Line #121 PlayingSick/WesternAnimation


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6	PlayingSick in WesternAnimation.
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8	* ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'': In "Easy On The Lies", Rolly pretends to be injured to keep from having to hear one of the Colonol's boring stories, and end up going to extreme lengths to get to the watering hole without being seen by the Colonol and ruining the lie.
9	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Jimmy Neutron gives his friends special patches that mimicks illness, allowing them to skip school. Unfortunately, [[GoneHorriblyRight the patches got absorbed and makes them sick for real]], forcing Jimmy to pull a FantasticVoyagePlot to develop a cure (hence the episode's title, "Journey to the Center of Carl").
10	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}''
11	** The episode, "Contagi-Anne" revolves around [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Anne]] trying this to get out of some outdoor chores on a stormy day. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody in Amphibia knows anything about human biology, she claims to have a debilitating disease called the "[[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign mocha lattes]]".
12	** In "Reunion", during the Earth flashback at the beginning, Sasha pretends to get sick from having to dissect a frog in order to get herself and Anne out of biology class and ditch school for her 13th birthday.
13	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'': In "Fakin' It", Norbert fakes sick to get out of re-twigging the dam on a wet day, going so far as to feign "the Beaver Gargle of Ache". Dagget runs himself ragged trying to care for Norbert, and when he gets sick too [[CaretakerReversal Norbert feels bad and tries to care for Dagget]]. [[spoiler: Then it turns out Dagget was also faking sick to get back at Norb.]]
14	* Used in several ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episodes:
15	** In "Arthur's Chicken Pox", younger sister D.W. pretends to have come down with the titular sickness, since she's jealous of all the special treatment Arthur is getting from Grandma Thora due to his chicken pox. It works until the fake spots she drew on with marker wash off in the bath. She then gets the chicken pox for real at the end of the episode.
16	** "For Whom The Bell Tolls" has D.W. faking she has lost her voice (or, rather, keeps pretending to have lost it after it returns) so that everyone spoils her. Arthur overhears her talking and has to get help from his friends to make her admit the truth.
17	** In "April Ninth", there's a fire at Lakewood Elementary burns down and Arthur pretends to have a sore throat because he fears his father will be in a fire if he goes to deliver a cake to another school and he knows that his dad wouldn't leave if Arthur had a sore throat as then he'd think he was sick and given him a special kind of [[SoupIsMedicine chicken soup]] that only he can make. However, Mr Read sees through the ruse and reassures him that schools are usually safe places and the fire at Lakewood was a one-off.
18	** In "Arthur Goes Crosswire", Arthur finds Muffy's boat boring as he didn't see animals and Buster suggests he play sick to avoid doing it again the next day and he thinks it's a good idea, until Prunella and Sue Ellen want to join in to see if it's fancy, Buster says that Arthur is sick, but Arthur states he "got better".
19	** In "D.W All Fired Up" D.W does this because she's afraid of going to pre-school when her class has a fire drill. Her mom doesn't fall for it the second time she tries it.
20	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' a city's entire [[LaResistance resistance force]] pretend that they were sick with Pentapox in order to let the citizens flee the occupied city. This mysterious disease was actually just hickies from a Purple Pentapus.
21	** Katara also fed Appa a bunch of bright purple berries to make it seem like he was sick, so they would have to stay for longer so that she could be the [[AnonymousBenefactor Painted Lady]].
22	* In the ''WesternAnimation/BadDog'' episode "Nurse Barky", Penelope and some of her friends pretend to be sick to get out of school to go to The Hair Scrunchie Barn at the mall. However, Little Vic and Berkeley believe Penelope really IS sick, and try every remedy they can think of to cure her, which ultimately results in Berkeley [[spoiler:infecting her with poison ivy]].
23	* In the ''WesternAnimation/BobbysWorld'' episode, "Ill Effects", Bobby, jealous of the attention his new younger brothers have been receiving, pretends to be sick, only through a series of events, ends up getting sick for real.
24	* WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's many "death scenes" to pull one over on Elmer Fudd always work. Most notably in "The Wabbit Who Came To Supper" where Bugs--having been locked out of Elmer's house--says he'll catch "p-neumonia!"
25	* One ''Franchise/CareBears'' cartoon has Hugs and Tugs drawing spots onto themselves to fake that they have some kind of pox. However, when they wash the spots off and declare they're better, the parent figures declare that the illness is getting worse! They end up going on a dangerous FindTheCure mission for nothing.
