised it to the the entire state of New York, impressed and amused that a mortal managed to pull off such an elaborate trick against the god of mischief.
114** Thanos gives this as his reason for aiding Annihilus in ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}''; just to see what would happen if the universal balance was completely thrown off-kilter.
115* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': Dr. Eggman openly admits this is the reason he keeps the likes of Lien-Da and Snively around despite their desire and attempts to overthrow him and seize power for themselves. As far as he's concerned, their attempts at trying to be TheStarscream are nothing but a fun little game.
116* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
117** ''ComicBook/StarWarsDoctorAphra'': This is why [[spoiler: [[MadScientist Dr. Evazan]]]] sets up Aphra and Triple-Zero's ChainedHeat situation during the ''Worst Among Equals'' arc. While he does set it up as a twisted sociological experiment, he admits that it's mostly a means for him and [[spoiler: Ponda]] to entertain themselves while hiding from the law.
118** ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': ''ComicBook/VadersQuest'' ends with Palpatine asking why he should allow the derelict Malla Malla to live after defying him. Malla Malla answers "Because it amuses you to do so", to which the Emperor chuckles and says "Quite. Well played, little one."
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder:Comic Strips]]
122* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'':
123** In one strip, Calvin asks Moe why he bullies him all the time. Moe's answer is "It's fun." Calvin, lying in the dirt, remarks, "Oh, he's a ''sportsman.''"
124** Calvin himself constantly harasses Susie, such as by pelting her with water balloons or snowballs, primarily for cheap laughs, although she almost always retaliates.
125* ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': Everything Dogbert does, for better or for worse, is for his own amusement. He shamelessly misleads gullible people, encourages bad behavior and cons the morally bankrupt on a regular basis because he sees the world as nothing more than a source of personal entertainment. Even more so in the AnimatedAdaptation.
126-->'''Dogbert:''' ''[to Dilbert]'' I flushed down all of your socks down the toilet because it was fun. And I'd do it again! [[EvilLaugh Bahahaha!]]
127* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. His overriding motive for playing practical jokes, messing with people's heads, and generally just being mean and insensitive is that it's simply too much fun to ''not'' screw with people. Occasionally he'll come up with equally humorous excuses, such as saying that he kicked Odie off the table just to prove to himself that gravity existed.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Fan Works]]
131* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': if Doctor Strange is doing something that isn't part of his grand plan, or occasionally being kind, then the reason for his actions probably boils down to this.
132* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'':
133** [[Characters/CodePrimeMegatron Megatron's]] reason for allowing Lelouch to continue with the rebellion and Suzaku with his goals of changing Britannia was because he took a certain delight in seeing the two boys' friendship fall apart and become enemies.
134*** [[spoiler: This is also the reason he kept V.V. around despite his rebellious attitude against him and his inability to deal with Optimus and Lelouch even with his new body as Nemesis Prime because Megatron enjoyed seeing V.V. constantly fall from the pedastal he placed himself on, until Megatron stole his Code after his failures start to become predictable.]]
135** C.C.'s justification for going swimming outside the Ark, which is currently at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean: she was particularly bored at that moment.
136** Airachnid's reason for [[spoiler:slaughtering dozens of people in the ghettos]]? She was bored and considered it a hobby.
137* ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': This is essentially Mukrezar boiled down into a single sentence. He's not an OmnicidalManiac, he's simply a very bored, imaginative, and creative bastard. Takes on a meta-twist considering he was the player character of the first game.
138* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' fic ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', Satan Girl's main motivation to kill and destroy indiscriminately and randomly is her own entertainment.
139* In ''Fanfic/IPutOnMyRobeAndWizardHat'', ''why'' exactly does [[spoiler:Urobuchi]] Shirou piss off Lancer -- who's trying to ''kill'' him -- by forcing a download of dog porn directly into his brain?
140--> '''Shirou''': I did it... for the lawlz....
141* In ''Fanfic/TiberiumWars'', this is the entire reason why [[DarkMessiah Kane]] has Nod's facilities lit with dim red lights. He finds his minions' constant stubbing of toes and banging of shins against consoles to be ''hilarious''.
142* Almost everything that [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry]] [[spoiler:and Sirius]] do in ''Fanfic/OhGodNotAgain'' is for this purpose.
143--> '''Harry (to Ron after repeatedly tickling him with a levitating feather)''': I was bored and it amused me.
144* In ''Fanfic/FateStarryNight'', Lancer has Ritsuka dead-to-rights, but he takes a shine to Chaldea's Master after learning that Ritsuka had been trained by ScƔthach as well. Because of this CommonalityConnection, he's interested in seeing what kind of person he is and what kind of Servants he'd summon, letting him live and defending him from Archer.
145* In ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', Brox, Grunnel, and As'taris are sadistic practical jokers. Brox's given name is, in fact, "Funny." (The four would violently disagree with this.) Much of what Brox does is at least partially ForTheLulz. Even Grunnel, who is genuinely fond of the four (at least, they're not his enemies), pulls some fairly nasty shit on them, including making them climb a hundred-foot staircase and not bothering to warn George that Ma'ar is a nympho or of her, um, tendencies during sex.
146-->'''George:''' I think she carved her name in me back with her fingernails.\
147'''Grunnel:''' Sar uses a knife on me.
148* In the ''Fanfic/TamersForeverSeries'' this is [[spoiler: Chaos's]] primary motivation for his long term goals.
149* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', [[spoiler: this is, according to [[{{God}} The Father of Alicorns]], why [[EldritchAbomination Havoc]] pretends to have a VillainousBreakdown after losing the trial for Starlight's soul.]]
150* In ''Fanfic/TheEndIsNear'' Mello wants to see someone's head get bitten off, even if it's his own. [[OnlySaneMan L tries to point out to him that]] [[TeachHimAnger Teaching Light Anger]] [[CuteAndPsycho is a suicidal idea...]].
151* In ''Fanfic/PrisonIslandBreak'' Shadow pretends that he's going to rape Silver in the bathrooms so that he can have a laugh at his terror. [[PetTheDog He decides to give him a bag of chips as compensation so that Silver can pay off half of his debt.]]
152* ''Fanfic/PrincessCelestiaGetsMugged'' has Celestia get mugged while masquerading as a normal pegasus named Sunny Skies. She goes along with it (and the subsequent kidnapping) simply because she's bored and needs the excitement, and knows she's a NighInvulnerable {{Physical God}}dess and could escape at any moment..
153* In ''Fanfic/HorseshoesAndHandGrenades'', it's shown that Kengo and Jiro are in some psychotic love relationship. [[spoiler: One of the side stories ''Tears to Shed'' reveals that Gentaro brainwashed them into this relationship because he's completely bored and doesn't like having emotionless dolls as his loyal subjects.]]
154* ''The New Look Series: Trunks' New Look'' has this as the reason why the boys Trunks babysits blackmail him into dressing in his mother's PlayboyBunny outfit and doing their chores. They also hide his clothes before they go to sleep, forcing him to stay dressed like that till next morning.
155* Celestia sometimes does some rather unethical things when trying to relieve her boredom in ''Fanfic/DiariesOfAMadman'', particularly where she allows Rarity and Nav to be arrested for treason, simply so she could see what happens. There's also a NoodleIncident where she claims to have spent an entire year disguised as a chair to see the results.
156* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'' drives Loopers stir crazy, so they usually spend time planning "pranks" to keep themselves entertained.
157* In ''Fanfic/PleaseStopEatingTheHellButterflies'', this is the primary reason why anyone does ''anything''. Yamamoto, however, believes it is not an acceptable reason as to why Urahara felt the need to conquer hell.
158-->"I was bored."
159* This is the reason Shigeru of ''Fanfic/DespairsLastResort'' continues to aggravate Kazumi.
160* This is usually the reason when Quirell of ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' does anything good. As explained via Harry:
161-->I asked Professor Quirrell why he'd laughed, after he awarded Hermione those hundred points. And Professor Quirrell said, these aren't his exact words, but it's pretty much what he said, that he'd found it tremendously amusing that the great and good Albus Dumbledore had been sitting there doing nothing as this poor innocent girl begged for help, while he had been the one to defend her. And he told me then that by the time good and moral people were done tying themselves up in knots, what they usually did was nothing; or, if they did act, you could hardly tell them apart from the people called bad. Whereas *he* could help innocent girls any time he felt like it, because he wasn't a good person. And that I ought to remember that, any time I considered growing up to be good.
162* ''Fanfic/ItsForAGoodCauseISwear''. Team Seven have [[PeggySue gone back in time]] to fix some stuff. Once they're all together in the past, they spend all their time dicking around together having fun until [[StationsOfTheCanon it's time]] to put down some bad guys.
163* In ''Fanfic/{{FREAKINGENSOKYO}}'', Remilia allows Brad to stay in her mansion for this reason alone. It's also one of Brad's main motivations throughout, as well as that of secondary protagonist Matt.
164* In ''Fanfic/AgesOfShadow'', this is why [[FallenHero Jade]] decides to [[IAmNotLeftHanded hold back]] when actually fighting anyone. She's [[PhysicalGod so powerful]] that she can win any fight easily, and [[VictoryIsBoring that's boring]]. Giving her opponents a HopeSpot and the illusion of hurting her is much more entertaining.
165* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'':
166** During the Kirigakure Civil War arc, a fight breaks out between [[BelligerentSexualTension Mei Terumi and Zabuza Momochi]] for the right to be Mizukage. Jiraiya tries to stop it, but Tsunade tells him to let them fight, since it's more fun than the soap operas she watches.
167** Much later, during the Fourth Ninja War arc, Anko comments that the only reason she can think for Orochimaru to bring back [[spoiler:Mizuki]] as an Edo Tensei zombie is because he found it funny.
168* ''Fanfic/NerveDamage'': The divergence point is that a man named Henry Hallmark taught Shirou an impossible, overpowered branch of magecraft that makes him orders of magnitude stronger than some of the most powerful mages in the world... and told him that this type of magecraft was perfectly ordinary, so Shirou still thinks he's a bottom of the barrel mage. Why? He thought it would be funny.
169-->'''Henry:''' Should I, or should I not. Do I dare force this young man to aim for godliness? Will he believe? Will it even work?\
170''[beat]''\
171'''Henry:''' Oh the fudge with it, I'm doing it for shits and giggles anyway.
172* The characters in the [[Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}} Contractually Obligated Chaos]] series eventually conclude that the plot is a SentientCosmicForce which is amusing itself at their expense. (The source material is the ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' cartoon, so ItMakesSenseInContext.) It's a generally benevolent force, but prone to putting them in peculiar situations, and this is suggested to be its entire motivation.
173* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail:'' PlayedForDrama. The only reason that Chloe's class (who are a bunch of bullies), pushed Chloe to fight Ash Ketchum (the Alola League Champion) was only because they all knew that she was ''never'' going to win and wanted to rub it in her face that she was a pathetic loser. They learn to heavily regret this later on when the entire world learns about their bullying and their parents drill it in that, since Chloe ran aawy from ''their'' bullying, then if she dies ''it's all on them''.
174** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus'': Asher/Shadow Sycamore made the Apex play [[Series/SquidGame the Dalgona game in green tracksuits]] when they came to the Shadow World Car just cause he was curious about it.
175* ''Fanfic/TheLogiaBrothers'': [[SatanicArchetype Akuma]] is motivated entirely by his desire to be entertained, which is the whole reason he gave Luffy and his brothers Devil Fruits. If Sengoku's comments are anything to go by, he's known to wipe out entire islands for his own amusement.
176* While roof-hopping across the city, Leviathan in ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'' [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom Foot Dives]] a random pony's swimming pool and drenches her for no other reason than for the sake of a good laugh.
177* In ''Fanfic/WhenReasonFails'', Shoto hangs around Izuku's Cabal because their antics entertain him. Izuku takes advantage of this by convincing him to come with the group in their assignments and provide certain trivia. Yagi points out to Aizawa that this is legitimate behaviour among Initiates when the latter questions the former on letting Shoto hang out with Izuku's Cabal.
178* ''Fanfic/DarthVaderHeroOfNaboo'': Plagueis decides to honor Vader's unilateral declaration of peace between the Jedi and the Sith just because he wants to see how long it will last on its own momentum. If it collapses because of his scheming, that would be boring.
179* ''Fanfic/TheRenegadeHeroInvaderZim'': Gaz only pushes Zim towards taking advantage of [[VillainWithGoodPublicity the Galactic Guardians' hero worship of him]] because she thinks it'd be amusing to see what kind of damage he can do with that.
180[[/folder]]
181
182[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
183* ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge'': Raiden lets Johnny labor under the delusion that the tournament is actually a movie set [[NotSoAboveitAll because he thinks Johnny's ignorance is funny and wants him to find out the hard way]].
184* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': Ego's speech at the end implies that his harsh standards developed in part because he found tearing into restaurants with negative reviews more enjoyable than writing positively.
185[[/folder]]
186
187[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
188* At the end of ''Film/AssassinationNation'', this turns out to be the motive of [[spoiler:Lily's younger brother Donny]], the hacker who leaked all of the private information of the people of Salem. When the police ask him why he did it, he simply responds, "for the lulz."
189* This trope pretty much sums the character Randal from ''Film/{{Clerks}}''.
190* In ''Film/CrookedHouse'', the killer's motive was [[spoiler:she was bored and thought a murder investigation would spice things up]].
191* From ''Film/CruelIntentions'':
192-->'''Kathryn:''' You were very much in love with her. And you're still in love with her. But it amused me to make you ashamed of it. You gave up on the first person you ever loved because I threatened your reputation. Don't you get it? You're just a toy, Sebastian. A little toy I like to play with. And now you've completely blown it with her. I think it's the saddest thing I've ever heard.
193* ''Literature/DangerousLiaisons'', the original that ''Film/CruelIntentions'' was based upon.
194* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' (1980). At the beginning of the movie Emperor Ming tells his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Klytus that he's bored and asks him what plaything Klytus has for him. Klytus tells him about the Earth, and Ming starts inflicting a series of disasters on our planet. Later on he tells Flash Gordon that when he destroys planets, he does so for his (and the great god Dyzan's) "mutual pleasure".
195** Maybe a subversion because he tells Zardoff that he uses this method to test whether the people of Earth suspect Ming's existence. If they do, they are a threat and must be destroyed.
196* From ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', the Brain Gremlin after he casually shoots one of his less mature peers in the face with a pistol:
197-->"Now, was that civilized? No, clearly not. ''Fun'', but in no sense civilized!"
198* In ''Film/TheInnocent1994'', this is Bates and Tinsley's motive for shooting up and robbing convenience stores. They like killing people, and they especially like knowing everyone is scared of them. At one point one of them yells at the city from an overlook, "WE OWN YOUUUU!"
199* In ''Film/InTheCompanyOfMen'', another take on the "Dangerous Liaisons" concept, a man named Chad, incensed at his girlfriend for leaving him, convinces a schlub named Howard to get revenge on womankind by targeting and psychologically tormenting a vulnerable deaf employee. When the plot backfires and Howard falls in love with her, he returns to Chad, who shows him his girlfriend lying in his bed. When he demands to know why then, did he encourage him to go down this road in the first place, Chad replies, "Because I could".
200* From ''Film/TheLongRiders'':
201--> Belle Starr: "You're both crazy, but you do keep me amused. I am having a '''real''' good time."
202* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:'' Rocket has a habit of asking for / trying to take artificial body-parts, simply because he finds the idea of their owner doing without absolutely ''hilarious''.
203* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', as K grabs a HyperDestructiveBouncingBall:
204-->This caused the 1977 New York blackout. A practical joke by the great attractor. He thought it was funny as hell.
205* In the infamous torture scene from ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', this is Mr. Blonde's stated motive: "Look, kid, I'm not going to bullshit you, all right? I don't really give a good fuck what you know or don't know. I'm going to torture you anyway, regardless. Not to gain information: it amuses me to torture a cop."
206* This seems to be why Boddicker's gang in ''Film/RoboCop1987'' went completely overkill when shooting Murphy into a red mess of meat.
207* ''Film/SmoshTheMovie'': Ian seems to think that his pranks are hilarious and does them all the time when he's bored (which is all the time).
208* In ''Film/TradingPlaces'', the Duke brothers decided to do their "social experiment" out of boredom and for a $1 bet, and completely ruined one of the protagonist's lives (they did help the other protagonist, but that was really only out of boredom as well; they didn't give a damn about him, and were planning to ruin him afterwards as well).
209* From ''Film/WallStreet'':
210-->'''Budd Foxx''': Why do you need to wreck this company?\
211'''Gordon Gekko''': Because it's ''wreckable'', alright?
212* Luther of the Rouges gang in ''Film/TheWarriors'' shoots and kills Cyrus and then pins the blame on the Warriors gang. This causes all the gangs to turn on the Warriors and they hound them throughout their journey to return to their home turf. When the Warriors and Rogues finally meet face to face in Coney Island, Swan asks why Luther did what he did and gets a simple response.
213-->'''Swan''': Why'd you do it? Why did you waste Cyrus?
214-->'''Luther''': No reason. I just like doing things like that.
215* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Quicksilver helps the team just because he'll get to break into the most secure prison on Earth.
216* Although he definitely has a certain ethical desire to aid the good and punish the wicked, the nameless protagonist of ''Film/{{Yojimbo}}'' seems to be motivated a fair amount by this. He only got involved in the gang war by throwing a branch in the air and he is clearly amused by the prospect of earning a little cash while exterminating the two gangs by playing them against each other.
217[[/folder]]
218
219[[folder:Game Shows]]
220* ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'':
221** Sometimes Creator/{{Greg|Davies}} will force people to do "individual" tasks that no one else has to do, purely for his own amusement. The first time ever is in Series 1 when he forces Josh Widdicombe to count how many beans there are in a tin, under the pretense that everyone is doing that task and it's worth points. Unlike other solo tasks which aren't worth points, which are generally brought on by something that contestant was doing (like Mel Giedroyc being too positive), he purely did this for his own amusement. Then he made Josh do the exact same with a can of spaghetti hoops. ''Then'' he made him do it ''again'' with a bag of rice. Josh got no points for any of these either. And, of course, when Josh reappeared on ''Champions of Champions'' Greg got him ''again'' by making him, and only him, sing along to the Taskmaster theme song, again receiving no points.
222---> '''Greg:''' Thanks for that Josh. [[BlatantLies Much appreciated]].
223---> '''Josh:''' Did no one else do that?! Are you kidding?! What?!
224---> '''Greg:''' On with the show!
225---> '''Josh:''' No!!!
226---> '''Greg:''' What's the matter, mate?
227---> '''Josh:''' Are you joking?!
228---> '''Greg:''' You look like you're having a lovely time.
229---> '''Josh:''' I'm not getting any points for that?!
230---> '''Greg:''' That's correct!
231** In Series 9, most of the things [[{{Troll}} Rhod Gilbert]] did was to either irritate or annoy The Taskmaster, often to the point he'd go in knowing it was going to cost him the task. He repeatedly brought in the exact same photo of Greg "looking fat", photographed Greg's mother wearing a fez in the bath, frequently abused Alex, and generally just went wild for no other reason than he found it funny.
232---> '''Greg:''' I ''will'' get you for this. I don't know when, but there ''will'' be consequences!
233** During the Series 13 task "Enable Alex to bite his duck", Chris Ramsey became so annoyed with it that, after finally completing it, he just began spraying Alex in the face purely to let off some steam. At first he declared he was doing it for The Taskmaster, but soon relented and admitted he did it purely for his own enjoyment.
234---> '''Chris:''' And just because I think The Taskmaster will respect this...
235---> '''Alex:''' AAAAAAGH!!!
236---> '''Chris:''' I don't care about the points. This is fucking great.
237---> '''Alex:''' Chris? Turn it off!!!
238[[/folder]]
239
240[[folder:Literature]]
241* In Creator/GeorgetteHeyer's ''Literature/{{Arabella}}'', when the heroine proposes to the hero so she can ask him for Ā£700 once the ring is on her finger, he knows exactly what she is doing and why, and has actually already paid out the Ā£700 to rescue her brother. Nevertheless he goes along with her request for an elopement because it amuses him. He also made her the toast of London by pretending she was fabulously wealthy for the same reason. In fact the reason she doesn't agree to marry him earlier is because everyone has warned her that he has pretended to like girls and then dumped them for fun.
242* Apparently played straight in ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'' when Francisco d'Anconia builds a worthless copper mine, just to have a laugh when a socialist government loots it to provide a [[BlatantLies "higher standard of living for the people"]], only to find it worthless. He tells reporters shortly before the story breaks that he came to New York to "witness the farce" (everybody thought he was referring to a sleazy divorce scandal). Shortly afterwards, we find him telling Dagny how amused he was at the prospect of the collapse of Wyatt Oil and all of the world's great industries that he would destroy with more apparent pranks. Later subverted when we find out that he is one of the "destroyers" (or strikers) who is destroying industry so the looters will gain nothing of value and capitalism can start anew after their downfall.
243* Virigar, the BigBad of ''Literature/TheBalancedSword'' and the Literature/JasonWood stories, is an enormously powerful and practically immortal [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] who sets up elaborate and long-running schemes to keep himself from getting bored. And although entertainment isn't the sole purpose -- he does genuinely want the payoffs that the schemes will provide -- he's appreciative on the very rare occasions when someone manages to best him, because it makes a change from the usual. (It's been explicitly stated that he could kill Jason out of hand any time he felt like, but happens not to feel like it because he wants to see what entertaining thing Jason will do next.)
