History Main / GallowsHumor

* ComicBook/{{Batman}} once chastised ComicBook/{{Superman}} for this when he was trying to remove a Kryptonite bullet from his chest in ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies''.

* In ''Fanfic/TheMorrigan'', Felsi Rollo jokingly throws out every death flag she can while being treated for a stabwound, claiming she just had two weeks left before retirement and that she wanted to propose to her girlfriend after this mission. It's implied that she's doing it on purpose to keep the girl treating her, a civilian with no combat experience, at ease.

* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'' has a camping skill that's called this word for word. It can recover the stress of your party members by rather sizable amount, but it also has the chance to stress them out even more. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome After all, not everyone reacts positively to morbid humor, especially if their mind is really frayed from the current expedition's events.]]

*** Helicopter pilots refer to the bolt that attaches the main rotor assembly to the rest of the aircraft as the Jesus Pin or Jesus Bolt, held on by the Jesus Nut, because if it breaks or comes unscrewed your last words will be "[[OhCrap Oh Jesus...]]", and/or you're about to meet him face to face. Note the odds of it failing are very low and there are many other things that are much more likely to down the aircraft, but it is a disconcerting single point of failure none the less.

* During UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup semifinal in 2014, hosts Brazil faced Germany [[DecapitatedArmy without two key players]]. At first incentive hashtags such as "#[=PrayForBrazil=]" were common, especially once the Germans scored first. Then the Germans quickly built [[CurbStompBattle a 5-0 lead over]] a clearly [[DeerInTheHeadlights lost]] and [[DidntThinkThisThrough unprepared]] adversary (final score: '''7-1'''), and soon the Brazilians were resorting to SelfDeprecation [[http://f5.folha.uol.com.br/humanos/2014/07/1483046-goleada-alema-sobre-o-brasil-vira-piada-nas-redes-sociais.shtml gallows comedy]] instead. The ShockingDefeatLegacy remains to the point of MemeticMutation-- the phrases "Germany goal!" and "7-1 wasn't enough!" are still used in Brazil to joke about the country's disgraces, football-related or not.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E07StarshipDown Starship Down]]", the ''Defiant'' is hit with a warhead, and Quark and a Gamma Quadrant merchant are stuck right next to it. It turns out that the merchant sold that kind of warhead to the ''Defiant'''s attackers, but it was designed to go off on impact. Quark jokes that they deserve a refund. To [[ProudMerchantRace a Ferengi]], that would be almost a sin, but considering that they're that close to death, he and the merchant burst into laughter. The merchant also prides himself on only selling [[HonestJohnsDealership top quality merchandise]].
** "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E04NorTheBattleToTheStrong Nor the Battle to the Strong]]" is a kiss to ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Three Starfleet surgeons casually discuss the merits and drawbacks of various ways of dying as they await a Klingon assault they have little chance of withstanding. Over ''breakfast.''
--->'''Kirby''': Decapitation has its virtues. Nice clean blow with a sharp bat'leth.\\

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E7Catspaw Catspaw]]", Kirk and Spock are shackled with their arms raised against a wall next to a skeleton in the same position. At one point while discussing the situation with Spock, Kirk pauses as he looks at the skeleton, momentarily cocks his head in the same position as the skeleton's, then turns back to continue talking to Spock. Earlier, when Dr. [=McCoy=] was also in the dungeon, Kirk turned his head to ask if 'Bones' was all right, saw the skeleton, and called [=McCoy=] 'Doc' for the rest of the episode.

* In the ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels'', the private detetive Cormoran and his comrades' use of it is sometimes a source of tension with Robin Ellacott, who is new to the business and isn't used to it. She doesn't understand how they can laugh and make jokes; they understand that they'd go nuts if they didn't.