26	* In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', Season 1 "[[Recap/CentralParkS1E4GarbageBallet Garbage Ballet]]", when a sick Paige plans on killing any rats they might be inside their home, Cole pretends to be sick so he can stay home and stop her from killing any. [[spoiler: He eventually catches his mom's cold and is sick for real]].
27	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' has Rudy faking sick to get out a test he forgot to study for. However, the test turned out to be the next week and instead he was to have gone on a field trip to a dinosaur-themed amusement park, so Rudy makes a portal to [=ChalkZone=] to go to the park without getting caught.
28	* Happens with Dale on the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "Kiwi's Big Adventure"; he pretends that his foot is injured just to get closer to Gadget. Chip is well aware of this, however, and gets Gadget, Monty, and Zipper to see him walk perfectly okay by himself when they leave him alone. Dale would end up breaking his foot for real near the end, though.
29	* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' does this in countless episodes. "Mrs. Hertz? I don't feel good, I have to go to the infirmary." "Me too!" "And I'll escort them!" Cue running off to Lyoko. With three or four students doing this all at the same time, and it's the same ones every time, you wonder why the teachers don't see through it.
30	** The teachers and principal start getting fed up with this in the last Season and aren't fooled as often, so it becomes harder for the heroes to pretend being sick.
31	** Keep in mind that most of these visits [[ResetButton never happened]].
32	* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'': In "Playin' Hookie", Chicken pretends to be sick so he won't have to take a test he forgot to study for. When he finally convinces his parents, they call a Doctor who happens to be the Red Guy. After deeming Red's treatments scarier than the test, Chicken admits to be playing sick, prompting the Red Guy to confess he was just playing doctor. [[spoiler:Upon getting to school, however, Chicken finds out the students weren't actually taking any standardized tests, but being ''taste-testers'' for food and beverage companies, and Chicken's make-up test involves not eating chocolate had he just gone to school in the first place, but trout split and bass shakes from the Fish and Ice Cream Institute, much to his displeasure and distaste, to which he gives us AnAesop: "don't cut chocolate class!".]]
33	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrampTwins'':
34	** In "Sick Daze", Wayne pretends to have a cold during class so he could be sent home after one of his classmates gets sent home for this reason. Miss Hissy sees immediately through this act, so after classes, he tries to purposefully make himself sick to escape school, which works.
35	** In another episode, he draws red spots with permanent marker on his face to mimic chicken pox. It could have worked had he tried to hide the marker from his mother.
36	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCupHeadShow'': In the episode "The I Scream Man" Mugman fakes being sick so that Cuphead and Elder Kettle will leave without him and he can read his book in peace.
37	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' has the titular character try to feign an illness to get out of School Picture Day in "Doug's Big Nose", but the school nurse doesn't fall for his act.
38	* The ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Cry Ed", although Eddy is pretending to be severely injured instead of sick, and trying to get attention and pity from the other kids rather than out of school.
39	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'', Kuzco did it after learning that the Royal Treasury would provide funds to look after him (in luxury) if he was ill. Kuzco did this because he missed living in his palace, and all the comforts of it. Then in a twist of irony, he ''actually'' does get sick because of one of Yzma's schemes.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/EngieBenjy'': In one story, Jollop the dog pretends to be sick so that Engie Benjy won't take him to work with him.
41	* Peter goes to the extreme in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington", where instead of calling out sick, he tells his boss that he got into a freak plane accident where his family was killed and he's not a vegetable so he can go to a baseball game. When he goes to the game, naturally, Peter's scheme blows up in his face when he happens to have a seat next to his boss. Mr. Weed is not amused by the lies and notes that Peter made a "full recovery", thus he is well enough to see him in his office tomorrow morning. Peter manages to avoid getting fired due to his company being bought out and merged with another company the next day.
42	* ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'': In "Dropsy!", Albert Glass catches a fish disease called Dropsy, causing him to float upside down and is quarantined; upon seeing all the get well gifts that Albert is showered with when sick, Milo pretends to have Dropsy so he can get the same stuff. When Albert is cured after a week, Milo pretends he still has the Dropsy to keep receiving more gifts, but he is instead sent to a tank filled with dead fish.
