History Main / SarcasmFailure

* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'': This happens to the Critic a bit, at which point the RunningGag of him [[LampshadeHanging literally aborting the joke]] occurs. Thinking about this (perhaps a little too much) leads to wondering how often these are unintentional and put in during editing, vs. how many of these are pre-scripted. Fantastically done in the ''Film/{{Bio-Dome}}'' review.

* During the ongoing feud between [[Webcomic/{{Sonichu}} Chris Chan]] and the {{Troll}} Army, Chris accidentally revealed [[TooMuchInformation too much]] [[PottyFailure about himself]]:
-->'''Chris:''' I have numbers of DIRTY CRAPPED BRIEFS!\\
'''[[Creator/BillyMays Billy Mays]]:''' [[NoIndoorVoice YOU... YOU...]] [[FlatWhat WHAT]]. WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU OFFER THAT INFORMATION?

Sarcasm Failure is, to put it simply, when a [[DeadpanSnarker character]] who you'd ''expect'' would be able to [[QuipToBlack deliver an irreverent, sarcastic or deadpan comment on just about anything]] fails to do so because of the nature of the current situation. This trope can be PlayedForDrama -- if the writers want to show that a situation is particularly dire, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness having the funny guy go completely serious]] is one way of showing that -- or PlayedForLaughs, by having the character encounter a situation so completely, utterly and patently ''absurd'' that he or she is rendered temporarily incapable of responding coherently. (Basically their Snark short-circuits.)

Comedy versions may be reduced to gawking, stuttering or [[{{Angrish}} incoherent babbling rage]] at the sheer idiocy of it all, a {{Beat}}, or just [[FlatWhat greet the situation with stunned incredulity]], often {{lampshade|Hanging}}d with some variation of "words fail me".

---> "Pathetic, With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"

* A strange example of mostly dramatic but with a hint of bitter comedic aftertaste in ''Literature/{{GONE}}''. ''PLAGUE'' has [[DarkChick Diana]] at a loss of word when her boyfriend [[spoiler: declares himself king and tells her to get the fuck off his island, thus breaking up with her.]] In the next book, [[spoiler: after having a torture birth aged 15 in a hot, pitch dark mine]] she has this reaction when, just minutes [[spoiler: after the birth]], she's ordered by Drake to just "Get up and walk."

--->'''iHawk (maudlin):''' This isn't a war, it's a murder.\\
''* flip!* ''\\
'''iHawk (irreverent):''' ''(as Groucho Marx)'' Dis isn't a war, it's a moider!

* Garrett from ''Videogame/{{Thief}}'' is usually a prime DeadpanSnarker and has wry, or at least interested, insights into a lot of things you see during your missions and cutscenes. He usually shuts up during the more frightening areas of the game. The Shalebridge Cradle from the third is especially notable: Garret speaks exactly two lines during the entire mission, and both of them are more to the effect of OhCrap.
* One of the routes you can take in ''Videogame/DragonAgeII'' is to turn [[PlayerCharacter Hawke]] into a snarker who turns every situation into a joke, [[DudeNotFunny no matter how appropriate that may be.]] One mission in the second act involves someone stealing [[ScaryDogmaticAliens qunari]] gunpowder, except [[spoiler: it's not gunpowder, it's a poison gas that makes all non-qunari go insane and kill everything. The elf responsible tries to make bombs to blow up a street to frame the Qunari, but instead winds up poisoning lots of people, and doesn't entirely see it as a setback. Upon learning this, Silly!Hawke's response is:]]

'''Egon:''' Sorry Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.

** "What....-ever, just end!"

''[nothing]''\\

* A strange example of mostly dramatic but with a hint of bitter comedic aftertaste in ''Literature/{{GONE}}''. PLAGUE has [[DarkChick Diana]] at a loss of word when her boyfriend [[spoiler: declares himself king and tells her to Get the fuck off his island, thus breaking up with her.]] In the next book, [[spoiler: After having a torture birth aged 15 in a hot, pitch dark mine]] she has this reaction when, just minutes [[spoiler: after birth]], she is expected by Drake to just "Get up and walk."

* Garret from ''Videogame/{{Thief}}'' is usually a prime DeadpanSnarker and has wry, or at least interested, insights into a lot of things you see during your missions and cutscenes. He usually shuts up during the more frightening areas of the game. The Shalebridge Cradle from the third is especially notable: Garret speaks exactly two lines during the entire mission, and both of them are more to the effect of OhCrap.
* One of the routes you can take in ''Videogame/DragonAgeII'' is to turn [[PlayerCharacter Hawke]] into a snarker who turns every situation into a joke, [[DudeNotFunny no matter how appropriate that may be.]] One mission in the second act involves someone stealing [[ScaryDogmaticAliens qunari]] gunpowder, except [[spoiler: it's not gunpowder, it's a poison gas that makes all non-qunari go insane and kill everything. The elf responsible tries to make bombs to blow up a street to frame the qunari, but instead winds up poisoning lots of people, and doesn't entirely see it as a setback. Upon learning this, Silly!Hawke's response is:]]
-->"You were going to kill lots of people anyways? That's... not funny at all, really."

* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'', The Joker spends most of the film quipping, laughing, and generally being his usual MonsterClown self (with a bit of [[SurroundedByIdiots anger on the side]]). The only scene that makes him drop it all is [[spoiler:when Tim Drake shoots him.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', near the end of the series, [[spoiler: Sokka and Toph are dangling off an airship. Sokka's space sword and boomerang are gone, and things look really bad for them.]] This may be the only point in the whole series that Toph and Sokka, the two [[DeadpanSnarker snarkiest]] characters in the series, are both acting serious.

-->'''Vlad:''' ''I have never seen you without a oneliner.''\\
'''Cassie:''' ''[blushing] Yeah, let's never speak of that again.''

''(Beat)''\\

-->'''Chandler:''' So... many... jokes... (LaughTrack) Must... mock... Joey...

* Also in ''Videogame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', Beckett suffers a humorous form if you end up having a discussion on Kindred origins with him as a [[MadOracle Malkavian]]. While the 'normal' player characters have theories he's already well-acquainted with, the Malkavian ones are a bit more... Unique.

* ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'': This happens to the Critic a bit, at which point the RunningGag of him [[LampshadeHanging literally aborting the joke]] occurs. Thinking about this (perhaps a little too much) leads to wondering how often these are unintentional and put in during editing, vs. how many of these are pre-scripted. Fantastically done in the ''Film/{{Bio-Dome}}'' review
-->'''Joey Lauren Adams''': (affectionately) There is something about a man who can lick his own back...\\
'''Nostalgia Critic''': (beat, stunned) What am I supposed to say to that?

'''[[Creator/BillyMays BILLY MAYS]]:''' [[NoIndoorVoice YOU... YOU...]] [[FlatWhat WHAT]]. WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU OFFER THAT INFORMATION?

--->'''Harley''': ...I've never seen you laugh before... I don't think I like it! Cut it out, you're giving me the creeps!

-->'''ComicBook/SpiderWoman:''' No, that's how you know he is serious!

-->'''Comedian''': Someone explain it to me.

-->'''Hot Rod''': Doesn't it remind you of something, Kup?
-->'''Kup''': Nope...never seen anything like it.

-->'''Han''': Oh, yeah? Watch this!\\

--> "Pathetic, With the whole wide world of ear-related humor before you, you go for holey?"

-->'''iHawk (maudlin):''' This isn't a war, it's a murder.
-->''* flip!* ''
-->'''iHawk (irreverent):''' ''(as Groucho Marx)'' Dis isn't a war, it's a moider!

--->'''Buffy:''' Spike and I are getting married!
--->'''Xander:''' How- What- How?
--->'''Giles:''' Three excellent questions.

-->'''Deb:''' What, no jokes about providing gross sexual comfort in a time of crisis?
-->'''Masuka:''' My friend was stabbed, and he might die.

-->'''Masuka:''' Hey Morgan, wanna sit on my lap when we're done and tell me what you want for Christmas?
-->'''Deb:''' And he's back!

--> '''Reid''': (On the phone, [[spoiler:sick with anthrax and getting worse.]]) What, no goofy Garcia nickname for me this time?
--> '''Garcia''': No. I can't be my cheery self when you are where you are.

-->'''Cyborg''': Whoa!
-->'''Slade''': Whoa? That's it? No clever comment? I was looking forward to that.

-->'''Vlad''': ''I have never seen you without a oneliner.''
-->'''Cassie''': ''[blushing] Yeah, let's never speak of that again.''

-->'''Pinkie:''' Hmm... What element could you be?... OH! OH! OH! I got it! ''"Phoenix Wright, with his nifty do, represents the spirit of... '''[[AnimeHair HAIR GEL!]]'''''"
-->'''Phoenix:''' ... ''(No comment...)''

-->'''Goku:''' Are you that freezer guy?
-->'''Freeza:''' I am ''Lord Freeza'', yes.
-->'''Goku:''' Awesome! Imma deck you in the schnozz!
-->''(Beat)''
-->'''Freeza:''' I'm sorry, that's a new one.

-->'''Peter Venkman:''' Egon, what have you got left?
-->'''Egon:''' Sorry Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.

