History Main / ReadTheFreakingManual

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 2}}'': An in-universe example. In Salmon Run, if you and your team fail to collect even one Golden Egg, Mr. Grizz will talk about how he's thinking about making the employee handbook mandatory. Not like Pearl isn't pushing him that way already...

* The 2009 Russian superhero film ''Black Lightning'' involves a prototype FlyingCar from the Cold War being bequeathed to a young man on his birthday. He obviously thinks that the old Volga that the flying equipment was built on is "WhatAPieceOfJunk"... until he reads the freaking manual. And because he reads the freaking manual (plus having more experience in using the flying controls) he's able to save the day when the CorruptCorporateExecutive BigBad comes gunning for him [[UpgradeVsPrototypeFight using an upgraded, armed version of the project.]]

Sometimes the product is from a foreign market, in which case chances are the manual (along with the in-product text) might not be in languages the user understands (a common case being Westerners who import Japanese video games due to localizations [[LateExportForYou taking a while]], [[NoExportForYou not existing]], or [[BadExportForYou being garbage]]), so Read The Freaking Manual would also mean (spend months, possibly years to) Learn The Freaking Language.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer attempts to build a barbecue grill, but he drops the English-language instructions into the pool of cement he had started, and is forced to follow the French instructions ("''Le grille?!'' WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!") After a few minutes of frustration, he gives up and tries to do it by himself, predictably leaving behind a jumbled mess (which, incidentally, becomes a [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible critically-acclaimed piece of modern art among the Springfield art community]]).
** In "Homer Defined", as the reactor is going into meltdown, Homer actually remembers that there is a manual and quickly grabs it. However, he quickly throws it away after realizing exactly how thick it is ("Whod've thought that a nuclear reactor would be so complicated?") and ultimately only succeeds by pressing a button at random.

-->'''Doug Dimmadome:''' It was in an old computer manual? Dag nabbit, [[RunningGag no one ever reads the manual!]]
* ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'': When Wubbzy gets a pet Fleegle, he throws away the manual because he thinks he won't need it. If he'd read the manual, he would have known that feeding a Fleegle candy causes it to [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever grow exponentially]], or that feeding it a sandwich causes it to multiply.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' "Job Unfair" begins with Dr. Drakken stealing a WeatherControlMachine for his latest evil plan, only to discover that he has no idea how to operate it. His sidekick Shego eventually convinces him to go back and steal the manual as well.

* In the [[TheMovie TV movie]] ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbTheMovieAcrossThe2ndDimension'', after [[TheReveal Perry's cover is blown]] and the boys find out their pet platypus is actually a secret agent, he gives them a pamphlet which an upset Phineas immediately throws away. Had he read it, he would have found out that Perry kept his identity a secret because he would have to be relocated otherwise. [[spoiler:It says a lot that Phineas and Ferb forgave and fought alongside Perry even without knowing. Once they do find out, they agree to have their memories wiped in order to keep Perry]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': The episode "Too Many Jimmys" has Jimmy using a cloning machine to make copies of himself to hang out with, but is told by Heloise that it will only work if he follows the instructions she gives him. He predictably ignores them, leading to the machine producing an army of malformed clones that cause chaos across Miseryville. [[JustifiedTrope In Jimmy's defense]], [[ForTheEvulz Heloise did include fake steps alongside the real ones for no reason other than sadistic giggles]] that made it harder to take them seriously, so he isn't completely at fault.

* Creator/AnimEigo used this verbatim as its SpoofAesop for ''Anime/MetalSkinPanicMADOX01''.

'''Vyvyan:''' Doesn’t it? Well, maybe that’s where we’re going wrong!

* In ''Film/TopGunMaverick'', at the start of his instructor duty, Maverick presents his students with an operational manual for the F/A-18E/F, the plane that they're going to be flying. He correctly assumes that the students have already read through and mastered everything the manual has to offer and promptly throws it into a trash bin, much to the chagrin of his superior officers standing nearby. This is justified, as Maverick later explains, because [[AirstrikeImpossible the mission]] they're going to do is so unorthodox that traditional training isn't going to be very helpful and thus requires the students to push themselves and their aircraft's capabilities to the limit just so they could have a chance to survive.

'''Vyvyan:''' Doesn’t it? Well, maybe that’s where we’re going wrong!

* CatchPhrase of ''Series/CanadasWorstHandyman''. The host-specific states the Achilles heel of a bad handyman is failing to take some time to read instructions.

* In the ''Film/MenInBlack'' novel ''The Green Saliva Blues'', "Jay" refuses to RTFM. ''Any'' FM, whether it be on the customs and etiquette of the species they plan to contact or a weapons manual. "Elle", who ''has'' read the freaking manual, shows him how to use the [[LawOfInverseRecoil Noisy]] [[HandCannon Cricket]] without the recoil. A probable parody, as it is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d that she ''only'' knew this information from the manual, the manual [[LostInTranslation was written in an alien language]], and [[IdiotBall it would have shattered her wrist and probably shoulder]] had she been at all wrong.

* Chris Bores, WebVideo/TheIrateGamer, was in such a rush to play ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' that he refused to read the instruction manual for the storyline, so he believes the game takes place in a straight modern war setting in the likes of ''Film/{{Rambo}}''. He is then caught by surprise once the aliens start showing up later in the game.