43	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Fred and Barney tried to call in sick to go to a baseball game. Fred's boss believed him, but Barney's wanted him to check with the company nurse. He did, and when she took his temperature, Fred tried to fake a fever for him using his cigarette lighter. ''[[FromBadToWorse Unfortunately]]'' that made it register ''way'' too high, and the nurse panicked and called an ambulance, and suffice to say, [[HilarityEnsues it only got worse from there.]]
44	* ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' did this twice, once played very sympathetically and once played very unsympathetically.
45	** The sympathetic example is when PJ plays sick (at Max's coaxing) to get in one last day of freedom before being GroundedForever for failing his math test, which he thinks he did. Pete is very strict about what counts as "sick enough" to stay home, so Max makes PJ look ''very'' sick, which results in him being taken to the hospital and Pete ''[[AesopAmnesia very briefly]]'' realizing that he's a bad parent. Unfortunately, [[ShaggyDogStory PJ didn't even need to play sick in the first place because he didn't fail the test.]]
46	** The unsympathetic example is when Pete pretends to be sick so that he can take the day off fishing. This wouldn't be so bad by itself, especially considering Pete is his own boss, but he tells ''PJ'' he's sick and dying and that PJ has to take over his job. He goes so far to make him feel guilty by saying that Peg, Pistol, and Chainsaw will be stuck doing terrible jobs if he doesn't succeed. This starts to backfire when Max and Goofy give PJ the idea to use Pete in some stunts (since he's dying anyway), and [[LaserGuidedKarma backfires even further when PJ tearfully presents the proceeds to Peg and tells her what Pete said.]]
47	* Two instances in ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'':
48	** In "Rare Bear Bungle," Bubi feigns an illness so Peevly will tend to him while Hair and Square disguise Bananas the Gorilla as Rare Bear (a critter that costs the city $50,000 and was tricked by the bears into going into town).
49	** "The Bear Who Came To Dinner" has Square Bear faking an injury after slipping on a banana peel Peevly dropped. Hair threatens Peevly with an animal negligence suit if Square isn't cared for.
50	* In ''WesternAnimation/HollyHobbieAndFriends: [[ChristmasSpecial Christmas Wishes]]'', Holly is said to have lost her voice due to a "freak scarf accident" and this is the reason why she has to give up her solo to the widow Kelly Deegan. In reality, it's just a scheme to try to restore happiness to this Broken Bird, and it works.
51	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In "[[Recap/HeyArnoldS3E41TheAptitudeTestOskarGetsAJob Oskar Gets a Job]]", [[LazyBum Oskar]] gets a job as a paper boy to [[LoanShark pay off a debt]]. This job requires him to wake up early, and Arnold wakes up early as well to make sure that Oskar actually does the job. On the first day, Oskar tells Arnold that he has the Chinese Stomach Flu, and on the second, Oskar tells Arnold that he hurt his back, both times resulting in Arnold having to do Oskar's job for him. Arnold soon discovers that Oskar was faking when he sees him eating pancakes on the first day and dancing on the second. After covering for Oskar on the second day, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Arnold outright calls him a "huge loser" while calling him out for his lies after asking him what his next excuse will be since he's not going to cover for him anymore]]. This episode was likely [[BewareTheNiceOnes the maddest Arnold has ever been]]. [[spoiler:On the third day, Oskar ends up doing his job anyway after overhearing Mr. Hyunh and Ernie, and Arnold and Suzie, talk about his tactics of trying to avoid doing the job.]]
52	* ''WesternAnimation/JellyJamm'': Inverted. In "Musical Aurora", Goomo comes down with a case of jelly measles on the night of the Musical Aurora, and he pretends to be healthy so that he can still join his friends in seeing it. Everyone else isn't fooled and Goomo is forced to stay home and drink bitter medicine to help him get better.
53	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Stumpy does this in Episode 138 in order to avoid cleaning his incredibly messy room. Kaeloo immediately sees through the ruse, but Stumpy refuses to admit he's faking. [[spoiler: Kaeloo ends up using the fact that Stumpy is AfraidOfNeedles against him by saying that if he's sick, he must need injections, and she brings in a tray full of them. Stumpy claims to have gotten better and cleans the whole room within seconds.]]
54	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': When Bobby becomes allergic to dogs, he continues feigning his allergies even after his medication takes effect so that he can get his parents' sympathy.
55	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda1989'': In "Cold Spells", Link pretends to have a cold to get out of spring cleaning. Spryte is fooled but Zelda isn't (the fact that he tried to {{Glomp}} the latter right before putting on the act didn't help). But at Spryte's insistence, she chooses to play along for a while.