244* The King of Super villains, The Dark is sometimes prone to this in ''Literature/{{Brennus}}''. His daughter Gloom Glimmer claims the reason the old system for classifying superpowers was so confusing, was because he used his powers to sneak into the meeting of scientists creating it and telepathically screw with their heads. The reason? [[{{Troll}} He was bored]]. Later in the story, when [[TheDragon Wyrm]] questions [[spoiler: why he didn't cut ties with Mindstar after discovering someone had altered her and [[TheHero Basil's]] [[FakeMemories memories of their lives]] before living in New Lennston]] he responds with: "And ruin the suspense? This is the most interesting thing to happen in years!" Cue FacePalm from Wyrm.
245* In ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool'', Fate does this occassionally. She'll pick a person to be her special project, and give them incredibly bad luck. She'll also give them just enough good luck that they can survive the often insane situations they end up in, and even come out on top if they're particularly clever. She does it often enough that people in the know call this unfortunate individual, Fate's Chew Toy.
246* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Oreg is the child in PoweredByAForsakenChild, he ''is'' castle Hurog. His father, who did this to him, gave him the ability to materialize a human body because "it amused him". Overlaps with For the Evulz, as the implication of this is that Oreg ''can'' be tortured like a normal human being, despite his immortality. It is never explicitly said that this was his father's intention, but it is clear that his "owners" did that to him, and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil worse.]]
247* The title character of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' edges into this at times, such as arranging a meeting with a mob boss at a Burger King, because, in his own words, "I just wanted to see him there." Then he deliberately ignores said mob boss, and makes a show out of [[MundaneMadeAwesome drinking his coffee.]]
248* When [[TheRunaway Nick]] first meets [[EvilSorcerer Smallbone]] in ''Literature/TheEvilWizardSmallbone'', he's asked if he can read. Nick lies and says he can't and Smallbone says 'Perfect!' and takes him on as an apprentice, gloating that Nick can't read any of his magic books. It turns out it was all a setup: Smallbone knew Nick could read and [[TricksterMentor intentionally set it up so Nick would start learning from the sentient books in the library]]. Why? Because it was funny watching Nick squirrel around trying to learn in secret.
249* The Dead Man from Creator/GlenCook's ''Literature/GarrettPI'' novels enjoys pulling Garret along and trying to get him to think, usually with one or two {{Xanatos Gambit}}s in the background in case Garret screws up, simply because it amuses him.
250* An inversion can be seen in ''Literature/HardToBeAGod'', when Don Rumata tries to invoke this to justify his actions (namely, repeatedly saving local scientists from [[BlackShirt stormtroopers]]) to local EvilChancellor.
251* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
252** Peeves the Poltergeist is a literal spirit of chaos. His pranks are never fatal, but there's nothing he loves more than causing trouble or shattering the monotony of daily life. Most of the teachers can exercise a limited degree of control over him, but the only people he listens to regularly are Albus Dumbledore, the Bloody Baron, and his human counterparts, the Weasley Twins (and that was only once, during their escape from Umbridge... and they asked him to do something he no doubt would've done anyway).
253** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' Fudge spends the whole Quidditch World Cup trying to talk to the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, who apparently doesn't speak any English, with exaggerated hand and arm gestures. After the match, he is angered when it turns out the Minister does speak English. When he complains about having to make all those gestures for nothing, the Minister shrugs and says "Vell, it vas very funny."
254* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Trickster gods in general do these things for amusement, because they are all children of the Goddess of Chaos. During ''Literature/AMagesPower'' alone we have the following examples.
255** Tasio the Trickster is a public nuisance in every city of Tariatla. According to a Roalt city wall commander, he would destroy a civilization or raise it to a new level of prosperity on a whim. "Most of the time, he's just a pest."
256** Zaticana, the goddess of language, caused a CurseOfBabel because she thought the resulting confusion would be hilarious.
257* When [[Literature/TheLostFleet Admiral Leary]] is ordered to leave Captain Badaya in charge of the fleet, he suspects it's because leaders at Fleet Command who want to carry out a coup against the civilian government expect Badaya, a notorious loose cannon and no lover of the civilian government, will do something to precipitate a crisis they can take advantage of. When Leary returns and nothing has happened, Badaya, who had otherwise no idea what was going on, recognized the fact the only reason he'd have been given command was because of the expectation he would do something outrageous. So, he found it hilarious to utterly confound whoever was trying to use him by doing absolutely ''nothing'' outside of his established orders.
258* Lord Henry decided to turn the title character of ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'' into a hedonism-obsessed monster just because he could.
259* This is Kester's main motivation at the start of ''Literature/SevenYearsAwesomeLuck'', since he's hundreds of years old; he changes Trick back into a cat just to watch what will happen, and keeps Trick's mother from finding him, but also assigns his familiar to keep Trick safe. [[spoiler: He comes to a HeelRealization partway through the story after being on the receiving end of magic, and resolves to start treating people as people.]]
260* OlderThanRadio: This is the reason why ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' sells his services as a consulting detective to everyone from poor tradesmen and governesses to the official police force of UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard to aristocrats, captains of industry, and even royalty. He'll even investigate the case for free if the client can't afford to pay him but their problem stirs his interest. While it's certainly true that Holmes is glad to help people who need it and see justice done, and glad to collect his fee, his primary motivation is always finding ways to stave off the monstrous boredom that he feels whenever he is not on a case, since his vast intellect makes it very hard to find meaningful challenges and stimulation in life. From his point of view, the more bizarre and outlandish a case is, the better.
261* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Jaime Lannister gives this as a reason for some of his actions, especially the occasional altruistic ones; after being made drunk and forced into swearing an oath at sword-point, he decides to keep it, simply because he thinks it will be funny for [[TheOathbreaker the Kingslayer]] to keep an unreasonable oath that nobody in Westeros would blame him for breaking. [[spoiler: Eventually he discovers that GoodFeelsGood, and acts more honourably for that reason, but this is the excuse he gives to anyone who questions his actions, and he never loses his contemptuous DeadpanSnarker attitude.]]
262* In the ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novel ''Literature/TheTruceAtBakura'', JerkWithAHeartOfGold Imperial officer Thanas secretly admired the Jedi, and in a meeting with Luke Skywalker asks to see him demonstrate his [[LaserSword lightsaber]] usage. When Luke politely declines Thanas then orders two stormtroopers to fire on him, not taking no for an answer. Luke then incredulously points out that he could've lost two of his men, only for Thanas to shrug it off and reply that [[BatmanGambit he knew Luke wouldn't endanger the truce by killing them]].
263* ''Literature/{{Edgedancer}}'' (a novella of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''): [[spoiler:Szeth]] explains to Lift that because she's against Nale, he should probably kill her, but his [[Literature/{{Warbreaker}} talking sword]] has found her funny, so he's going to endanger his boss' plan and let her live.
264* Gary Karkofsky's motivations as a supervillain in ''Literature/TheSupervillainySaga'' seem to be solely based on the fact he finds being a costumed criminal interesting. His wife and other supers call him out on this several times, especially since he can (and occasionally does) use his powers for good but chooses not to.
265* This is Samuel Westing's reason for the entire plot of ''Literature/TheWestingGame'', or at least the form the events take.
266* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfStrongVanya'': Alioska Roschof is the main character's town's biggest and dodgiest troublemaker. He turns people against each other just because he enjoys their quarrels, and he talks Vanya's brothers into burning their home down for no reason other than his amusement.
267* ''Literature/JoelSuzuki'': In ''Secret of the Songshell'', this is [[spoiler:Marshall Byle]]'s motive for wanting to steal all of Spectraland's Aura, the magical force that pervades the island, and return to Earth with his godlike powers. [[spoiler:Becoming a famous rock star]] failed to make him happy, but he's convinced that once he has the ability to turn the sky purple, or take out his bad moods by wiping out entire countries, he'll never be bored again. Felicity points out that after a while he'll get used to his powers and become as dissatisfied as ever, but he doesn't think that will happen for a long time.
268[[/folder]]
269
270[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
271* James Acaster, when he made his 'Adventure Park' meringue on ''Series/{{BakeOff}}''.
272-->'''James''' See if you can spot the secret ingredient in the water.\
273'''James''' I put loads of salt on it for a laugh!
274* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Caroline Julian's reasoning for making Bones kiss Booth in a ChristmasEpisode, though chances are it's more ShipperOnDeck.
275* On ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'', Arnold Rothstein tells a long story to a thug about encountering a man who could swallow and regurgitate billiard balls, and how he made him choke to death by supplying a ball that was infinitesimally larger. He concludes with:
276-->'''Rothstein:''' Do you know what the moral of this tale is, Mr. Yale?\
277'''Frankie Yale:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Don't eat a cue ball?]]\
278'''Rothstein:''' The moral of the story is: if I'd cause a stranger to choke to death for my own amusement, what do you think I'll do to you if you don't tell me who ordered you to kill Collisimo?
279* When the TheDevil decides to swing by for a visit in ''Series/{{Brimstone}}'', you can count on him doing something [[AffablyEvil wonderfully dickish]] like ticketing a legally parked car or tying someone's shoelaces together.
280* ''Series/BurnNotice'': while in prison, Fiona is targeted by the "Sisters", two lifers who take on hitman jobs mostly just to pass the time.
281* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': The episode "Hopeless" involves a group of construction workers who for unknown reasons go on a violent killing spree. At the end, one, Baker, is captured alive at his house. Agent Morgan, having been particularly enraged at the killings because they seem completely without motivation, confronts him, demanding to know the reason:
282-->'''Morgan''': What is so God-awful about your life that you've gotta take it out on the rest of the world?\
283'''Baker''': It was fun, boss.
284* In ''Series/DeadRingers'', Gandalf's explanation for sending Frodo on his epic quests: "Because I am a bastard."
285* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor, [[DependingOnTheWriter occasionally]], when this particular [[EraSpecificPersonality era]] isn't giving him a FreudianExcuse for his travels. In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E4NightmareOfEden Nightmare of Eden]]'', when his interrogator is trying to get him to tell him who he works for, he insists "I don't work for anyone. [[DroppingTheBombshell I'm just having fun.]]"
286** When asked for his name, rank, and intention in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E16TheWatersOfMars "The Waters of Mars"]]: "The Doctor. Doctor. Fun."
287* On the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "[[Recap/FireflyE04Shindig Shindig]]", Mal stands victorious over Atherton Wing whom he has just, through fortunate happenstance, defeated in a duel. Upon being told he must kill him rather than allow him to lie there in defeat, he replies, "Mercy is the mark of a great man," then lightly stabs Wing in the abdomen. "Guess I'm just a good man." He then stabs him again and finishes with, "Well, I'm all right." Upon being chastised with, "You didn't have to wound that man.", Mal quips back, "Yeah, I know, it was just funny."
288** River seems to make commentary designed to deliberately anger or annoy Jayne just because it is amusing to her. Particularly when she insinuated that he has a "girl's name" and solemnly warns him that "I can kill you with my brain."
289* ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'': Adam's reason for messing with Henry's life. He's supremely bored with life after two thousand years of it, either doesn't care or won't allow himself to care about mortal lives, and says speaking to another immortal is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to him.
290-->'''Adam:''' We're soul mates, Henry, we have eternity together. Might as well have some fun with it!
291* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Deconstructed with the dispassionate Roose Bolton, who carefully considers the ramifications of his every word and action to maximize gain, but will be a total {{Troll}} if he can get away with it. He later chides both his son and Locke not for torturing prisoners but for torturing ''valuable'' prisoners.
292* ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' had an episode where George and Angie find old love letters that said bad things about them. It turns out they were forged by [[spoiler: Benny]] because she was bored.
293* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'': This trope pretty much describes Hannibal's motives behind ''anything''. In the show he's almost portrayed as an observer to the world, playing with people to see what they will do just because he's curious.
294** Summed up by Will in the Season 1 finale:
295--> [[spoiler:You have no traceable motive... which was why you were so hard to see. You were just curious what I would do. Someone like me. Someone who thinks how I think. Wind him up, and watch him go.]]
296* In one episode of ''Series/{{Highlander}}'', Joe Dawson's daughter is kidnapped by an immortal with a grudge against Methos. In order to get her back, the immortal orders Joe to lead Methos to him for an ambush. All throughout the day and night, [[ObliviousGuiltSlinging Methos talks about the bond growing between Joe and himself]], and the unlikeliness of their friendship, until Joe finally snaps and tells the truth about the ambush, at which point Methos tells Joe that he's known all along. When Joe demands to know why Methos drew things out over the whole day, the explanation is: "I'm easily amused."
297* The title character of ''Series/{{House}}'' might qualify, although in the end, he often does it to either A) get the paycheck, or B) teach his associates, or even C) both. Of course, there's a ''reason'' he's sometimes considered the TropeCodifier for DrJerk....
298* This is basically the whole idea behind ''Series/AnIdiotAbroad''.
299-->'''Rick Gervais''': "There's nothing funnier than Karl in a corner, being poked by a stick. I am that stick."
300* The real culprit's motive for pooping the bed in the ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Who pooped the bed?"]]
301-->'''[[spoiler:Frank]]''': I did 'em all. All the poops.\
302'''The Gang''': Why?\
303'''[[spoiler:Frank]]''': Because poop is funny.
304* ''Series/KaitouSentaiLupinrangerVsKeisatsuSentaiPatranger'' This is the reason [[BigBad Dogranio Yabun]] gives for stealing the gathered Lupin Collection, as well as [[spoiler:murdering Literature/ArseneLupin while doing so]].
305* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': [[PsychopathicManchild Parado]]'s main reason for doing anything is either this trope or because it fits into his [[ManipulativeBastard plan]]. Amusingly, he can often blends things together so well that they fit both. Then it gets interesting.
306* In ''Series/TheMagicians,'' when Alice was a niffin, she tortured and murdered every child of a magic Lamprey but refuses to explain why to anyone. When the Lamprey itself confronts her, Alice admits she didn't do it for knowledge. She did it because Lampreys make "pretty lights" when they die, and the more painful their death the prettier the lights become.
307* In ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Winchester's motivation for conning Colonel Flagg was part this trope, part irritation at Flagg's attempts to bribe/blackmail him into compliance.
308-->'''Potter''': I apologize for this, gentlemen. Can you imagine that idiot thinking we were a spy ring?\
309''[Winchester laughs softly]''\
310'''Hawkeye''': Charles, did you have something to do with this?\
311'''Winchester''': Of course not, wouldn't waste my time... unless I could get a good laugh out of it. ''[starts laughing uproariously]''
312* In ''Series/TheNanny'' episode "Mom's the Word," Brighton and Yetta were separated at the movie theater and ended up missing each other back at the house and all over town. Later, at the hospital, when Maxwell notices that someone's missing....
313-->'''Maxwell:''' Where's Brighton?
314-->'''Grace:''' Um... looking for Yetta.
315-->'''Maxwell:''' Well, where's Yetta?
316-->'''Grace:''' Looking for Brighton...
317-->'''Maxwell:''' If you knew they were both looking for each other, why didn't you just tell them?
318-->'''Grace:''' More fun for me?
319* ''Series/OddSquad'': As shown in a couple episodes, Oprah has no problem acting on impulse and tormenting her agents for her own amusement, although what she does heavily pales in comparison to the villains. Perhaps the biggest example of this is in "High Maintenance", where she swaps the departments of Olympia and Otis, and O'Mary and Obby, for no reason other than the fact that she wants to see the outcome -- and that comes ''after'' she remarks "that may have been a bad idea".
320* In the ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' episode "Kaboom" the inventor of the titular phrase and related organization gets people to come together and all build a park in one day, and have fun doing it. At the end of the episode, [[spoiler:he is shown riding a motorboat, and reveals that he did it all as an elaborate prank. He then announces his plans to build a hospital in a poor area of China.]]
321--> ''"They'll never see it coming!"''
322* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': Seems to be Root's main motivation for doing anything.
323* In one episode of ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' Makoto confronts the MonsterOfTheWeek (who is in a human disguise) and asks him why he plays with the hearts of young women before stealing their energy. The monster simply smirks and says, "It's fun." (Makoto then says, "[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck you]]!" and [[Awesome/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon punches him square in the face]]. This was ''before'' [[BadassNormal she awakened as Sailor Jupiter]], by the way.)
324* Sean Connery from the ''Celebrity Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' sketches on [[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]. He doesn't keep coming back because the other players are TooDumbToLive, nor does he come back because he enjoys the game of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}''; he only shows up time and time again because he likes to piss off Alex Trebek with his constant dirty jokes and general obnoxiousness. He even mentions how he turned down a role in the ''Film/HarryPotter'' movies just to torment Trebek.
325* Everything the Janitor from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' does to JD.
326** Kelso does this a few times as well. In fact, just about every character has one moment.
327** Jordan has explicitly described her motivation for tormenting people as "[[ForTheLulz for funsies]]".
328** Dr. Cox constantly torments NervousWreck Doug Murphy for this reason, with notable cases being when Cox gives him 30 seconds to find a clipboard ([[SnipeHunt that Cox is holding out of Murphy's line of sight]]) or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw3x8XxVLDQ this scene]].
329** There was also that time he made Turk feel bad about betting on a patient's life for no other reason than "poops and giggles."
330** There's also this [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness uncharacteristically depressing]] line from Dr. Cox where he explains that, while it just being fun for the sake of it is sometimes the motivation, more often it's because [[StepfordSmiler they need something fun to cope with all the awful things they see in a day]].
331---> '''Dr. Cox:''' You see Dr. Wen in there? He's explaining to that family that something went wrong and that the patient died. He's gonna tell them what happened, say he's sorry, and then he's going back to work. You think anyone else in that room is going back to work today? That's why we distance ourselves, that's why we make jokes. We don't do it because it's fun -- we do it so we can get by... and sometimes because it's fun. But mostly it's the getting by thing.
332** The "[[AssShove ass box]]", which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin contains items removed from patients' rectums]]. The resulting cutaway consists of various people [[BlatantLies claiming they fell on it]], then ends with a guy just admitting that he was bored.
333* From ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
334--> '''Voice of Armus''' (on killing a main character): Exactly! It had no meaning. I did it because I wanted to. It amused me.
335** And then subverted by Troi, whom Armus has held hostage:
336-->'''Troi''': No it didn't. You took no pleasure from it at all.\
337'''Armus''': You're right. It was too ''easy!''
338** This trope is also the reason [[WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks Beckett Mariner]] uses a submanifold casting stone to prank call Armus.
339** Also from ''Franchise/StarTrek'', this is why Trelane does the shit he does, although for him it may overlap with For the Evulz.
340** Q from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', who it is theorized may be related in some way. Though most ''Trek'' fans tend to forget the pilot episode where Q has a very clear reason for doing what he does: to "prosecute and judge" humanity as a directive from the Q Continuum. The audience is reminded of this in the series' final episode, too, when Picard finds himself back in the same court room he encountered Q in the first time:
341--->'''Picard''': Is humanity on trial again?\
342'''Q''': No. The trial never ended. We never reached a verdict. But now we have: You're guilty. Guilty of being inferior.
343*** And by the end of that episode, Q subverts everything again by also acting secretly as Picard's defense against the judgment of the Q Continuum, and had been doing so since roughly halfway through the series, after Picard and crew saved his life while he was briefly depowered. This of course didn't stop Q from [[TricksterMentor screwing with Picard and crew in relatively minor ways]] as [[SecretTestOfCharacter secret tests of character]] at the same time.
344*** One of the [[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse novels]] has Q say that ''everything'' he put Picard through was part of a grand scheme, then add the only reason he sent Picard and company to [[Myth/RobinHood Sherwood Forest]] was just to [[HoYay see him in tights]].
345** Dax is one of the most trustworthy and dutiful officers on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and very reliable when it comes to important things. However, being over 350 years old and having seen and done more things than most people ever will, she outright refuses to give in to boredom and instead constantly works to keep her life exciting and entertaining. For some reason, this includes marrying the most uptight and humorless [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Klingon]] in the galaxy.
346-->'''Worf:''' Jadzia, I think it would be better to part here.\
347'''Dax:''' Oh, I'm coming with you. I took some days of leave and checked it with our superiors.\
348'''Worf:''' Why didn't you tell me earlier?\
349'''Dax:''' It's more fun this way.
350** Or moving everything in Odo's office one centimeter from their usual locations while he was regenerating. Just because she knows how much of a control freak he is with his possessions.
351* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': The Trickster spirit [[spoiler:AKA the ArchangelGabriel]] screws around with people he thinks are pompous, both because it's fun and he's got an eternity to kill. He sometimes does it to teach a lesson, but usually in the most amusing way possible, or the most torturous.
352* In the episode "Countrycide" of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', a [[spoiler:town full of cannibals]] have been kidnapping and murdering people. When Gwen asks one of them why, he responds, "Because it makes me happy."
353* In ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', Charlie and Alan are talking to Herb, and Charlie keeps talking in sexual innuendos that only Alan, and the audience, notices.
354-->'''Alan:''' Why do you keep doing that?\
355'''Charlie:''' Haven't we covered this before? It amuses me!
356* ''Series/TheWestWing'': In the first season episode "Celestial Navigation", when C.J. returns from her dentist appointment, and Josh sees her:
357-->'''Josh''': What the hell happened?\
358'''C.J.''': [[ElmerFuddSyndrome I had woot canal]].\
359'''Josh''': What happened to you cheeks?\
360'''C.J.''': I had woot canal.\
361'''Josh''': Why are you talking like that?\
362'''C.J.''': (''getting testy'') I had woot canal!\
363'''Josh''': (''chuckling'') Yeah, I heard you the first time, I was just amusing myself.\
364'''C.J.''': I can suggest some othew things you can do wif yourself.
