History Main / YankTheDogsChain

* ''Literature/MagicByTheNumbers'': It happens repeatedly to the protagonist of ''Master of the Five Magics'': each time he risks it all to learn of a new kind of magic, a rival swoops in and gloms all the profits, leaving him with nothing but a clue to the next style of magic-use.

* Scrat at the end of ''WesternAnimation/IceAge2TheMeltdown'', when he goes to Acorn's heaven but is revived just as he approaches a giant acorn.

* ''WesternAnimattion/{{Cars}}'': Radiator Springs is rejuvenated by Lightning and everyone is happy, and it looks like the icing on the cake is the customers that seem to be approaching. Except they aren't customers. They're the press, who've been alerted to Lightning's presence by Doc, and Lightning is promptly whisked away for the final race.

''That'', right there, is the feeling and painful acknowledgment by the GenreSavvy viewer that FailureIsTheOnlyOption. Why? Because TheWoobie is ''not'' going to get [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted to keep her money]] and move out of PerpetualPoverty. Because the [[GirlOfTheWeek Bond Girl]] is ''not'' going to stay HappilyMarried to Film/JamesBond and [[CartwrightCurse will be dead before the movie's over]]. The home that TheDrifter has been accepted into will promptly become a DoomedHometown, forcing him [[WalkingTheEarth back on the road]] again. A character TrappedInAnotherWorld will find that his apparent chance to [[TheHomewardJourney get back home]] has fatal flaws or [[FriendOrIdolDecision comes at the cost of friends or innocents]] and must be turned down. [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Ash Ketchum]], despite making it to the Top 4 of the SeasonFinale's TournamentArc, will lose to an unintroduced rival who owns OlympusMons. [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]] will get the football yanked out from under him by Lucy once again just as he's about to kick it. [[Series/GilligansIsland Gilligan]] (or someone else) will bungle the latest attempt by the crew of the ''Minnow'' to get rescued and get off the island. The Advertising/TrixRabbit won't get to enjoy his bowl of Trix because KidsAreCruel. [[WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain The Brain]] will see Pinky's bumbling (or his own arrogance) ruin everything just when world domination seems within his grasp (yes, this trope applies to villains and {{Anti Villain}}s too). And deep down, we know it and expect it.

* ''WebVideo/EchoRose'': After being bullied, fired, and plagued the paranormal, Echo receives what looks to be a present from a fan...which is really an animal skull, and a note demanding she stop her investigation. She doesn't take it too well, having to end the video immediately due to how horrible she was feeling.

* ''Film/NationalTreasure2BookOfSecrets'' uses a similar pattern, where after finishing pretty well in the first movie, the protagonists are down on their luck (a failed marriage, an aprehended Ferrari, an accusation that Ben Gates' ancestor betrayed Abe Lincoln).

* Once Brazilian movie ''Carandiru'' reaches [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carandiru_massacre the massacre on the title penitentiary]], one cop enters a cell and says "Think I'll let you live" to the prisoner inside... and returns one minute later saying "Changed my mind" before shooting him dead.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Happens to Laios's party in ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' regarding [[spoiler: rescuing Falin. It took ''a lot'' of blood, sweat and tears but Team Touden have finally got Falin back from the Red Dragon, yaaaay! Oh wait, she's been spirited away by the Lunatic Magician and is now trying to kill them. Also, she CameBackWrong and Shuro intends to get all of them imprisoned (at best) for their unwitting part in it. Also, the Lunatic Magician, a far more dangerous enemy than the Red Dragon, is out for their blood. ''Ouch'']].
* Happens in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood'', with poor, poor Jonathan Joestar. Since his youth, he'd had to deal with his evil adopted brother Dio Brando beating and humiliating him, kissing his girl, killing his dog, trying to poison his father and steal his inheritance. And then things take a turn for the worse when Dio murders his father as a HumanSacrifice to become a vampire, and goes on a killing spree and now Jonathan must stop him. So eventually, it seems like he's finally defeated Dio, he's married Erina, they're on their honeymoon...[[spoiler: and then Dio comes back as a severed head and mortally wounds him, setting the ship on fire and forcing Jonathan to sacrifice himself to stop Dio once and for all. He never even lived to see his and Erina's child be born.]]