56	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlePrincess'':
57	** In "I Don't Want to Kiss Great Aunty", the Princess draws green spots on her face so that the adults would think she was carrying "warble dots" and she wouldn't have to kiss her great-aunt. She gives up when the doctor claims that the cure [[TastesLikeFeet tastes like sweaty old socks.]]
58	** Played with in "I Want My Voice Back". The Princess does lose her voice (albeit probably not due to illness as she seemed fine otherwise), but when she gets it back, she pretends it's still gone as she likes communicating with a bell and pictures.
59	* ''Franchise/TheLoudHouse'':
60	** ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'':
61	*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS3E8TeachersUnionHeadPoetsAnxiety Head Poet's Anxiety]]", Lucy is set to be first kid to perform at the Royal Woods Theatre, something that Luan has been trying and failing to be for years. After learning about this, a guilty Lucy decides to fake an illness so she won't have to steal Luan's dream.
62	*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS3E12GownAndOutBreakingDad Gown and Out]]", when Lola is picked to participate in a regional pageant and becomes anxious that she could lose for the first time, she attempts to play sick by covering herself in spots, using makeup.
63	*** "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS4E5StoreWarsLuchaFever Lucha Fever with the Casagrandes]]" has Ronnie Anne faking being sick in order to watch La Tormenta's final wrestling match before she retires, which happens to be taking place on the same night as her Uncle Carlos's award ceremony. However, Hector and Rosa have spread the word about Ronnie Anne's supposed illness and everyone is checking up on her, making it hard for her and Sid to watch the match.
64	*** In "[[Recap/TheLoudHouseS6E6ABugsStrifeAllTheRage A Bug's Strife]]", Lynn Sr. fakes being sick to avoid visiting [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Aunt]] [[ObnoxiousInLaws Ruth]] when she forces the kids to watch her Malls of the Midwest slideshow (with [[TeensLoveShopping Leni]] [[OnlyOneFindsItFun being the only one enjoying it]]), only for him to contend with an annoying cricket.
65	*** In "One Flu Over the Loud House", Lincoln, Leni, Luna, Lucy, and Lisa pretend that they have [[PlagueEpisode the flu that's going around]] so that the sick sisters won't try to infect them, as a parody of PretendWereDead.
66	** ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'':
67	*** "[[Recap/TheCasagrandesS1E13GrandparentTrapMissStep Miss Step]]" has Frida being [[DrillSergeantNasty a very intense baile folklorico instructor]] that Carlota, Ronnie Anne and Maria all [[ObfuscatingDisability fake]] [[InjuredLimbEpisode being injured]] (Carlota with a sprained elbow, Ronnie Anne with an injured foot and Maria with a broken leg) so they can get out of having to dance at the showcase that evening.
68	* In the 2007 revival series of ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout'', Dougal does this in "A Very Dodgy Exercise" to avoid attending Solider Sam's exercise class.
69	* ''WesternAnimation/MarthaSpeaks'': In "Truman's Brother", T.D. convinces Truman to pretend he's sick when Truman forgets to do his homework.
70	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' has Flapjack pretending to be struck dumb by a curse to guilt Captain K'nuckles into taking him to a carnival.
71	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'', Lonnie the Shark's henchman Pete is prone of making excuses to get sick to avoid doing work.
72	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Milo}}'': In "Milo's Sore Tummy", Milo pretends to have a stomachache, but he soon finds being treated as sick boring and admits he was faking.
73	* Dragon does it in "The Bug Flu" on ''WesternAnimation/MissSpidersSunnyPatchFriends'' after seeing Spiderus do the same thing.
74	* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
75	** The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTales'' episode "Too Sick to Notice" - Bon Bon feels ignored by her family when her youngest brother gets sick, so she decides to pretend she's sick too. At first she enjoys it, then regrets it when she is forced to stay in bed all day while her friends have fun outside and her family gets more and more stressed by her ever increasing demands. Wracked with guilt, she confesses. Her family seems to forgive her, but then they all claim that they are sick and force her to care for them.
76	** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
77	*** Attempted in "Family Appreciation Day" by Apple Bloom (as shown in the page image above). It doesn't work. Granny Smith, having raised first her own children as well as Apple Bloom's older siblings before her, sees right through it.
78	*** Fluttershy does it in "Hurricane Fluttershy" to avoid tornado duty, painting spots on her face and making rather obviously fake sneezes. Rainbow Dash isn't fooled, dumping water on her and washing away the spots.
