History Main / NeverTellMeTheOdds

* Inverted in ''DoctorWho'' with [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E10TheDoctorDances "The Doctor Dances"]], where Captain Jack actually asks for his odds of survival (and then, of course, defies them anyway).

*** But their chances of hitting something soft on the fall were ''exactly'' a million to one chance...

* ''IRobot'' has the premise of WillSmith as a robot-hating cop, due to a traffic accident in which a robot chose to save him instead of a small girl, simply because his chances of survival were better.[[hottip:*:The robot was forced to do so based on The First Law of Robotics ("A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm") -- Will Smith's character had the highest probability of survival, and logically the better choice to save first.]] In a flashback, Smith's character can be seen begging the NS-4 to save the girl instead of him.

* In the {{Discworld}} book ''Guards! Guards!'', the [[GenreSavvy characters note that saying "It's a million to one chance but it just might work" practically guarantees success]].

** In ''Equal Rites'' Esk tries a feat of magic which, if she'd actually studied magic, she'd know is impossible. As she hasn't and doesn't, she succeeds.

* ''[=~The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy~=]'' parodies this with the Heart of Gold that's essentially powered by extremely slim odds of something happening.

* In RatchetAndClank: [[RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal Up Your Arsenal:]]

-->'''Palmer''':"Willie! What are the odds [Titan] Maximum could make it through that beam without all our genitles fusing into glass?"

** That's not so much [[NeverTellMeTheOdds Never tell me the odds]] as it is [[TheDeterminator The Determinator]].

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* In {{Fanfic/Derelict}}, during the mission ''Hail Mary,'' Lieutenant Mackie dismisses the odds and tells everyone to just get the job done. Considering the consequence for not getting the job done is [[spoiler: TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]]]], this is a rather sensible reaction.

** Also in ''CodeGeass'' in episode 2 Cecile says to Suzaku that "It's possible, but the chances are close to zero." It isn't directly staded, but she propably refers to Lancelot activation. [[spoiler:Of course the activation is flawless.]]

* Lampshaded in ''StarTrekVoyager'', Seven of Nine and Tuvok are disscussing the captain's latest plan, Tuvok points out it isn't the first time the captain has beaten the odds. To which Seven replies "She does seem to suceed more than random chance would allow. I'll add that to my calculations."

* {{Lampshaded}} in [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20020731.html this]] ''SchlockMercenary'' strip. True enough, they escape afterwards, but they find an alternate -- and more statistically sound -- method to do so.

* ''IRobot'' has the premise of WillSmith as a robot-hating cop, due to a traffic accident in which a robot chose to save him instead of a small girl, simply because his chances of survivial were better.
--> "That girl was somebody's baby. 11% was more than enough. A human being would've known that."
** Interestingly subverted later on, when our heroes have to scale a skyscraper by way of the stairs:
--> "2880 steps, detective."\\
"...do me a favor, keep that kind of shit to yourself."

->'''C-3PO:''' Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating [[TheAsteroidThicket an asteroid field]] is approximately three thousand, seven hundred twenty to one.\\

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Misato ignores Ritsuko's estimations of the probability of success being 0.0000001% (one in a billion). Of course, once you know more about the EVA-01, the odds may have been ''way'' higher in the first place...

* Erwin Rommel, in an interesting mix between this and XanatosSpeedChess. You do ''not'' tell Erwin Rommel that the odds are against him. He only stopped once there ''were'' no more odds to take, that being once the other side surrendered, or his tanks ran out of gas. No, ''really''.

** The EU also defines this as a universal Corellian trait. Any Corellian character will most likely not care about the odds of success.

--->'''Kirk:''' I take it the odds are against us in a situation this grim.

->'''[[UniversalAdaptorCast C-3PO/Quagmire:]]''' Sir, the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field are 2-1! \\
'''Han/Peter:''' Never tell me the o- [[SatireParodyPastiche oh, well that's not bad!]] Never mind, let's keep going.
->-- ''[[FamilyGuy Something, Something, Something, Dark Side]]''

->-- ''[[FamilyGuy Something, Something, Something, Dark Side]]

*** He seems to only miss because they were aiming for the Dragon's Jewels, of which it had none