** Old navy joke: "Any ship can be a [[UsefulNotes/TypesOfNavalShips minesweeper]]. [[ItOnlyWorksOnce Once]]."
** Similarly: "Every ship carries [[RammingAlwaysWorks at least one torpedo]]."
** Pilot joke: "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. A 'great' landing is one where you can use the airplane again." Helicopter pilots refer to the bolt that attaches the main rotor assembly to the rest of the aircraft as the Jesus Pin, as in if it breaks your last words will be "[[OhCrap Oh Jesus...]]", or the next thing you see will be Jesus.
** Submariner joke: "A submarine is a ship for which the number of sinkings is equal to the number of surfacings. Hopefully."

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': When Steve Trevor's secretary ends up mostly disintegrated Diana makes a short quip about the woman not having to follow directions from her anymore, something she obviously resented and which she died over when Diana told her not to pick up a pen that was actually an experimental explosive left by Dr. Psycho.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8358093/1/Love-in-Shades-of-Green-and-Gray Love in Shades of Green and Gray]]'': [[Franchise/TeenTitans Beast Boy]]'s final words to Raven (a natural death at the age of 211, with her living three centuries more) are "How do you keep a beautiful half-demon in suspense"?

* {{Lampshaded}} by Beast in an early issue of Creator/GrantMorrison's ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', in the wake of the Genosha Massacre, when he tells Jean to tell Xavier that gallows humor is the only thing keeping them sane. The issue opened with him holding up a partial skeleton and saying "I don't know how to tell you this, my friend, but your dating days may be over."

* Franchise/{{Batman}} once chastised Franchise/{{Superman}} for this when he was trying to remove a Kryptonite bullet from his chest in ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies''.

'''Superman:''' Where's Franchise/TheFlash when you need him?\\

-->'''Black Widow''': A boat is coming to pick you up in fifteen minutes -- try to hold out. If the enemy gets past us, my advice is for you to commit suicide.\\
'''Punisher''': You ought to do that anyway.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: When ComicBook/SteveTrevor's secretary ends up mostly disintegrated Diana makes a short quip about the woman not having to follow directions from her anymore, something she obviously resented and which she died over when Diana told her not to pick up a pen that was actually an experimental explosive left by Dr. Psycho.
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'': This is basically ''the'' Cybertronian sense of humour after millions of years of war that have ravaged not only their planet, but countless others. As an example, take this comment from ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', discussing the Decepticons' most feared group of sadistic zealots, the Decepticon Justice Division:
-->'''Getaway:''' It's a game, Nautica - an old wartime favourite. When someone shouts DJD [[TheDreaded you have to find your friends and run like hell.]]

* After the former ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' host Bob Barker passed away on August 26, 2023, 4 months before what would have been his 100th birthday, many people paid tribute to him by saying that he got close to 100 without going over, referring to [=TPIR=]'s Showcase, where (prior to 1998) the player who bids within $100 of the actual retail price of their own showcase without going over wins both showcases.

** Native humor in general, at least in North America, tends to skew pretty dark [[TraumaCongaLine for a lot of reasons]].
--->'''Charlie Hill[[note]]Oneida stand-up comic[[/note]]:''' With the casinos, everything has turned around. Remember a looong time ago, when the white man used to get the Indian drunk and take ''his'' money?\\
'''Gerry Barrett[[note]]Saugeen Ojibway, also a stand-up comic[[/note]]:''' ''(telephone noise)'' Hi there, Prime Minister Big Bear speaking. [[TakeThat Oh, Jean Chrétien!]] Enjoying your retirement? Huh? You don't ''like'' it on the reserve? ...Nononono, you have to stay there. 'Any advice for you'? Yeah, don't drink the water! Bye-bye now.

Thankfully, there's a way to keep sane: humour. People who are easily hurt, [[StopHavingFunGuys or like to keep things 'dignified' and 'serious']], may say "[[DudeNotFunny This is not a laughing matter]]." [[note]][[TropesAreTools Sometimes, they might even be]] ''[[TropesAreTools right.]]''[[/note]] But the truth is there is a healing power to comedy. If you can make fun of yourself, talk about your problems and have someone laugh with you, you feel better and your problems don't seem quite so bad anymore.