* ''[[VideoGame/PennyArcadeAdventures The third installment of Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness]]'' references and parodies this with an attack that Tycho can learn that is titled "RTFM", in which he basically throws a book at an enemy. This is later upgraded to "RTMFM" which doesn't cost MP to cast, and both of these attacks share the same sprite as Tycho's ultimate attack, the 4MP "Master's Thesis".

* In-universe example in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 2}}'': In Salmon Run, if you and your team fail to collect even one Golden Egg, Mr. Grizz will talk about how he's thinking about making the employee handbook mandatory. Not like Pearl isn't pushing him that way already...

*** Of course, more astute students often notice that the list of instructions is disproportionately long for a test of the subject they're taking and [[ComicallyMissingThePoint immediately skip to the end of the instructions]] to check for the "ignore all instructions" trap.

** Amazon sells spears. Some even are good enough quality to be used as a weapon. But there are a record number of users who wreck their weapon by using it as a javelin, even though a basic internet read on the distinction between the two tells you that while certain spears ''can'' be thrown, only specific types are ''designed'' to be thrown, you should probably practice with a spear before throwing it against solid objects, and definitely ''shouldn't'' throw it against [[https://www.wikihow.com/Throw-a-Spear thick objects like a tree]]. Many one-star reviews say, "I threw this spear against a tree and it broke the first time."

** On the other hand, [[https://www.visualcapitalist.com/terms-of-service-visualizing-the-length-of-internet-agreements/ it would take the average American almost 250 hours to read all of the EULAs they accept when using online services]], and that doesn't take into consideration how often they change.

* People who went to Website/{{GameFAQs}} for the transfer codes for ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' discovered that every FAQ covered this subject with "Read The Freaking Manual because we're not copying it". Many were looking because they had lost the manual, or bought it used (since used game stores usually sell just the cartridge). Moral of the story? Some people don't ''have'' the manual. That's why they're asking you in the first place.

** In the official Monopoly rules, there is no monetary award for landing on Free Parking, despite HouseRules to the contrary.

* With the Game Boy version of ''Daffy Duck: The Marvin Missions'', the manual tells how to use points to change Daffy's gun, but in-game there's no instructions or even a menu for for it. This becomes a problem at the beginning of stage 2, where the default gun can't reach the clock you need to destroy to remove the gate blocking access to the rest of the stage.

* ''VideoGame/HomeImprovementPowerToolPursuit'' provides perhaps the ultimate aversion possible: In true Tim Taylor fashion, its "manual" is just a single folded sheet that opens up to show a huge sign covering up most of the text, declaring that "[[CatchPhrase REAL MEN DON'T NEED INSTRUCTIONS]]".

* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': The episode "Too Many Jimmys" has Jimmy using a cloning machine to make copies of himself to hang out with, but is told by Heloise that it will only work if he follows the instructions she gives him. He predictably ignores them, leading to the machine producing an army of malformed clones that cause chaos across Miseryville. [[JustifiedTrope Although Jimmy was somewhat justified in doing so due to]] [[ForTheEvulz Heloise including fake steps alongside the real ones for no reason other than sadistic giggles]] which made it harder to take them seriously, so it isn't completely his fault.

** In II Kings 22, Hilkiah the High Priest finds the Book of the Law and informs King Josiah. Josiah laments that the Law has not been kept, and it's implied that the Book of the Law hasn't been read for a very long time. In Chapter 23, Josiah calls the people together and they publicly do what this trope suggests. Then Josiah orders the people to keep the Passover, which they would have known to do all along had they been reading the Book. The Biblical text tells us that the Passover hadn't been kept in this way "since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah" (II Kings 23:22), which amounts to a period of a few hundred years at the very least.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': Step-1- Read ''all'' the steps before continuing. For instance, if you need to clean SCP-173's workspace and think you don't need the three people required, reading the manual will tell you why that is a very bad idea. Maybe the Foundation administration will send lovely flowers to your family afterwards.

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* The main character of ''Series/TheGreatestAmericanHero'' loses the manual for the [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman super suit]] and has to learn by trial and error. HilarityEnsues. (At the start of the third season, he is given another copy of the manual, and immediately loses that one, too.)

** This was the basis of the famous "brown [=M&Ms=]" stunt Music/VanHalen pulled. Van Halen pioneered what is now a common practice in the music industry of using ''riders'': basically giving venues an instruction list of the things they needed done for their upcoming performance there. As the riders contained actual safety measures the band wanted carried out, David Lee Roth explained that this clause was inserted deep into the rider to see if anyone would actually read that far and comply with it; if they did, they would almost certainly be aware of the other things in the document as well, and the performance would likely be all the safer for it.

** ''WebVideo/SteamTrain'' has this problem as well, with the ''Doctor Who'' episode in particular drawing comparisons to [[LetsPlay/TheKingOfHate DarkSydePhil]].
*** This has cropped up again in the Steam Train playthrough of ''VideoGame/TheyBleedPixels''. Even worse, they spend a lot of time complaining about the game forcing a tutorial and control instructions on them (which are written on the game's walls throughout the first level), only to then forget certain actions that they can perform, most notably completely forgetting they can duck to avoid enemy attacks, and Ross completely ignoring the instructions written on the walls on how to open certain doors.