-->'''Ben Bailey:''' An alternative to permanent tattoos, what plant dye, popular in India, is used for temporary body art?
-->'''Contestant:''' I know this!
-->'''Ben Bailey:''' You do?
-->'''Contestant:''' {{Hentai}}!
-->'''Ben Bailey:''' ... ''(AsideGlance)''
-->'''Ben Bailey:''' ... The correct answer was ''henna.''

-->'''Rachel Maddow''': I know that I am paid to talk for a living. I am incapable of doing what I'm paid to do right now.

--> '''Joey Lauren Adams''': (affectionately) "There is something about a man who can lick his own back..."
--> '''Nostalgia Critic''': (beat, stunned) "What am I supposed to say to that?"

-->'''Chris''': I have numbers of DIRTY CRAPPED BRIEFS!
-->'''[[Creator/BillyMays BILLY MAYS]]''': [[NoIndoorVoice YOU... YOU...]] [[FlatWhat WHAT]]. WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU OFFER THAT INFORMATION?

-->'''Mister Crocker''': Good news, Turner. You've taken 'F' to a new level. I'm going to give you a [[EpicFail Super 'F'!]]
-->'''Mister Crocker''': You get a 'D'! As in ''D''on't get your hopes up for a high-paying career!
-->'''Mister Crocker''': You get a 'B'! As in ''B''ut you're not supposed to be this smart.
-->'''Mister Crocker''': You get an 'A'! As in... uh... I give so few A's, I have no prepared sarcasm.

-->'''Lana''': Once again, words fail me. This is happening a lot. I think I might have aphasia.

** LAter on, Asakura was rendered completely speechless upon seeing [[spoiler: several people get wiped from existence]].

** More recently, Asakura was rendered completely speechless upon seeing [[spoiler: several people get wiped from existence]].

-->'''ComicBook/{{Spider-Woman}}:''' No, that's how you know he is serious!

** When the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} nearly got taken out by Batman's contingency plans in the ''Tower of Babel'' arc, someone shouted an order at PlasticMan and he replied with "On it." The response was "...What, no jokes?" "This is not funny."

----

* Occurs during JeffDunham's routine with his puppets Peanut & Jose Jalapeno on a Stick. Peanut and Jose begin conversing in Spanish, and Jeff asks them to stop because it leaves him left out. The usually smart-assed Peanut is reduced to a "HUH?!", and when Jeff's explanation is that he can't speak Spanish, Peanut stops his sarcastic comment before it can even begin to just stare at him.

-->''"They bought houses; second and third homes that they decorated and didn't live in--but they got a ''tax write-off for''--and I'd have a joke about that, but it makes me too FUCKING ANGRY!!!"

-->--''Discworld/TheLastHero''

* An example in the third Videogame/SlyCooper game, when Bentley is explaining to Sly how they'll have to cheat in the ACES dogfighting competition since they have only one plane compared to the 15 each on the two opposing teams.

* In ''{{Manhattan}}'', Creator/WoodyAllen gets dumped when his girlfriend reveals that she's going back to his (married, though soon to be divorced) best friend. You can see him clearly reaching for a standard Woody one-liner, but instead he can only stammer, "I'm... I'm stunned, I'm, I'm, I'm...."

* ''Series/{{Mash}}'': This show attempted this with Hawkeye, but overdid the seriousness.

* TomLehrer's response to Henry Kissinger receiving the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize:

* Every so often on ''Series/CashCab''. Most [[TermConfusion hilariously]] and [[TooMuchInformation unbelievably]]:

* Mark, of ''MarkReadsTwilight'' and ''MarkReadsHarryPotter'' fame is often completely lost for words when he reads something particularly painful or an amazing plot twist is revealed. At said points, he will usually resort to either gifs or keyboard smashing.

-->'''[[BillyMays BILLY MAYS]]''': [[NoIndoorVoice YOU... YOU...]] [[FlatWhat WHAT]]. WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU OFFER THAT INFORMATION?

* Happened to critics of Music/LynyrdSkynyrd's song "Sweet Home Alabama." The line, "In Birmingham, they love the governor" is a reference to pro-segregationist governor George Wallace. In the next line, the back-up singers say "Boo boo boo!" which is supposed to be them booing Wallace. Most listeners mishear the back-up singers as humming a meaningless "Ooo ooo ooo!" and mistake the lyrics for unironic support of Wallace.

** Although if you had {{Hentai}} drawn on your body, I'm sure you'd ''want'' it to be temporary.

* TomLerher's response to Henry Kissinger receiving the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize:
->''Political satire is obsolete.''

