A man was happily working hard on his vegetable field. As the crop was just about ready, vegetables started disappearing night after night. One night passes, and two, and so on. After a while, the farmer is tired of the thief and puts a sign: "To those that may concern. One tomato is now infested with AIDS." The next morning, no other vegetables disappeared, but he found a message next to his: "Now there are two. Have a nice day."
— Folklore joke
"Allow me to impress upon you the severe mistake you have made. For years my conduct has been largely benign. And yet — without provocation — you have severed our detente, and forced me to unleash upon you the vengeful flame of a THOUSAND SUNS! You shall curse your mothers for the day of your birth! So go now, GO, and begin your life of fear! Knowing that when you least expect it, the looming sword of Damocles will crash down upon you, cleaving you in twain! And as you gaze upon the smoking wreckage that was once your life, you will regret the day you crossed the wrong fish!"
— Klaus, American Dad!
There was a champion golfer, who once jokingly challenged the worst golfer in the club to a contest. The bad golfer unexpectedly agreed, on the condition that he get two 'gotchas'. The good golfer didn't understand, but figured it couldn't be too bad. On the first hole, the good golfer made the hole in one shot — he was in good form today, even for him — and the bad golfer took six hits. The good golfer asked the bad one if he would like to cancel the bet, but the bad golfer reminded him that "I still have two gotchas."
On the second hole, the champion was cranking back for his swing when the lousy golfer snuck up behind him and yelled "GOTCHA!" The swing went wild, the ball went off into some trees, and the good golfer took nine hits to get it back to the hole. For the rest of the game he played horribly, even worse than the bad golfer. After the gloating bad golfer had collected his winnings and gone home, the champion's caddy asked him what had been wrong with him. The champ turned a tormented expression on him and asked "Do you know what it's LIKE waiting for that second gotcha?!"
On the second hole, the champion was cranking back for his swing when the lousy golfer snuck up behind him and yelled "GOTCHA!" The swing went wild, the ball went off into some trees, and the good golfer took nine hits to get it back to the hole. For the rest of the game he played horribly, even worse than the bad golfer. After the gloating bad golfer had collected his winnings and gone home, the champion's caddy asked him what had been wrong with him. The champ turned a tormented expression on him and asked "Do you know what it's LIKE waiting for that second gotcha?!"
— Old golf joke
"There is more than one way of racking a man, Drumknott. In fact, you let him build his own rack, and let him turn the screw all by himself."
— Lord Vetinari, master of this trope, Making Money
"Just playing with your paranoia."
— Garfield
"It's tough to compromise a well thought out security system, but making someone think you can compromise it, well, that's much easier."
— Michael Weston, Burn Notice
"He may not even have a plan. But by making us think he has one, we'll try to figure out what he's up to and come up with a devious master plan for him. Which, I must admit, really is a pretty devious master plan."
— Sawtooth Rivergrinder, Freefall
"Let me ask you a question: how many changelings do you think are on Earth right here at this moment?... What if I were to tell you that there were only four on this entire planet — not counting Constable Odo, of course. Think of it, just four, and look at the havoc we've wrought... Oh, four is more than enough. We're smarter than solids, we're better than you, and most importantly, we do not fear you the way you fear us. In the end, it is your fear that will destroy you."
— The O'Brien Changeling, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Paradise Lost"
"Oh, and speaking of revenge. Have you had your shower already, Yang?"
"Yeah."
"Did you use the shampoo in the brown bottle?"
"Huh? Yeah, why?"
"Oh," Weiss smiled, "No reason."
Yang's face went white. Her hands gripped her hair and she drew some before her to inspect it. There was nothing unusual there, but it didn't stop the smile on Weiss' face growing wider and wider. "What did you do?" Yang gasped. "What have you done?"
[...]
She'd done nothing, naturally, since she'd been trapped with her sister all night.
But Yang didn't need to know that.
"Yeah."
"Did you use the shampoo in the brown bottle?"
"Huh? Yeah, why?"
"Oh," Weiss smiled, "No reason."
Yang's face went white. Her hands gripped her hair and she drew some before her to inspect it. There was nothing unusual there, but it didn't stop the smile on Weiss' face growing wider and wider. "What did you do?" Yang gasped. "What have you done?"
[...]
She'd done nothing, naturally, since she'd been trapped with her sister all night.
But Yang didn't need to know that.
Dear Chief Replacement,
I wanted to send you this friendly little letter to inform you of your imminent demise. If you're curious about the frequency of which I've sent these letters, it is merely to instill as much fear as I can. As if basting a turkey. Which I will then proceed to have sex with.
That's right.
I'm going to FUCK the fear turkey.
Follow me @TheCrimsonFuckr!
—Alucards' latest of 400+ Death Threats sent to The Pope, Hellsing Ultimate Abridged
"You see, I need to think a long, long time about just what I'm going to do with you. I don't know, it might come to me... in the middle of the night, or maybe next week, or a few years from now. In the meantime... why don't you worry about it? Be afraid, Will. Be very afraid."
— Uncle Phil, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Jon: You can't have this chair, Garfield. I'm not moving... no matter what!
Garfield: GREAT!
Garfield runs out of the room smiling.
Jon gets out of the chair.
Jon: What are you up to?!
Behind him, Garfield, still smiling, jumps into the chair.
Garfield: GREAT!
Garfield runs out of the room smiling.
Jon gets out of the chair.
Jon: What are you up to?!
Behind him, Garfield, still smiling, jumps into the chair.
— Garfield
"Like in any fighting sport, as I'm sure UFC legend Kenny Florian would tell us, faking out your opponent can be one of the best strategies to lead to a victory. BattleBots is actually not that different. You will frequently see robots covered in tarps or blankets, to obscure a secret weapon, or at least make your opponent think you might have a secret weapon. This might cause your opponent to make a change to their configuration that benefits you. Sometimes, though, this is just plain fun."
— A member of Witch Doctor's pit crew, "Witch Doctor vs HUGE // Pit Pass Ep 14 WCVII BattleBots Finale
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