79	*** "Three's A Crowd": [[spoiler: Discord does this by claiming to have the "Blue Flu" and having Twilight and her visiting sister-in-law Cadance tend to him. Naturally he's doing this for his own amusement in the hopes it'll spoil the visit (though he claims it's also a SecretTestOfCharacter for Twilight to see if she really does care for him). It winds up backfiring since Cadance didn't mind it since it gave her some much needed excitement from her princess duties. Plus, he catches a real disease in the process.]]
80	*** In "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies", Fluttershy looks after a flock of Breezies (tiny winged creatures who fly on the breeze), and their leader Seabreeze wants them to get home, but the others want to stick around so they pretend to have colds.
81	** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyMakeYourMark'': In "A Little Horse", Zipp tells Pipp about her investigation on Opaline's plan, though she doesn't know her name. Misty, who's secretly working for Opaline, fakes a cough to excuse herself out of it.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/PepperAnn'' had an episode where she fakes she has a fever (by putting the thermometer in a cup of coffee) so that she can have a day off school.
83	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'':
84	** An old cartoon has him and Bluto feigning illness to get into a hospital and be treated by nurse Olive. As they try to outdo each other and start fighting, Olive sees through their ruse.
85	** A later WWII cartoon has the two in the US Navy; Bluto fakes illness to get out of working. Popeye sees through it and proceeds to teach him a lesson.
86	** In one cartoon, Popeye, feeling ignored by Olive, pretends to be sick to see if she still loves him. She immediately rushes him to the hospital, where he even manages to fool the doctors. In the end when it seems that the doctors can't do anything and Popeye is dead, Olive sobs over him, and that's when he gets up and reveals the truth. She is ''[[AngerBornOfWorry pissed.]]''
87	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/PostmanPat'', Julian at first actually has a cold, but then when he gets better, he finds it "fun", so he pretends he hasn't recovered.
88	* ''WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu'': In "The Goldbrick", Snafu fakes being sick so he can get of drill in the rain, and spends the day cosied up in bed being tended to by a HospitalHottie. However, avoiding training leaves him unprepared when his unit goes into action in the South Pacific.
89	* In the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episode "Mindy Pet-Sits", Sean, Jet, Sydney, and Carrot fly out to space in order to look for the Northern Lights. Since Mindy is too young, she cannot go, and she is sad that she cannot go to see the Northern Lights. Sunspot, feeling sorry for her, fakes an injury so he gets to stay with Mindy, [[spoiler: and make Mindy her own Northern Lights show in the backyard]]. All of the other characters are aware of this.
90	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' had the main characters pretend to be sick in order to be sent home from a boring school day (every other student is out with a real illness). [[GoneHorriblyRight Unfortunately, Gretchen mixes up the symptoms]], so instead of an illness that would mandate being sent home, the nurse thinks that they've contracted some horrible disease that leads to them being quarantined by public health officials.
91	* The ''Literature/RottenRalph'' episode "Ralph's Royal Treatment" has Ralph trick his owner Sarah and her parents into spoiling him by pretending that he is afflicted with a fatal illness and only has a few weeks left to live. Ralph's cousin Percy helps Sarah and her parents find out the truth and the four get back at Ralph by pretending that they still believe he's a goner even as Ralph is pressured into confessing that he's not really dying.
92	* ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'':
93	** "[[Recap/RugratsS3E7WhenWishesComeTrueAngelicaBreaksALeg Angelica Breaks a Leg]]" has Angelica [[ObfuscatingDisability faking having a]] [[InjuredLimbEpisode broken leg]] so she can more easily boss the adults around. It works when there is a [[FileMixUp mix up]] with the X-Rays at the hospital.
94	** Angelica does this again in the spin-off ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' in which she starts quoting lines of a deranged character from a soap opera so she can stay in the hospital longer.
95	** In "[[Recap/RugratsS5E1GrandpasBadBugLadyLuck Grandpa's Bad Bug]]", Lou fakes having a stomach ache to cover up his lying about staying out all night. The babies, hearing him say he has a "bad bug" think he has an actual bug inside him and try various methods to get it out.