** And it becomes a double whammy as of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', when it's revealed that [[spoiler: Dio didn't actually die, but rather stole Jonathan's body to become even more powerful, meaning that Jonathan's death only stopped Dio temporarily and later unleashed a greater evil onto the world]].
* ''{{Manga/Trigun}}'': This happens to Vash the Stampede ''all the bloody time''. The cause of this can easily be traced back to the BigBad constantly holding onto the chain. ''[[BreakTheCutie Hard.]]''
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** Shinji... poor, poor Shinji. The universe seems to have it out for this poor kid, such that anytime that things begin to look up for him or he tries to do something heroic or badass, ''something'' will inevitably happen to smack him right back down and send him into another HeroicBSOD or worse. Specific example: That kind, charming young boy without any debilitating emotional trauma who actually cares for you? [[spoiler:He's actually an Angel, and you have to kill him.]] Sorry. As well as mid-series, where he begins to get some confidence, it seems that he has some chance to reconcile with his dad, and he feels in general a bit more like the hero of a more optimistic giant robot series -- needless to say, it doesn't last.
*** He fares even worse in the ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movies. So, he finally managed to find his own reason for fighting, stormed back from his TenMinuteRetirement with iron determination, forced his EVA to reactivate through sheer force of will, kick serious ass, saved his [[ShyBlueHairedGirl love interest]] from the belly of the monster and actually enjoyed an intimate embrace with her, which was probably the first hug he got since his mother's unfortunate death... [[spoiler:...only to find out that [[NiceJobBreakingItHero he inadvertently annihilated the biosphere in the process,]] which means that half his friends and acquaintances are dead by his hands, and the other half hates his guts for it. Cue his once ParentalSubstitute strapping a bomb to his neck and addressing him as "Test Subject DM-03". And that's only how [[TraumaCongaLine that particular movie starts...]]]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone It probably doesn't have to be mentioned that the revelation of what exactly he did was too much for the poor kid's fragile mind...]]
** Asuka wakes up from a ConvenientComa in the movie and goes into combat within 5 minutes of getting out. She wipes out a whole army, so they send in these 9 [[FanNickname Har]][[EldritchAbomination pies]]. She only has 3 and a half minutes of battery power and a progressive knife against a nearly impossible to break AT Field, They have no pilots (so they can't be incapacitated as easily) and a copy of the best weapon in the series. Asuka wins before she runs out of time. [[spoiler:But the result is [[NauseaFuel really awful.]] She gets [[EyeScream speared through the eye,]] her guts ripped open, and ''eaten alive'' while the poor girl is desperately trying to fight back. Then, it looks like it's going to get better as she is still alive despite having endured all of this. She reaches for the berserker mode button to reactivate the Eva and go back to kicking ass... but then they slice off her arm and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impale her repeatedly]] until she dies.]] And poor Shinji just has to come across the results, and it is anything but pretty.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' did this close to the end of the first season: Euphemia manages to talk Lelouch out of his plan to [[spoiler:start a revolt by making it look like she killed him,]] and for [[HopeSpot a few seconds]] it looks like there's going to be peace... [[spoiler:only for Lelouch to [[PowerIncontinence lose control of his Geass at the worst possible moment]] and accidentally order Euphemia to start massacring Japanese people. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Which she does.]]]] Oops.
* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'':
** [[TheWoobie Lithuania]] has this happen to him often, often due to being a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and also just being downright unlucky in everything.
** [[NaiveEverygirl Ukraine's]] ''entire existence'' seems to be a long line of these.
* Light Yagami of ''Manga/DeathNote''. Several different times, each involving some Death Note GambitRoulette. Though frankly, [[KnightTemplar his chain can't get yanked hard enough.]]
* ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'': In volume 6, during a [[BreatherEpisode Breather Chapter]], the Deadmen are finally allowed to go outside into the fresh air after being kept underground for most of the series, everyone is partying. Ganta has a moment where Shiro asks him if he's having fun, he mulls on the friends he's made in DW, mentally comparing them to his massacred classmates, and for the first time appears to be at peace. in the very next chapter [[spoiler:he nearly kills the other Deadmen when he unintentionally activates his Ganbare Ganta Gun trying to save a forgery, and is loathed by those same friends and even beaten]].
* ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'', so Kurono has been freed from the Gantz Room, grown into a heroic, admirable person, and his girlfriend, the woman he loves, has been brought back to life. Sounds nice right? [[spoiler:Except Gantz took both their memories so they no longer remember one another, Kurono is back to how he was pre-Gantz, a cowardly JerkAss, and vampires have sent a kill team after him, and while his memories leak back and he manages to hold his own for at least a little while, they succeed in murdering him, but not before showing him his younger brother's severed head first.]]
** The entire BreatherEpisode before the [[spoiler:Giants]] Arc; all missions have been cancelled indefinitely, the orbs begin to power down, and Gantz himself shows up to say hello to the survivors. Then WWIII with aliens begins for real, in all its horror.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}''. If it ever looks like things will be clearing up for any bleak-lifed supporting character in this series, you know something ''horribly wrong'' is about to happen to them, usually at the hands of Johan.
** The worst is probably [[spoiler:Richard Braun.]] If you didn't hate Johan by that point, you probably did right after that.
** Even poor Roberto, Johan's worshipper and probably the character we least sympathize with, is [[spoiler:snubbed at the end of the series on his deathbed when Johan denies him the right to see the [[AfterTheEnd Scenery for a Doomsday]] that he's so looked forward to]].
* In ''Manga/OdeToKirihito'', Kirihito and Reira finally appear to be on way to Japan having escaped numerous gut-wrenching hardships along the way. There's even another Japanese guy on the plane, [[spoiler:who promptly decides that the bandages Kirihito wears are to hide the fact that he's an Israeli spy, and he calls Arab fundamentalists to sell Kirihito off. Except he isn't. The Arabs decide to kill everyone there for wasting their time, and they're only "saved" because ''another'' extremist group starts attacking the first one. "Saved", as in, now they get to wander around a desert in the middle of nowhere meeting, among other things, a baby that's starving to death]].
* In Chapter 16 of ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}},'' rescue ships arrive to rescue the protagonists. Guess what happens next.
* In the FlashBack episode 24 of ''Manga/{{xxxHOLiC}}'', then twelve-year-old Watanuki makes a friend who can also see spirits. Of course, we know that in the pilot he was friendless and ghost-besieged for most of his teen years, so his happiness becomes heartbreaking since we know it can't end well. The friend is ultimately lost to paranormal circumstances in something of a HeroicSacrifice. It's ultimately a HappyEnding because it finishes with his birthday being attended by his four new friends in the cherry grove he met his young friend.
** Unfortunately, this appears to be a constantly recurring pattern in poor Watanuki's life. After he's finally learned the value of self-preservation because there are people who care about him, Watanuki has a series of world-shaking revelations that prove [[spoiler: [[ItMakesSenseInContext he's probably not supposed to exist]]]]. And ''THEN'', when it seems like he's coming to terms with who he is, and life at the shop is returning to normal with having to deal with customers and such, his world ''shatters to pieces'' when [[spoiler: he learns that Yuuko, the very person who caused his life to change for the better, is dying and there's nothing he can do about it]].
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' loves doing this, [[BreakTheCutie especially to poor Orihime.]] Want to fight? Cue dramatic determination followed by the destruction of your attack abilities! Want to get some training? Not a chance, without your attack powers, you're useless! You've trained anyways, so now you want to help fight? [[spoiler:Sorry, but if you don't [[SadisticChoice surrender and defect to the enemy, your friends will all die horrible deaths!]] But look, Ichigo's beaten Grimmjow and now all of you can go back... NOT! Guess what? You were kidnapped solely to lure your friends and allies into coming to rescue you so that your home would be left unprotected! And look who's there with his laser-blasting finger pressed against your chest while he scoffs over your speech about [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove your heart!]] Oh, hey, seems like you've been rescued again... or the two lurking behind you could be readying for an attack. But look, [[BigDamnHeroes Ishida joins the fray,]] and you two are going up to help Ichigo, who you just so happen to be in love with. Well, what do you know? [[TheDragon Ulquiorra]] was waiting for you to show up so that he could blast a hole in his chest! And Ishida? He lost a hand. Wait, Ichigo's back... as a nearly mindless [[TheHeartless Hollow]] with the only goal being to protect you. Plus he just stabbed Ishida because he interfered in mutilating Ulquiorra's corpse, which made him view him as an obstacle in protecting you.]]