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', [[spoiler: Albireo Imma, the man with the perpetual CheshireCatGrin who never stopped acting with a strong whimsey, reached a point of utter horror as the ({{Magic|alLand}}) [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt world was about to come to an end]]. {{Telepath|y}}ically, [[LadyOfWar Princess Arika]] made sure to tell him to stop being a defeatist fool]]. This was the only time he ever seemed without his usual joking demeanor (and with [[EyesAlwaysShut his eyes widened]]).

** When the {{Justice League|OfAmerica}} nearly got taken out by Batman's contingency plans in the ''Tower of Babel'' arc, someone shouted an order at PlasticMan and he replied with "On it." The response was "...What, no jokes?" "This is not funny."

* {{Deadpool}} is typically a {{Motor Mouth}}ed, wise cracking mutant amongst X-Men, often prone to TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, but when things are serious, he shuts up.
* Lenny in ''Comicbook/ShadeTheChangingMan'' was always good for a snark, no matter how dire the situation. Her SarcasmFailure was a result of an author, an unwitting personality plunderer, who had written her into his book, and shocked her enough to drive her to a suicide attempt.

* Harry from ''TheJourneyOfNattyGann'' does this in a very subtle way. He spends most of the film making sarcastic remarks to Natty. He tells her that he last went to the west coast with his "old man" and she responds with "Your dad?" He looks like he's about to make some retort like "No, my sister." Instead he lets his guard down and tells her about his dad's death.

* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' does this at the end of the fourth season. The main character, who is probably sarcasm made flesh, remains serious when Darling, Baldrick and George admit to being scared before they all charge into a battle in WorldWarOne. The episode itself became this trope in its surprisingly-reverent conclusion,

* Music example: Music/DeadKennedys' 12" single ''In God We Trust Inc.'' is the bands SarcasmFailure. The Single includes rants against the religious right, RonaldReagan (''We Got Bigger Problems Now'', sung to the tune of ''California Uber Alles'' from their first album) and against neo-nazis that flocked their gigs after [[MisaimedFandom misunderstanding some of their songs]] (''Nazi Punks Fuck Off'', arguably ''the'' SarcasmFailure of the band).

* Beckett from ''Videogame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' is a vampire who spends most of his encounter with the player being sarcastic. But he suffers SarcasmFailure in the endgame, after he (presumably) learns the truth about the Ankharan Sarcophagus. He flees town immediately afterwards.

-->'''Ben Bailey:''' ... [[SarcasmFailure The correct answer]] was ''henna.''

* LewisBlack had a variation in a bit about the excesses of the rich:

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. After [[spoiler:Beat betrays the Reapers for Neku]] in the first day of the third week, [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Kariya and Uzuki]] warn him that 'he's treading on thin ice'. The character responds triumphantly that it couldn't possibly happen; Shibuya is ''too hot for there to be any ice for him to tread on''. Despite both Neku and Kariya being prime {{Deadpan Snarker}}s, SarcasmFailure immediately strikes everyone present.
* Also in ''Videogame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', Beckett suffers a humorous form of SarcasmFailure if you end up having a discussion on Kindred origins with him as a [[MadOracle Malkavian]]. While the 'normal' player characters have theories he's already well-acquainted with, the Malkavian ones are a bit more... Unique.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': Strong Bad suffers from second degree SarcasmFailure several times; the most common causes would be the title character and Coach Z.

* Likewise, several members from ''TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND'', most notably Psycho Mantis.

* The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Almost Got 'Im" involves several members of Batman's RoguesGallery telling each other stories of their most brilliant attempts to kill Batman that ''almost'' succeeded. SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker, who is saving his story for last, spends most of the episode quipping at and mocking the other villains' attempts. However, [[DumbMuscle Killer Croc's]] 'brilliant plan' is so dumb Joker can only stare dumbfounded at him, with this sort of "what-the-hell-is-this-guy-even-''doing''-here" expression frozen on his face.
** For those of you who are curious, Killer Croc's "brilliant attempt" at trying to kill Batman was throwing a rock at him.
--->'''Croc:''' It was a big rock...

----

** In the later areas of the Sea, when discussing [[spoiler:the hideous underwater powers that have corrupted Mom and Dad Sea Monkey]], the game is completely devoid of jokes.

* ''FanFic/TurnaboutStorm'': [[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix]], expert FirstPersonSmartass, nearly always has a snarky remark about the weirdness around him, especially now that he's stuck in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Equestria]]; but one of Pinkie's comments plain short circuited him.

* When Slade [[BackFromTheDead returns]] in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' and [[BadassAbnormal demonstrates his new powers.]]

* Harry from ''TheJourneyOfNattyGann'' does this in a very subtle way. He spends most of the film making sarcastic remarks to Natty. When tells her that he last went to the west coast with his "old man." "Your dad?" He looks like he's about to make some retort like "No, my sister." Instead he lets his guard down and tells her about his dad's death.