96	* ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'': "The Two Who Cried Ouch" has Two get sick and enjoy the attention and care his siblings and mother provide him so much that he repeatedly fakes injury to get his way once he recovers. After Mama tells him a story about [[CryingWolf a girl who repeatedly shouted "Sloth" when there weren't any as a joke nearly paying the price when no one listens to her once there really are sloths]], Two feels bad about pretending to be injured and goes off to apologize to his brothers and sisters, only to get his nose stuck in a tree and his siblings initially refusing to help him under the assumption that he's faking yet again.
97	* ''WesternAnimation/SheriffCalliesWildWest'' uses this trope to provide AnAesop of "Playing sick as a means of getting attention is not good, and makes you [[CryingWolf less trustworthy when you actually]] ''are'' sick. In the episode "Toby's Untrue Achoo", Toby the cactus fakes having a cold having seen how protagonist Callie, a calico cat, got attention and care due to having a sneeze, and he ''did'' get it, but [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor the consequences weren't that great for him]] - he was constantly told to rest, and (almost) missed out on a dance contest, which, by the end of the episode, exposed his deception. It was PlayedForDrama in that most of the townsfolk FunnyAnimal characters were angry with him for being a ''de facto'' freeloader. However, unlike some examples of this trope, there was no AesopAmnesia that sometimes happens in this show (or with this trope in general), and Toby seems to have learnt his lesson. But this is a show where StatusQuoIsGod (usually), so this is one example where that trope ''did'' stick.
98	* The [[WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies Silly Symphony]] "The Wise Little Hen" is a straightforward telling of The Little Red Hen, whose attempts at getting help growing her corn are met with feigned sickness by a pig and his cohort, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, in his debut.
99	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Bart does this a few times, in one case pretending to have [[HollywoodTourettes Tourette's Syndrome]] (later changed to rabies via ExecutiveMeddling) and various other symptoms while Grandpa warns him against playing the "boy who cried wolf". Eventually he's attacked by an actual wolf that's escaped from Krusty's show and isn't believed.
100	** In another episode, Bart eats a jagged O from a box of Krusty-Os and develops agonizing stomach pains. No one believes him except Lisa (although it's also likely that the teachers not believing him was also simply due to callousness on their part rather than previous faking sick attempts, as Krabappel once mentioned that she also won't be held accountable if one of her students [Milhouse in this case] was eaten by the pet snake), though he is eventually taken to the hospital.
101	** Ms. Hoover also was speculated to have faked sick by some of the students when she revealed that her Lyme Disease was actually psychosomatic in one episode, to which she confirms it both faking sick and being crazy.
102	** Even Lisa got in on the act to get out of a bad birthday party when a lot of the kids get sick from eating raw oysters (which Lisa, being a vegetarian, would have never eaten in the first place).
103	** In another episode, Lisa really does got sick and can't go to school. She starts playing a video game and becomes hooked to the point where after getting better she fakes being sick to continue playing it. She succeeds the first time, but Marge is not fooled the second time, and sends her back to school, where she has to take an important test that she forgot to study for.
104	* Jokey Smurf does it at least twice in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': once in "Jokey's Funny Bone" in order to get attention, and another time in "Calling Doctor Smurf" in order to make Dabbler feel useful as a doctor. Although in the latter case, Jokey actually became sick when it turned out that he was allergic to the pink paint he used to make himself and several other Smurfs look like they came down with a sickness.
105	* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': In "Lord of the Rink", Prince Hugo pretended to be sick in front of his friends to get out of hockey practice after Sofia reminded him that the hockey team meets at the same time as their ice-dancing class. Later, Hugo told his friends to tell his father, [[spoiler:who is the new assistant hockey coach]], that his son is sick and has to miss practice. [[spoiler:Hugo was never shown fooling his father that way.]]
106	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Stan and Kyle give one another ludicrously overblown maladies (date rape psychosis and cancer, respectively) in ''Towelie,'' telling their mothers that they're too busy nursing one another to bother with baseball practice or school.
107	* Done the ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' episode, Terminal, where Space Ghost pretends he's about to die. In classic Space Ghost style, everyone can already tell from the beginning. Space Ghost himself is shown in his thoughts to genuinely believe he's somehow dying, though, even though he refuses to specify how and gets incredibly nervous once a doctor shows up. [[spoiler: He actually does die at the end... sorta.]]
108	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
109	** [[LazyBum Squidward]] hates [[ApatheticClerk his job at the Krusty Krab]] and dealing with the [[HatesEveryoneEqually general]] [[UnsatisfiableCustomer public]], his [[PennyPinchingCrab cheapskate]] [[BadBoss boss]], and his annoying coworker ([=SpongeBob=] himself, of course, who is also one of two of his annoying next-door neighbors) every day that he does this to get out of work on some occasions, but some of these attempts backfire right in his face.