365** A little later in the scene, when C.J. suggests Sam replace her for the press briefing she's supposed to do, Josh tells her Sam's in Foggy Bottom, and when C.J. asks what Sam is doing there, Josh laughs again and admits he wanted to see if he could make her say Foggy Bottom.
366[[/folder]]
367
368[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
369* Myth/AfricanMythology:
370** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anansi Anansi]].
371** Exu/Ellegua. One story has him sitting at the side of the road, repeatedly telling people it's safe to cross, only for them to fall and break their legs on the way. At the end of the story, he tells HIMSELF it's safe to cross the street, breaks his leg, and has been depicted with a walking-stick ever since.
372* Myth/AztecMythology: Huehuecoyotl was just as likely to help humanity or cause genocide depending on which he thought was funnier.
373* ''Literature/TheBible'': [[Literature/BookOfProverbs Proverbs 16, verse 27-29]] reads, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece. An evil man sows strife; gossip separates the best of friends. Wickedness loves companyā€”and leads others into sin." In other words, an unoccupied or bored individual will get up to all kinds of mischief and sin to alleviate their boredom. Best to stay busy, then.
374%%* Myth/GreekMythology: Hermes/Mercury.
375* Myth/NativeAmericanMythology: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_(mythology) Coyote]], although he varies from just being clownish to being outright evil, depending on which tribe's mythos we're talking about.
376* Myth/NorseMythology: Loki is a trickster god who often played pranks and caused mayhem only because he was bored. His motivation to shave Sif's head while she was sleeping? He thought it would be funny.
377* TheFairFolk: The chief difference between the Seelie and Unseelie courts in some stories seems to be in what they find funny and how much harm they consider acceptable, and that's if you're lucky.
378* There're a couple of myths ''invented'' for this purpose in Australia. Because apparently [[UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife the real wildlife]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou wasn't scary enough already]], they decided to tell tourists that the trees were infested with [[YowiesAndBunyipsAndDropBearsOhMy carnivorous koalas]] and the only way to ward them off was to put Vegemite behind your ears. This is one of the only forms of {{troll}}ing that the internet has actually ''dis''couraged.
379[[/folder]]
380
381[[folder:Podcasts]]
382* The trolls who prank call Ghost during ''every single episode'' of Radio/TrueCapitalist Radio just to hear him rage and rage... and rage.
383* In the ''Podcast/BlackJackJustice'' episode "The Do-Nothing Detectives", police lieutenant Sabien has Jack and Trixie handcuffed together. He tells them it's a matter of procedure, since they're keeping up a pretense that he's keeping them as material witnesses. In his narration, however, Sabien admits he just thought it was funny.
384* ''Podcast/FatFrenchAndFabulous'': Janel's interpretation of WWII double agent Garbo's motivations in offering his services to both the Germans and the British. "Shits and giggles? Shits and gigs."
385* In ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'', the Red Panda gives this as his excuse for [[spoiler:forging the Home Team's files]] to read that his SecretIdentity is [[spoiler:his own commanding officer]].
386[[/folder]]
387
388[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
389* The main event of ''Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} The Second Show'', May 31, 2002, was The Black T-Shirt Squad (Wrestling/MikeQuackenbush[=/=]Wrestling/RecklessYouth[=/=]Don Montoya) vs. The Night Shift (Wrestling/BlindRage[=/=]Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}}[=/=][[Wrestling/IcarusWrestling Ichabod Slayne [Icarus]]]), which is the second disc in the two-DVD set ''CHIKARA The Renaissance Dawns''. At one point, Reckless is doing the water pump spot to Hallowicked's arm. On the DVDCommentary track, Quackenbush noted that sometimes Reckless did things to entertain the fans and sometimes he did things to entertain himself.
390[[/folder]]
391
392[[folder:Roleplay]]
393* ''RolePlay/TheDoomyAdventuresOfIrkenDoominess'': Melissa stated to Deef that torturing the humans was no more then a game to her and that she saw humans as nothing but something to overcome her boredom with.
394* ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'': Aurora Va'el made pasta for a group of her friends once and laced it with LSD. She didn't reveal that until almost everybody ate some of it. Just because. Some time later, an AU counterpart of hers laced a cake with Skooma.
395[[/folder]]
396
397[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
398* ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'': One in-universe narrator speculates that this may be the motivation behind Shemeshka the Marauder, one of several major traders, power brokers, and [[TheChessmaster chessmasters]] in Sigil. She already has everything that she seems to want and more besides, and would lose nothing (visibly) were she to retire, but she's gotten used to amusing herself by playing this game and would miss it.
399* The ''Fate'' setting "Court:SHIP", about an AlienInvasion during the reign of Louis XV of France, characterises the alien Growth as being fundamentally hedonists who seeded life on various planets because it allowed them to enjoy their various flesh-eating amusements [[PragmaticVillainy without holding back their "core" species in the way that eating each other did]]. The sourcebook explicitly states that they've invented a synthetic meat that obviates the ''need'' to consume the flesh of others, but they find scooping out the delicious guts of a human and wearing their skin to be infinitely more entertaining.
400[[/folder]]
401
402[[folder:Theatre]]
403* In the 2013 musical ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', Mike Teavee gets elevated from the SpoiledBrat of the book to an EnfantTerrible via this trope. The reason he is allowed to play all the video games, etc. he wants because it's the only thing that he enjoys doing that doesn't run the risk of bringing harm upon himself or -- ''far'' more often -- others, and no adult in his life is able to control him otherwise. When he ''isn't'' glued to a screen, he's setting a cat on fire, chloroforming a nurse, stealing a German tank, etc. and according to his mother "the authorities request/That little Mike not leave the house." Instead of simply finding a Golden Ticket in a Wonka Bar, he steals one directly by hacking the Wonka Factory computers -- and it's suggested that he didn't want the prize so much as the thrill of outsmarting Mr. Wonka in this manner. Come the day of the tour, Mike's constant need for quick amusement leads to him deciding to try out the Television Chocolate setup on himself; once he's zapped into {{Cyberspace}} he runs amok there too before he's "retrieved" by the others.
404* In Creator/{{Harold Pinter}}'s "The Collection" the play's main conflict culminates in this exchange:
405-->[[spoiler:'''James:''']] Isnā€™t it strange that you confirmed the whole of her story?
406-->[[spoiler:'''Bill:''']] It amused me to do so.
407-->[[spoiler:'''James:''']] Oh?
408-->[[spoiler:'''Bill:''']] Yes. You amused me. You wanted me to confirm it. It amused me to do so.
409* In ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'', Launcelot Gobbo (a clown) runs into his blind father, who doesn't recognize him. Instead of explaining who he is, Launcelot continues to pretend to be a stranger... and informs him that his son is dead, just to see what will happen.
410* Puck from ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' hexes humans for his amusement. (Then again, well... see "TheFairFolk" under "Mythology" above.)
411* ''Theatre/{{Peter Pan|1904}}'': Peter is prone to this trope, because he's a little kid and doesn't think seriously about the consequences of what he does.
412[[/folder]]
413
414[[folder:Toys]]
415* From ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', Brutaka and Botar are two high-ranking [[TheOrder Order of Mata Nui]] members capable of teleportation and seem to have a twisted sense of humor when it comes to the [[{{Kaiju}} Tahtorak]] and large cities. At different points, both of them have teleported the beast into densely populated areas out of fun: Brutaka into Metru Nui, the universe's most important city, and Botar onto Xia, an industrial capital. This would make sense for Brutaka, seeing as he eventually [[FaceHeelTurn succumbed to evil]], but Botar was something of a religious fanatic, crazily devoted to "the will of Mata Nui".
416[[/folder]]
417
418[[folder:Video Games]]
419* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' Firkraag explains his motive for messing with you as amusement and curiosity, although he also admits to having a grudge against your guardian. When you track him down [[spoiler: and discover he's an enormous red dragon]] he'll just let you go unless you insist on fighting him.
420* ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': In ''Northern Rebirth'', hermit mage Camerin joins Tallin's group simply because he finds frying his enemies fun and they share common foes. Even at the climax of the campaign, when everyone else has someone, someplace, or some ideals they're fighting for, Camerin's battle cry is "For fun!"
421* Three cartoon shorts were created for the Chapter 3 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzj007eqD-U reveal trailer]] of ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine''. One of the shorts, included in the trailer, is "Tombstone Picnic." In it, this trope seems to be the skeleton's motivation for grabbing Bendy's leg and tripping him.
422* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'':
423** Lucifer [[spoiler:had Beelzebub join the fight for the Throne Of Bel]] for this reason. He's also willing to fight you as an OptionalBoss because he's basically bored.
424** [[spoiler:The Gigolo, a.k.a. Loki (see above)]] mostly helps you because he wants to mess with [[spoiler:Beldr. Again]].
425* ''Videogame/{{Dishonored}}'': [[HumanoidAbomination The Outsider]] (being someone who employs BrutalHonesty) outright states that the only reason he's given people access to black magic and anti-magic tools is mostly this trope and him wanting to see what you do with them. His reaction to [[MadScientist Sokolov]] trying to contact him?
426--> Sokolov believes that there are specific words and acts that can compel me to appear before him. He searches old temples in Pandyssia and ruined subbasements in the Flooded district. He performs disgusting rituals beneath the Old Abbey. But if he really wants to see me, he could start by being a bit more interesting.
427* In the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series, several characters mention this being one of Flemeth's (the infamous Witch of the Wilds [[spoiler:who is really ''the elven goddess Mythal'']]) main qualities; she is not above helping someone in one instance only to lead them to their doom in the next, solely for the fun of it. Flemeth herself even admits this.
428-->'''Morrigan''': Pray my mother is not leading you astray. She is not above doing so for her own amusement.
429* In the "Hero Mode" of ''[[VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi]]'', the reason the Earth gets thrown into chaos with the Black Star Dragon Balls is because [[Anime/DragonBallGT Omega Shenron]] thinks, quote, "peace is boring". Finding out that all of this destruction and suffering is for such a frivolous reason is what pushes the [[CharacterCustomization custom character]] to his RageBreakingPoint and allows him to turn [[GoldenSuperMode Super Saiyan]].
430* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Young Prince Harry used to be a complete brat who enjoyed teasing and tormenting others because he found it funny.
431* Xom of ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'', who likes to give you really nice weapons that you have no skill in, give you armor while you're wearing (unremovable) cursed armor, watch you eat poisonous food, and so on. And that's when he's being "nice". When he's feeling mean towards you or, heaven forbid, you begin to ''bore'' him, he'll summon demons at you, give you potentially horrid mutations, enchant your enemies' weapons, or get really creative and make all stairs to leave the current level move around and slide away from you when you try to flee. Also, throwing a bolt of divine lightning at you is considered a "good" effect, and he has a ''chance'' of shielding you from it (it's "good" because your enemies get zapped too... assuming you were fighting something that was more of a threat than a bolt of lightning).
