History Main / ChainLetter

* ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'' has an episode where Barney gets one of these, Andy convinces him to throw it out, and...well, you can guess the rest.

If the horror movie with the same name is what you're looking for, [[Film/ChainLetter2010 see here]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' story "Chain of Fools" (DC issue #30), Bubbles gets a chain letter, which the Professor dismisses a bunk. Bubbles doesn't respond to it, but after she is suddenly zapped of her power, she immediately sends a chain letter...to Mojo Jojo.

If the horror movie with the same name is what you're looking for, [[Film/ChainLetter see here]].

* The premise of the 2010 SlasherMovie ''Film/ChainLetter'' was that if the characters didn't forward the chain letter, they would die agonizing deaths involving... chains.

Often utilized for a specific type of SuperstitionEpisode. See also, {{Glurge}}. Not to be confused with [[TropesInShiningArmor chainmail]].

Often utilized for a specific type of SuperstitionEpisode. See also, {{Glurge}}.

** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1967/05/16 this comic]], he gets one that tells him to copy it six times, and tries to do this with a pen. However, there's a reason he calls his pen pal a pencil pal...

* In ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'', Russia got one saying that if he does not mail it to three other people within three days [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment his capital will become Warsaw]]. Poland points out that, since he doesn't have friends, he'll freak out. It doesn't work since Russia just sends it to his subordinates instead.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Fanfic]]

[[folder:Film]]
* The premise of the 2010 SlasherMovie ''Film/ChainLetter'' was that if the characters didn't forward the chain letter, they would die agonizing deaths involving...chains.

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* A rare common sense moment had Red of ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'' ignoring a recent chain letter craze over the Lodge until Dalton pointed out that Harold, who started it, got a $100 bill from it. By the final act, chain letters are going out like crazy until Harold reveals he didn't get a $100 bill - it was a bill for $100 from the library. It also provides a rare case of the sender getting the bad luck, not just from the bill, but from the others dipping into his cash box to pay for all the letters.

* In ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', the Nostalgia Critic accidentally reveals that the map he received was part of a chain letter.

* In a ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}} 6teen]]'' episode, Jen gets a chain email, ignores it, and has bad luck throughout the episode. She then tries to get a number of people's email addresses, but later it is revealed that those people have Jen's email address, so she has more chain letters to send.

* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me" touches upon this, among other junk being circulated via email.

-->-- ''Discworld/SmallGods''

[[quoteright:235:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chain_letter.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:235:I know God moves in mysterious ways, but why 14 friends? And why 10 minutes?]]

If the horror movie with the same name is what you're looking for, [[Film/ChainLetter see here.]]

[[PopularityPolynomial Their popularity has varied throughout the years]] -- between 1995 and 2005 they were so widespread they were part and parcel of having an e-mail account, back when gullible and technologically illiterate people were first introduced to this communication medium; then they faded away into almost total obscurity between 2005 and 2012 when AI-powered spam filters started being developed; then they returned to popularity when people found out that cell phone text messages and social media outlets like Facebook didn't have any spam police and could be freely tapped for chain letters; and then they went into decline once again from 2016 to 2020, when social media outlets started applying spam filters to their user-posted content and the anti-fake-news movement gained traction in an attempt to stamp out social media-powered superstition.

[[PopularityPolynomial Their popularity has varied throughout the years]] -- between 1995 and 2005 they were so widespread they were part and parcel of having an e-mail account, back when gullible and technologically illiterate people were first introduced to this communication medium; then they faded away into almost total obscurity between 2005 and 2012 when AI-powered spam filters started being developed; then they returned to popularity when people found out that cell phone text messages and social media outlets like Facebook didn't have any spam police and could be freely tapped for chain letters; and at the moment they are fading back into obscurity since 2016, when social media outlets started applying spam filters to their user-posted content as well as thanks to the anti-fake-news movement being promoted in an attempt to stamp out social media-powered superstition.

[[PopularityPolynomial Their popularity has varied throughout the years]] -- between 1995 and 2005 they were so widespread they were part and parcel of having an e-mail account, back when superstitious and technologically illiterate people were first introduced to this communication medium; then they faded away into almost total obscurity between 2005 and 2012 when AI-powered spam filters started being developed; then they returned to popularity when people found out that cell phone text messages and social media outlets like Facebook didn't have any spam police and could be freely tapped for chain letters; and at the moment they are fading back into obscurity since 2016, when social media outlets started applying spam filters to their user-posted content as well as thanks to the anti-fake-news movement being promoted in an attempt to stamp out social media-powered superstition.

[[PopularityPolynomial Their popularity has varied throughout the years]] -- at one point they were so widespread it was basically part and parcel of having an e-mail between 1995 and 2005, when superstitious and technologically illiterate people were first introduced to this communication medium; then they faded away into almost total obscurity between 2005 and 2012 when AI-powered spam filters started being developed; then they returned to popularity when people found out that cell phone text messages and social media outlets like Facebook didn't have any spam police and could be freely tapped for chain letters; and at the moment they are fading back into obscurity since 2016, when social media outlets started applying spam filters to their user-posted content as well as thanks to the anti-fake-news movement being promoted in an attempt to stamp out social media-powered superstition.

* On Website/DeviantArt, the most common chain letter hoax involves a "hacker warning", warning of a (non-existent) hacker who goes around hacking people's accounts by replacing their deviations with either [[TheInternetIsForPorn porn]] or racist material, and telling people that they can avoid the hacker by copy-and-pasting the journal to your own journal and encouraging others to do so. The chain letters seem to run on users' gullibility, and even [=DeviantArt=] staff have stated "Pasting a chain-letter style journal onto your profile page is absolutely no "protection" against unauthorized access to your account." Though this does occasionally cause some enterprising individuals to create accounts with similar names to that of the (fictional) hackers, posting messages on their profile pages saying "IF YOU GET FAVED YOU'RE GONNA GET HACKED!" and go around favoriting some of the journals.

* On Website/DeviantArt, the most common chain letter hoax involves a "hacker warning", warning of a (non-existent) hacker who goes around hacking people's accounts by replacing their deviations with either [[TheInternetIsForPorn porn]] or racist material, and telling people that they can avoid the hacker by copy-and-pasting the journal to your own journal and encouraging others to do so. The chain letters seem to run on users' gullibility, and even [=DeviantArt=] staff have stated "Pasting a chain-letter style journal onto your profile page is absolutely no "protection" against unauthorized access to your account." Though this did causes some enterprising individuals to go around favoriting some of the journals and post messages on their profiles saying "IF YOU GET FAVED YOU'RE GONNA GET HACKED!"

* On the internet, chain letters usually demand you to copy and paste the letter to a certain amount of [=YouTube=] video comment sections or else you will be killed by the ghost of a dead girl.