110	*** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS8E1AccidentsWillHappenTheOtherPatty Accidents Will Happen]]", [[ObfuscatingDisability he supposedly twists his ankle while trying to sleep on the job in the storage room]] and threatens to get Mr. Krabs fined by the Office Worker Safety (OWS) Department for negligence. Near the end of the episode, a [[CaughtOnTape security camera]] reveals he was faking his injuries the whole time (he took a nap on the patty shelf and weighed it down, but was not hurt in the process). [[ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine After Mr. Krabs spent most of the day pampering Squidward for his so-called injury, Squidward now has to do so to Mr. Krabs as punishment]].
111	*** "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS8E21SquiditisDemolitionDoofus Squiditis]]" has him try to fake an illness known as "Squid's Disease", but [=SpongeBob=] really believes he has the illness and has infected him as a result, and both are sent home early.
112	*** Then there's "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS13E2UnderTheSmallTopSquidwardsSickDaze Squidward's Sick Daze]]", where he has a nightmare about what he will likely face for his upcoming workday, [[spoiler: [[BookEnds which eventually comes true the next day]],]] and decides to feign illess in an effort to get out of work for the day. However, Mr. Krabs isn't fooled and sends [=SpongeBob=] to annoy and torture him until he decides to come back to work.
113	** A non-Squidward example is in "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS1E15SleepyTimeSuds Suds]]", where [=SpongeBob=] catches the titular illness by leaving his refrigerator door open all night, causing his house to freeze over. After [=SpongeBob=] gets a rather relaxing treatment for it at the doctor's office and gets [[PostTreatmentLollipop a giant lollipop]] out of it, a jealous Patrick briefly pretends to have the same illness in the hopes of getting the same prize. It doesn't work, ending with him [[LaserGuidedKarma getting SpongeBob's treatment]] [[HumiliationConga in a harsh manner]] after lying to him and Sandy about the doctor earlier in the episode.
114	--->'''Patrick:''' A lollipop?! ''(Blows a bubble)'' Hey, Doc, I got the suds, too!\
115	'''Physician Fish:''' (Sarcastically) Oh, yes, Dr. Patrick, we have a special treatment for you!\
116	''([[PunnyName Hans]] takes the guffawing Patrick into the back for his treatment)''\
117	'''Patrick:''' ''(Hans washes him in the sink and painfully stretches out his limbs)'' Hey, wait! ''(then rubs him on a cactus)'' Ouch! Oh, that hurts! ''(then uses him to clean a toilet)'' WAIT! HEY, THIS DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT...!
118	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'', Strawberry finds a fairy with a hurt wing and offers to take care of her until her wing heals. The fairy takes advantage of Strawberry's hospitality and all the attention her friends dote on her, pretending she can't fly even after her wing has healed.
119	** Ginger Snap does it in "Ginger Snap's No Light Night of Fright" to try to get out of going on a camp-out because she's scared of the dark, but it doesn't work.
120	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', Plucky pretends to be sick to try and get out of a test, and is sent to the school nurse. Unfortunately for him, the nurse (Granny), leaves him in the care of the student nurse, Elmyra. He’s eventually left begging to go back to class and take the test.
121	* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'': Two early episodes use this premise. In "Trust Thomas," Gordon advises James to tell Thomas he's sick so Thomas will take his quarry trucks. Their plan falls apart when the trucks take out their frustration with James on Thomas and cause an accident. "Trucks," a later episode (based more closely on [[Literature/TheRailwaySeries the source material]]) sees Gordon give similar advice to Sir Handel. While repairmen examine him, Peter Sam goes to pick up trucks from the slate mine - and the loaded trucks, thinking he's Sir Handel, break free down the incline and slam into him. Both times, the engine who played sick apologizes to the other engine about the accident and admit [[DidntThinkThisThrough they didn't think it would happen.]]
122	* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' did a variation in which Jerry painted spots on Tom to [[InducedHypochondria make him believe he had measles]]. Tom eventually finds out and goes after Jerry, only to find that now Jerry had the measles for real. Prior to all of this, Tom was pretending to be sick to keep Mammy Two-Shoes from sending him outside in the rain.
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Context PlayingSick / WesternAnimation