432* The motive for Lu Bu's involvement in the battles of Guandu and Chibi in ''Videogame/DynastyWarriors 6''. Lu Bu took part in these battles in the hope that he could find some amusement. He thought that Chibi had its interesting moments. But at Guandu, he thought that the armies of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were nothing but pathetic worms squirming about. It also didn't concern him that Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Sun Quan took offence to his intrusions.
433* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
434** This seems to be the primary motivation for Sanguine, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[FunPersonified Debauchery]] and [[TheHedonist Hedonism]]. He seems to exist for the purpose of tempting mortals into sin through various vices, and his [[EldritchLocation Myriad Realms of Revelry]] in Oblivion constantly reform to become the [[HappyPlace pleasure paradise]] of whoever is visiting. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', he sends the player on a quest in which his/her task is to cast a spell that removes all clothes from everyone affected in a middle of a prominent nobles' banquet ([[spoiler:and fails to inform him/her that he/she will also become one of its victims]]). In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', after sharing a few drinks with a disguised Sanguine, the character wakes up in a completely diferent city at least a day after, and can set out on a quest to rediscover what it was s/he was doing in the meantime ([[spoiler:which included wedding rings, goats, and temple desecration]]).
435** While Sanguine is the most prominent example, this seems to be the ''modus operandi'' for most of the Daedric Princes (though some mix it with their BlueAndOrangeMorality). In ''Oblivion'', [[GodOfEvil Molag Bal]], Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Corruption]], uses the player to corrupt the soul of an honorable paladin [[FortheEvulz just because he can]]. Meanwhile, Boethiah, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Prince of Plots]], organizes a brutal tournament for the player for no real reason; he's just bored. And if [[MadGod Sheogorath]] is involved, chances are this trope will be invoked. Or not. It depends on his mood, really. When he gives you the Wabbajack, it's probably just because he wants to see what you'll do with it.
436* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', Father reveals that he had you freed from Vault 111 not out a sense of [[spoiler:duty to his mother/father]], but mostly because he just wanted to see what happened. When you finally meet him, he's quite impressed.
437* The reason HK-47 in the ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' series [[CallAHumanAMeatbag calls organics "meatbags"]] is because after [[spoiler: Revan]] saw it annoyed [[spoiler:Malak]], HK-47 was reprogrammed to call ALL organics meatbags.
438* Jinx, in ''Videogame/LeagueOfLegends'' is an amoral terrorist out to have fun. WordOfGod says that she doesn't really want to murder anyone, she just likes to blow things up -- and she doesn't trouble herself with minutiae like whether anyone is in/or/near the thing she wants to blow up.
439* The motive behind the BigBad of ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask''. Everything it does is due to boredom and interaction with it gives the sense of talking to a naughty child with no sense of empathy. It does not deliberately hurt people, but it doesn't care if it does.
440* ''VideoGame/ManaKhemia'': Flay's motivation for everything he does, from forming the [[TrueCompanions workshop]] in the first place to founding an Evil Syndicate and taking over half the world before being stopped by Alchemy Man, JustAsPlanned. In the sequel, he does things like launching a traditional Berserker raid on the office of a fellow faculty members and implanting chips in people's brains. Flay would be WrongGenreSavvy for treating a JRPG like Film/JamesBond meets {{Sentai}} with ninjas, except he's very good at [[MagnificentBastard beating the genre into submission]].
441* The only stated reason Durandal has for buzzing Earth in a Precursor warship ten thousand years after the end of ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} 2''.
442* The alien [[TheHedonist emperor Zizzy Balooba]] in ''VideoGame/MDK2'' orders an attack on Earth for his own amusement. He confesses this the moment the heroes get to his boudoir.
443* The BigBad in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' falls into this trope. [[spoiler:Porky ruins the lives of many people and corrupts the rest of the island's population, along with making mechas out of the animals and pulling the seven needles to summon a dragon that could destroy everything, [[{{Jerkass}} just because he was bored and needed a giggle]].]]
444* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', the spirit that lives in the Creepy Steeple (named [[spoiler:Doopliss]]) placed a curse on Twilight Town that turns somebody in the town into a pig every time the bell of Creepy Steeple rings. Why did he do this? Because he thought it would be a funny prank.
445* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'' [[spoiler:Tohru Adachi]] kicks off the whole plot, [[spoiler:at least from his end]], for what amounts to needing some entertainment.
446-->'''Yukiko''': Why...? What reasons could you have for doing that!?\
447'''[[spoiler:Adachi]]''': Reasons...? None, really. I could do it, that's all. And it was fun... I guess that's my reason?
448* ''VideoGame/SenranKagura: Bon Appetit!'' features in its opened scrawl Hanzo [[BreakingTheFourthWall telling the player]] he invented the whole cooking tournament out of thin air because he wanted to "start some hell", and being the DirtyOldMan he is, having well-endowed young ladies cooking gorgeous food is right up his alley.
449* The Umgah of ''VideoGame/StarControl II'' are essentially intergalactic pranksters. Their favorite targets are the LovableCoward Spathi, whom they like to scare the pants off of, but they also trick the Ilwrath into fighting a civil war and another race, and declaring the main character a "Great Enemy" ForTheLulz after he releases them from mind control (although they do give him rewards first). When you rescue their entire race from MindControl, they gladly thank you by giving you half a dozen of their ships... and then attack you with endless waves of identical ones. Nothing stopping you from just running away with your "reward", of course, but it says a lot about them that they will hand over some of their own ships and crews, just to make sure you put up a good challenge when they immediately betray you.
450* The final boss in ''VideoGame/{{Tomba}}'' fits right into this trope despite being known for only the last piece of the game. When you confront him he flat out states that he made all the other Evil pig Wizards for you to play with and thinks of the world as a giant toybox. He even calls your fight with him a game in the squeal!
451* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has a lot of this:
452** [[{{Mooks}} Fairies]] have little restraint, less sense of mortality (being immortal as long as the aspect of nature they represent exists), and [[TheFogOfAges very poor memories]], resulting in an entire species of perpetual children that never learn from their mistakes, resulting in them doing things that make no sense other than because they thought it would be funny. A lot of ''Touhou Sangetsusei'' is about the [[TerribleTrio Three Mischievous Fairies]] invoking this trope.
453** Tewi, Nue, and Mamizou are all canonically pranksters. Tewi is prone more to scamming, but still sometimes screws with people for no gain, and it's not clear if she has any real use for money.
454** Seiga spends most of her time floating around people who interest her or working on bizarre scams.
455** Several incidents essentially happened because someone with too much power got bored, most obviously Tenshi in ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'', though this has lessened in more recent games.
456** Fanon tends to portray this as the major driving force for Yukari and Yuuka, but canon doesn't particularly back this up. In Yukari's case, canon holds that she spends most of her time simply sleeping. [[UnreliableNarrator According to herself]].
457* ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'': Floyd Leech is entirely motivated by his own amusement; he'll be ''very'' invested in things he's interested in and flat-out refuse to do anything he's not. The catch is he's also incredibly fickle; he never stays interested in anything for long, and regularly gets bored with and drops any activity within ''minutes''.
458* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': The only reason the BigBad has for anything he's doing. He's actually not ''sadistic'', per se, he just finds how people react to cruelty and suffering to be more interesting than how they react to happiness. [[spoiler:In the "No Mercy" path, Flowey explains that, at one point, he tried (and succeeded in) making everyone in the Underground happy, but as it failed to evoke any empathy in him, he slowly got ground down to TheSociopath we see in the game, harming and manipulating others just to find ''any'' kind of alleviation from his [[PrescienceIsPredictable sheer boredom.]]]]
459* The Storm Titan, the one that invented the most chaotic magic in the Spiral, from ''VideoGame/Wizard101'' destroys the world of Celestia after he allied with them to stop Morganthe. Why, because like his brand of magic, he can destroy you just as easily a help you. It's likely that in the war of the ancients he's the one that threw the first punch
460* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'', [[spoiler:[[BigBad Z]] reveals to the Heroes during their confrontation with him at the end of the game that he set up the ForeverWar between Keves and Agnus simply for his own entertainment. Of course, since Z is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of humanity's fear of the unknown future, a living computer virus in the RealityWarper Origin system, what he's actually saying is that [[HumansAreBastards humanity would rather kill themselves over and over in a literally pointless war than risk giving up what they already have]].]]
461* The Corwids of ''VideoGame/ZenoClash'' combine this with FunnySchizophrenia, and incidentally a DoubleSubversion of InsaneEqualsViolent -- [[ChaoticStupid they do whatever they want]], whether it's walking in one direction for as long as possible or killing and eating whoever passes by. Right now they're in the "killing and eating" phase.
462[[/folder]]
463
464[[folder:Visual Novels]]
465* In ''Franchise/DanganRonpa'', the mastermind Monokuma/[[spoiler:Junko Enoshima]] sets up the [[DeadlyGame killing game]] for this reason. More specifically, [[spoiler:having the talent of the Ultimate Analyst makes her the second smartest person on Earth, giving her the ability to predict trends and actions, so everything in life is extremely boring for her -- except despair, which she finds to be unpredictable, and thus the only source of amusement for her in life. [[TooKinkyToTorture Even her own despair thrills her]], leading to her [[FairPlayVillain building routes for her to lose]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard into her plans]]]]. In fact, [[spoiler:after killing most of humanity and destroying almost the entire world on an environmental level, she]] is only defeated when [[spoiler:she chooses to allow it, as itā€™s more amusing and sheā€™s [[DeathSeeker looking forward to the despair of death]]]].
466* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]] makes many of his decisions, which because of his power can affect things like whether or not humanity gets destroyed, based on how much watching the results will amuse him. Even his obsession with [[spoiler:Saber]] is largely driven by his interest in breaking her rather than any affection. From his perspective, because he is [[spoiler:the king of kings]], the rest of the world exists for his amusement.
467* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'': Beatrice. And Bernkastel. And Lambdadelta. And all the other witches for that matter.
468[[/folder]]
469
470[[folder:Web Animation]]
471* ''WebAnimation/AbilityNoX'': Rindo has the ability to see other's abilities from a glance. He found out about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us3oI7Zfxt0 Yuria]]'s ability to [[spoiler: kill people by cursing their pictures]], he keeps sending her threatening letters to expose her, causing her to be paranoid and start killing anyone that she suspects and ruining her life in the process. All because he was bored.
472* Jax from ''WebAnimation/TheAmazingDigitalCircus'' admits himself that he's a mean-spirited prankster because he "wants to see funny things happen to people."
473* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': The main reason why [[{{Troll}} Lisa]] does the things she does.
474* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'', the Emperor suggests stealing [[KleptomaniacHero Trazyn]]'s entire vast collection of priceless artifacts for the kicks.