** Poor Ishida is as much of a ButtMonkey as Orihime is. Hey, you're a Quincy, which is cool, right? Nope! Because {{Shinigami}} killed off most of your clan, including your grandpa! Oh man, you have to fight that scientist dude, so you pull your ultimate technique which [[spoiler:makes you lose all your powers]]! But don't worry, daddy is here to help, except that he has to [[spoiler:shoot you nineteen millimeters from your heart]]. One of your closest friends is kidnapped? Follow the hero blindly into a place you have absolutely no knowledge about! GASP! Another MadScientist has shown up, and you're about to die! Look out, some weirdo creature is attacking Orihime! You try to save her, except [[spoiler:your arm gets cut off!]] So yeah, poor Ishida doesn't have it that easy either.
** Poor [[TheWorfEffect Chad]] also receives this during the Hueco Mundo Arc, as he managed to win a fight against a named opponent by effectively showcasing his new powers. Chad has enough resolve to feel that he will be successful in Hueco Mundo... [[CurbStompBattle until Nnoitra showed up.]] That scene is another strong example that Chad is a Main Event jobber namely on how he can handle nameless {{Mooks}} and secondary named opponents but anytime he comes up against a remotely prominent opponent, well... let's just say he was on the floor for quite a while after that scene. In fact the [=GameFAQs=] Adult Swim Anime board once summed up the scene like this.
-->'''Chad:''' Now that I have won this fight I shall no longer be a jobber!\\
'''Nnoitra:''' LOL, no.
** [[TheWoobie Momo Hinamori]]. Oh, so you want to forever serve the man you practically are in love with? How nice... except oh no, he's suddenly dead and you've just found his corpse maimed and pinned to a wall! And after you try to attack the captain you're utterly convinced that did it, you get arrested! But wait, they found a letter from Aizen, revealing the killer's true identity... too bad that happens to be your childhood best friend, Toshiro Hitsugaya! So wracked with grief, you break out of your cell and try to kill ''him'', only to be knocked out soon after; when you do wake up, you follow him around, go to a part of the Soul Society inaccessible to even captain-level shinigami where you find the person you originally tried to kill, but what's this? He says there's someone who wants to meet you! And standing right behind you is ''your captain, perfectly alive.'' You immediately hug him and start to cry, because you're so happy he's alive and well and-- wait a minute, did he just stab you? Hahahah, guess what, ''you've just been betrayed and the man you idolized was all just a lie''. Have fun being stuck in a coma for the next 40 or so chapters and remaining in extremely heavy denial when you wake up! When all of that's done, you remain out of the picture for a while [[spoiler:until chapter 334, where, hooray, you've made a [[BigDamnHeroes spectacular comeback]] saving Matsumoto, hopefully over the trauma of the whole Aizen ordeal! Erm, not quite: you still refer to him as "Captain Aizen," but hey, you're gonna kick some ass and show every actions speak louder than words, right? Well, not really... despite fending off three Fraccion, you get owned by some freaky chimaera thing and guess what, no redeeming moment for you! ''But lucky you, it gets even better!'' Cue about 60 chapters later and you make a return... except, once again, you've been ''stabbed again'', by -- get ready for this -- ''your best friend, Hitsugaya''. Have fun getting over that one]]! Oh, and did we mention you're one of the most hated characters in the Western fandom, for ''all'' of that happening to you? Yeah, it's really fun to be you, isn't it?
* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', the Jusenkyo-cursed individuals frequently have cures dangled in front of them (especially frequently in some of the anime's filler episodes). For example, one episode has Ryoga and Shampoo using a special "waterproof soap" that turns out to work only temporarily. And then there are the countless times it seems like someone could get a trip to the springs, but then it turns out to be fake, or in one case [[NoSenseOfDirection Ryôga]] gets it and doesn't know how to get there. The most downright cruel example, though, occurs [[spoiler:at the end of the series, when Soun Tendo has secured the last remaining cask of water from "Spring of Drowned Man" as a wedding gift for Ranma. Well, we say "secured", we mean "stole the gift that the Jusenkyo Guide sent as a thank you to Ranma for saving his daughter, with the intention of blackmailing Ranma and possibly Akane into going along with the wedding". Happosai, mistaking it for booze, ''drinks'' it before ''any'' of the several people after it can actually use it]].