475* Ravenfreak in ''WebAnimation/{{TOME}}'' has a tendency to do this. He uses his hacked shapeshifting powers to turn into Flamegirl for no reason except piss the real Flamegirl off.
476[[/folder]]
477
478[[folder:Webcomics]]
479* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': "Why did you do it like that?" [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/26/episode-434-wouldnt-you-like-to-know/ "We thought it'd be funny."]]
480-->"Heh. That was funny, wasn't it."
481* King Radical from ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja''. His two goals in life seem to be making Cumberland a more ''radical'' place, and messing with Dr [=McNinja's=] head. Why? For fun. [[spoiler: Until it turns out heā€™s trying to replace the ā€œboringā€ people of Cumberland with Radical Landers.]]
482* In ''Webcomic/ChampionsOfFaraus'', causing trouble and bothering others for their own amusement is basically the modus operandi of trickster spirits.
483* Donovan in ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' reveals that his [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels comically-poor grasp of the Orcish language]] was just a front; he knew how to speak the language perfectly for roughly twenty years, but insisted on the mangled version because he thought it was funny (and that he was a bard, as being funny is the reason bards do ''anything'').
484* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'':
485** It was [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2010-07-02 revealed]] that the Hammers that all women can call forth to painfully (but harmlessly) reprimand offensive men actually cause more offensive actions/comments because it's a funny reaction. The immortal who created them did so for the gag factor. Susan is [[FreakOut NOT amused]].
486** It's [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2015-01-09 brought up again]] with regards to why people are suddenly gaining Magic Marks (Pandora Chaos Raven is covertly giving them to people):
487--->'''Luke:''' So you don't know why we were given them.\
488'''Justin:''' It ''could'' be as simple as a bored Immortal.\
489'''Pandora:''' ''[present but invisible and inaudible]'' Boredom is but one of the many reasons I am upsetting the balance between layers of reality in this universe. Nonetheless, ''very'' astute.
490** In Sister 3, it's revealed that this was once Pandora's reason for almost ''everything'' she did. Although this probably applies to a lot of older immortals, Pandora was the most extreme example, to the point where she reached the point of "I have done everything I could possibly do to amuse myself" 50 years before average. It's also her reason for most of the things she does in the series, excluding the ones related to her family. [[spoiler: Raven also accuses her of marking people purely out of boredom, instead of the many alternative reasons she claims to have; and he's got a point, given that her primary claim is that it's for him, the person most opposed to it.]]
491* Coyote from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt''. Comes with being a TricksterGod, as mentioned above under Mythology.
492-->'''Annie:''' Does Coyote only do things for his own amusement?\
493'''Jones:''' Only.
494* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup''. This is part of the reason why [[TokenEvilTeammate Richard]] follows [[TheHero Cale]] on his adventure to protect those in need. The other part is For the Evulz.... Do note, he has never been in on the quest, he pretty much just tags along because of the opportunity for destruction, the pleasure of killing, and the fact that watching Cale attempt to convince the survivors of Richard's onslaughts to forgive him on his lapses in morality, and steadily getting more and more disillusioned and cynical as the adventure unfolds, relieves him of boredom.
495-->'''Toyk:''' You killed 126 of my soldiers! And another 48 are being thawed out from a massive block of ice. What do you have to say for yourselves?\
496'''Richard:''' Thanks? It was fun?
497** Later on, it is explained he has a good... well, he has ''a'' reason: being an evil psychopathic {{Jerkass}} was fueling his power as a semi-immortal regenerating lich. As he actually [[HeelFaceTurn started to care]], he felt some amount of pain when injured for the first time in who knows how long. He seems to come to feel that [[EvenEvilHasStandards the cost is getting too high]].
498* ''Webcomic/MonsterOfTheWeek''. Aliens' motives in the "Fearful Symmetry" episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' are explained in [[http://www.shaenon.com/monsteroftheweek/2013/05/03/05032013/ this]] strip:
499-->'''Alien 1:''' This... why?\
500'''Alien 2:''' Because the humans will never figure this one out!
501* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
502** Most of Belkar's actions are either this or For the Evulz. He particularly likes messing with other people's heads in harmless but disturbing ways. Often, he'll do something that people don't expect from him just because it will confuse them, like [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0620.html paranoia-inducing bouts of niceness]].
503** Xykon also entertains himself in ways that straddle the line between this trope and For the Evulz:
504--->'''Redcloak:''' But if you've known all this time[[note]]how to unseal the Gate[[/note]], why do you keep sending goblins to their deaths?\
505'''Xykon:''' Because I'm BORED!
506* ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'''s story revolves around an artifact that Quizmalia, the ChaoticNeutral goddess of Fate and Fortune, created and left in the mortal world for fun. This artifact grants wishes, full stop, with zero limitations. Quizmalia's perverse sense of humour got her [[DePower De-Powered]] by the other gods and the artifact dismantled before someone could use it to put on a show.
507* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', this appears to be Pintsize's primary motive for most of his actions.
508* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''
509** Uncle Time is an {{Odd Job God|s}} with this attitude.
510** Bun-bun can veer into this too if he's in a good mood, especially with his "friends", whom he has come to grudgingly care about a tiny little bit. For the Evulz is a better characterization for many of the things he does, though.
511* The man with the hat from ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', given that most of his character is based around his [[ComedicSociopath nonchalant cruelty]]. His exploits include feeding rocks to children in parks; selling angry bobcats to people through the internet in place of office chairs; and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking pretending to smile at people on trains, so that when they smile back, he has an opportunity to leer at them]].
512[[/folder]]
513
514[[folder:Web Original]]
515* Website/FourChan and its associated... things (e.g., ''Encyclopedia Dramatica'') are very much known for their primary modus operandi: "doing it for the lulz" and "we are not your personal army." They don't care about right or wrong, they care ''that it is funny''. Generally this means they will piss off whatever can be pissed off because that generally gets the funniest reactions, but they've done neutral and even ''good'' things purely because it was funny to them. Here are a few of their high-profile cases[[note]]Controversial ones like "The Fappening" will not be mentioned[[/note]]:
516** There's an infamous case where some Anon sent emails to ''Series/TheOprahWinfreyShow'' bragging about their strength as an organized syndicate of child molesters (rest assured, [[EvenEvilHasStandards they aren't]]) just so they could trick Oprah into saying "over 9000 penises" on national television.
517** 4chan has hijacked whatever online campaigns they've come across. They manipulated an online poll to make UsefulNotes/NorthKorea the next destination for Music/JustinBieber's upcoming tour; hijacked another one to trick Music/TaylorSwift into singing for students in a deaf school; tried to make [[https://i.ibb.co/1dYc2jb/image.png Victor]] the new mascot of Kinder chocolate bars in Kazakhstan ([[Film/{{Borat}} is nice!]])[[note]]They failed three times.[[/note]]; tried feeding an anti-abortion Website/{{Twitter}} bot that generated names for the unborn with ridiculous names (they later went for the LoopholeAbuse route when they discovered the bot could post [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Twitter handles, images, porns]], etc.); tried naming Mountain Dew's new flavour "Hitler did nothing wrong" through the official poll; and so on.
518** /b/ made a Website/{{Tumblr}} account called "[[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse steven-universe]]-edits" just so they could post [[RaceLift whitewashed]] fanarts of the ''SU'' characters. The reason? To trigger the toxic fandom there.
519** This is the entire reason why they began playing non-consensual CaptureTheFlag with Creator/ShiaLaBeouf during his "He Will Not Divide Us" campaign. As soon as they realized there was a game to be had geolocating that flag and stealing it, and that it would irritate Shia, they coined the phrase "weaponized autism" and became such {{Scarily Competent Tracker}}s that they located the flag in only around 36 hours... by cross-referencing time-zones, ambient wildlife sounds, flight patterns, and the stars in the sky. And they just kept messing with it, finding new and exciting things to do to that flag. As soon as Shia effectively admitted defeat and simply locked the flag in a house, they decided it wasn't fun anymore and moved on to do bigger and better things.
520** 4chan once banded together and raised ''tens of thousands of dollars'' for ''The Fine Young Capitalists'', a feminist charity that was raising money to encourage female game developers to enter the industry. Their ''only'' motivation was finding out that Zoe Quinn had attempted to sabotage the event, and they knew undermining her attempts by signal-boosting it and giving it money would greatly piss her off. It worked, and both "Vivian James" and "The Cathedral of Misogyny" were born as {{meme|ticMutation}}s.
521* ''Blog/MakeUpAGuy'': According to guy lore, the guymaker has no reason to make guys except to enjoy their antics. He doesn't even care that the guys he makes have to inevitably be blipped.
522-->the guymaker is a chaotic diety[sic]. with the ability to create human-like "guys" i could do something productive but instead I choose to make weird people who I get to watch do weird things. there is rarely an agenda behind any given guy other than "heh. funny"
523* Sean from ''Ronin Dojo Community College DX'' explains that he does things "for the lulz". Of course, what he does is smash popular games in front of a webcam [[ExactlyWhatItSaysonTheTin so people on the internet can say "lol"]], but that's SeriousBusiness.
524* ''Literature/VoidDomain'': Zagan the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Pillar of Hell]] bestows his RealityWarping power on [[spoiler:Juliana Rivas]] because he's [[TimeAbyss old]] and bored and wants to see what she, an insignificant human who was [[RefugeInAudacity gutsy enough]] to invoke him, does with it. The catch: he'll explosively DePower her if she fails to amuse him.
525[[/folder]]
526
527[[folder:Web Videos]]
528* On the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', this is [[BigBad Dream's]] reason for continuing to mess with Tommy. In his own words, Tommy is just "too fun" to not continue toying with. When Tommy asked him after [[spoiler:[[NukeEm the Doomsday War]]]] why Dream didn't just burn [[NumberOneDime the discs]] (items of contention between Dream and Tommy, despite them being Tommy's in the first place) instead of [[spoiler:completely destroying L'Manburg]], Dream answered that [[spoiler:destroying L'Manburg]] would be much more fun, to which Tommy responded by [[YouMonster calling Dream a monster]] and [[ThisIsUnforgivable saying that he had]] [[MoralEventHorizon crossed the line]].
529* ''WebVideo/LifeSMP'': In the "Eyes and Ears" continuity, [[spoiler:[[GodIsEvil the Watcher]]]] reveals that their motivation for [[spoiler:creating the [[{{Geas}} Boogeyman]] mechanism in ''Last Life'' (Season 2), if not all the gimmicks in each season or even ''the Life series as a whole'']], is that they like to watch people turn on one another, and hate it when someone ruins their fun.
530* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', Gaea's most convoluted plans can have one of two purposes: making more in-game currency or humiliating her StrawMisogynist guildmate. Both the webseries and the comic have a point where she feeds her guildmate false info about the player that he admires just to create an awkward situation next time the two run into each other. And makes sure to be present when it happens.
531* The whole reason why ''WebVideo/{{Scamalot}}'' exists. Specifically, James Veitch, in his TED Talks on the subject, has given this as one of his two reasons for replying to obvious scams -- he wants to annoy them as much as they annoy him (the other being that [[GuileHero the scammers end up wasting their time on him instead of conning more gullible people]]).
532* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'':
533** This is Cooper's logic for many of the things he does, but especially for his treatment of [[TheChewToy Joko]]. He finds Joko's reactions amusing.
534** This is also Connor's reasoning behind convincing Altrive to jump off a cliff.
535---> '''Connor:''' I didn't have a hit on you. I just thought it'd be funny if you jumped off the cliff.
536[[/folder]]
537
538[[folder:Western Animation]]
539* The animated series ''The Adventures of Letterman'' (a regular segment from the 1970s live-action series ''[[Series/TheElectricCompany1971 The Electric Company]]'': The motivation of the segment's villain, the Spellbinder. Sometimes, it is harmless fun, such as turning custard into red-hot mustard, but too often the Spellbinder got his yuks at turning planes into plants, railroad bridges into ridges and school buses into octopuses, and freeing a hungry, angry lion from his cage and making him go into a rage... and the victims would be entire classes of children, their teachers and chaperones. So seeing young children suffer and possibly be killed... all because the Spellbinder might say, "[[DudeNotFunny It Amused Me]]!" (Fortunately, the series' protagonist, Letterman, was always there to put a stop to it.)
540* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', this is why the entity called Chaos does what he does, for the most part, because he thinks spreading chaos and discord is fun. (Although, he does seem to like pissing off Mirage most of all.)
541* Roger of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' similarly utilizes this to an occasionally sociopathic extreme.
542* King Bumi, from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', actually stated that the reason he screwed with Aang so much is "Mostly because it's fun messing with people!"
543* The Terrible Trio in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode of that name are three wealthy young men who commit crimes to assuage their RichBoredom. Batman comments that they're worse than the Joker (who has the excuse, or at least the explanation, of being completely insane).
544** Poison Ivy's [[KissOfDeath lethal embrace]] is as much about killing people as it the fact she enjoys kissing. Plus there's her obvious FemmeFatale kink. Her and Batman's FirstKiss in [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE5PrettyPoison "Pretty Poison"]] being ''especially'' steamy.
545* This is usually the reason why WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}} does much of anything (well, either this or to make money). He has a literal license to drive people crazy and enjoys using it. He's occasionally reined in by his adored MoralityChain, who is the only person he will actually heed, but she's sometimes guilty of this too.
546* Louise Belcher from ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' is this combined with TheGadfly. She is more than happy to exploit people she sees as stupid for her own amusement, and it's even lampshaded by her mother in one episode.
547--> '''Linda:''' She [Louise] likes to mess with people she thinks are stupid.
548* Franchise/CarmenSandiego steals the hardest things in the universe to steal just to prove she can. The TV versions have it explained this way: She likes the challenge of detective work and outwitting people, but criminals aren't the brightest critters. The only people actually worth challenging were other detectives, but she couldn't do that as a good guy; time for a FaceHeelTurn, then. She considers her most glorious caper not to be stealing the Eiffel Tower, a country's entire gold supply, or anything of actual value... but [[{{Unperson}} stealing her own detective records from ACME itself]].
549* Swiper from ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer''; on the few occasions he successfully takes something from Dora or one of her friends, he throws it offscreen thinking she'll never find it, and it seems to be because of this trope.
550* Similar to Bart, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'''s Peter Griffin will cause random shenanigans just for a quick giggle, no matter what the outcome of it is.
551** To make no mention of the time his father-in-law made Peter eat a pine cone.
552* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': The whole episode "The Mirror" consists of [[TheFairFolk faerie]] [[TheTrickster trickster]] [[GreatGazoo Puck]] trolling Demona [[JackassGenie at]] [[LiteralGenie every]] [[ExactWords step]], and having a blast doing it. Given that she wants him to KillAllHumans for her, we should probably be happy that he's so uncooperative.
553** Likewise the episode "Possession," he's actually kind of doing something nice for our heroes... in the most convoluted and annoying way that he can think of.
554--->'''Goliath:''' Puck! I should've known. But why this subterfuge?\
555'''Puck:''' Hey, I ''live'' for subterfuge!
556* In ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'', when Hal tries to recruit Kilowog to travel with him on a new mission. Kilowog, however, has gone back to teaching new Lanterns. He does agree to join in if Hal can beat his best student, Ch'p, a cute looking squirrel like creature, [[BadassAdorable who proceeds to be the ever-loving tar out of Hal without even giving him a chance to fight back.]] Kilowog then admits he was going to join him anyway. He just wanted to see Hal "fight the squirrel."
557* In ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'', TheDreaded Overlord Alastor decides he wants to help Charlie run her rehabilitation project. When she asks why he would want to help her [[AscendedDemon redeem sinners so they can reach Heaven]], Alastor admits he's doing it for his own entertainment. He's grown bored with his work and finds Charlie's idea amusing, just as he will find it entertaining to watch demons struggle to reach redemption and inevitably fail.
558* When WesternAnimation/InvaderZim's abduction of Dib threatens family dinner night, Gaz seeks to retrieve him from the alien containment. Zim saw her and could've attempted to stop her... but didn't, as he expected to get a laugh out of seeing her try. To paraphrase [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]], she ''did''. There was no try.
559* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Unlike [[CatsAreMean Mr. Cat]] and Olaf, who have {{Freudian Excuse}}s for their evilness, [[AntiHero Stumpy]] has absolutely no reason to torture and/or annoy people other than for his own amusement.
560* This appears to be the main motivation of Discord in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' (it helps that he's voiced by John de Lancie). When he first breaks free, he immediately starts throwing Equestria into chaos with cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk, corn popping spontaneously in the fields, and apples growing to tremendous sizes and making the rabbits that eat them grow long deer-like legs. He does end up purposely "breaking" and brainwashing the Mane Six, but it's ambiguous whether even this puts him over the line into For the Evulz territory -- ''they'' essentially declared themselves his enemies ''first'', after all, and once they're no longer a threat he leaves them alone.
561** His reappearance in the third-season episode "Keep Calm and Flutter On" seems to confirm this. Here, Discord is shown as simply a powerful {{jerkass}} who wants his own way and resents having the threat of the Elements of Harmony held over his head while the ponies try to "reform" him more or less against his will -- but who may also be at least somewhat redeemable after all.
562* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', Season 4. Megabyte [[spoiler:disguises himself as Bob and tries to marry Dot]]. When asked why he wo do this, he cites this trope verbatim.
563-->'''Bob:''' Why, Megabyte? Why do this?\
564'''Megabyte:''' ''[laughs]'' It amused me.
565** Also his sister, Hexadecimal. In spite of being a virus, she will mostly keep to herself until she gets an idea. Her most successful diabolical plot actually was targeting her brother. The rest of Mainframe falling victim to it was just an amusing side effect. She only picked a side near the end, and it wasn't "siding with Mainframe" so much as "siding with Bob". The only reason that she would defend Mainframe at that point would be because it would distract Bob, make him unhappy, and not want to chat.
566* In the ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' episode "Tale of X9", the robot assassin X9 tells how the evil scientist who created him put an "experimental emotion chip" in his brain. Why? As X9 says, "He was kind of funny that way."
567* Taken to its logical extreme in ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''. Double Trouble has no stake in the war yet [[spoiler:helps the Horde conquer Salineas and nearly all of Etheria while destroying Glimmer's relationship with her friends]] solely for money and chaos. Afterwards, [[spoiler:they give the Horde the same treatment when Glimmer hires them by tricking Catra into sending her troops into an ambush, decimating them, and turning Hordak against her. When it's all done, Double Trouble returns one last time just to rub it in and see Catra's horrified face]].
568* Bart from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' is a personification of this trope. In the past, he has played pranks on his family, school faculty, and the town itself, but was usually remorseful if his pranks had hurt someone badly. In the more recent episodes, Bart pulls pranks just to get a laugh and make himself amused, no matter how bad someone gets hurt. He gets upset whenever someone does try to punish him for playing a prank too far, as if they took his only source of entertainment away.
569* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
570** Eric Cartman relishes on the trope whenever he isn't extracting revenge. He will go to any lengths to piss people off or make someone miserable as long as it amuses him, especially if that person is Kyle.
571** Mysterion's reasoning for why Coon and Friends keeps that name even after the Coon was kicked out: "Because it pisses Cartman off beyond belief, and I find that extremely funny."
572* Patrick from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' is usually just a friendly FatIdiot. However, in "The Card" he's hinted to be [[ObfuscatingStupidity willingly acting stupid]] just to see how [=SpongeBob=] reacts to it.
573-->'''Patrick:''' [=SpongeBob=], you can't always expect my usual brand of stupidity. I like to mix it up. Keep you on your toes.
574* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Kevin is a shallow, [[{{Narcissist}} self-absorbed]] {{Jerkass}} that ''nobody'' (not even [[AllLovingHero Steven]]) seems to like as a result. In the episode "Beach City Drift", Stevonnie asks him why he's such an asshole. At first, he makes up a story that his brother has been sick his entire life and acts that way to vent his feelingsā€¦ and then reveals that he doesn't even ''have'' a brother and acts the way he does because he thinks it's funny.
575* "The Twins" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}''.
576* Two minor characters from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Thunder and Lightning, terrorize people because they find it "amusing". They don't take the feelings of the people around them into account, something Beast Boy calls them out on. (Thunder eventually realized that they were hurting people and turned on his brother, and Lightning eventually figured it out too, just in time for them to help stop the real threat.) Thunder and Lightning are loosely based off of Japanese thunder gods (Raijin, in particular) who are said to cause all sorts of destructive mischief for their own amusement.
577** In another episode, the team encounters a green, extraterrestrial dog, which they mistake for a {{Shapeshifter Mode Lock}}ed Beast Boy. After some wacky hijinks, the dog explains the situation to them.
578--->'''Raven:''' And you didn't tell us this before because...?\
579'''Dog:''' I was having too much fun. ''(smirks)''
580* A lot of what Chris [=McLean=] does in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' is for his own amusement. He admits to putting a quicksand trap in one challenge for no particular reason, among other things. And while he does get crueler and more apathetic in later seasons, his main motivation for his deeds is either pumping more drama out of the show, or getting a few good laughs.
581* In ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'', a time-displaced Omi is challenged by Grand Master Dashi to take a pebble from his palm, and if he does, he'll give the puzzle box to seal Wuya. After Omi's skills and use of Shen Gong Wu didn't work, he simply asked for the pebble, and it was given to him. When Omi asked Dashi why he allowed him to go through so much trouble just to get the box, His answer was: "Well first, it was funny." The real reason, however, was to teach Omi to think outside of the box when it comes to dealing with an enemy, considering he time travelled back in time to get another artifact that can reseal Wuya.
582[[/folder]]
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