** The anime has one of these that almost might approach the end of the manga in cruelty. [[spoiler:The Jusenkyo Guide comes to Japan because this is a special day, a day in which a certain body of water can be connected to Jusenkyo's base water, allowing it to be turned into an extension of whichever spring is desired. The lucky body of water is none other than the Tendo's koi pond, which means that every cursed person in Nerima can get cured -- even Shampoo, as once the ritual is complete the Guide can freely change the pond from Spring of Drowned Guy to Spring of Drowned Girl or whatever is desired. The episode leads up to the climax of the ceremony, everyone is literally a few seconds away from being cured... and what happens? Ryoga trips and breaks the rope, canceling the spell before anyone can get cured -- and what's more this ritual can't be repeated for another '''thousand years'''. And then the Jusenkyo Guide wanders back home before anyone can think of tagging along, or asking him to send them back some Nanniichuan.]]
* Tsunade, from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', almost always loses when she makes a bet, but when she wins, she takes it as a sign that something bad is going to happen. She gets on a winning streak while gambling shortly before she sees Orochimaru again, wins the lottery around the time Gaara is kidnapped, and after Jiraiya suggests that she bet all she has [[spoiler:that he won't make it back]], on the assumption that she wouldn't win, [[spoiler:he gets killed by Pain]].
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Raise your hand if you were rooting for [[TeamRocketWins James to beat Ash]] in the Hoenn Pokeringer competition. [[spoiler:Poor guy got it yanked by a totally unforeseeable EleventhHourSuperpower, too.]]
** In a dance party for Performers, Serena naturally wants Ash to be her escort, but has to settle with Clemont since Serena's ShrinkingViolet Eevee is close to Clemont's Bunnelby. Things only get worse for Serena when Miette also shows up for the party, and asks Ash to be her escort (a ploy to get Serena jealous). During the event itself it becomes a rotation dance halfway through, so Performers switch dance partners. After several partner switches, Serena realizes Ash is up next for her, but just before they can actually dance together, the music is cut off, signalling the end of the dance number. Poor Serena's reactions are a sight to behold...
** Pretty much all of the Leagues were this for Ash. It looked as if he was going to win against one of his opponents, but often something would go horribly wrong and he would lose anyway. [[spoiler:Until Alola, that is.]] As a consolation, all of his League runs (aside from Unova, which is justifiable due to him being dumber than usual in that region) have him improve on his previous failure and slowly make his way up the podium [[spoiler:(again, until Alola)]], so it's not a total chain yank. To showcase how badly things went for him:
*** In Kanto, he manages to sweep his first preliminary round, win the second, take the third, and make a comeback in the fourth to qualify for the Top 16. And what happens? The day of his match, he's kidnapped by Team Rocket, narrowly escaping them and exhausting half his team to make it back seconds before he's disqualified for showing up ''hours'' late after the match was supposed to start. He gets knocked down to one Pokemon, uses his extremely disobedient Charizard out of desperation, and in the final battle, the big lug refuses to fight. He's disqualified on that count alone, and is eliminated.
*** In Johto, he sweeps through the preliminaries and is able to advanced over Kanto by finally defeating his rival Gary in an intense six-on-six match. Enter Harrison in the top 8, who narrowly wins out over Ash thanks to having a [[EarlyBirdCameo Blaziken]] that edges his Charizard--already tired from his battle with Gary's Blastoise--and takes him out. The same situation occurs in Hoenn, where he makes into the Top 8, only to be taken out thanks to Tyson's Meowth.
*** Sinnoh proved to be his most infamous defeat for a time. He makes it into the Top 4, only to end up against Tobias, who's been using [[OlympusMons Darkrai]] the entire tournament. Nearly two-thirds of Ash's team are wiped out, forcing him to use his [[TheAce Sceptile]], who narrowly wins against Darkrai. It seems like Ash has Tobias on the ropes, but the guy pulls out ''Latios'' and proceeds to demolish the rest of Ash's team, only losing to Pikachu, but still winning the match.
*** Unova saw Ash make it into the Top 8 before his rival Cameron is able to have his Riolu evolve into Lucario mid-battle to take the win--something he was explicitly counting on to happen.
*** Kalos was where the chain-yanking hit its peak. Ash manages to make it to the finals this time, putting him against Alain and his massively powerful Charizard. Ash uses his Greninja in the final battle against the Mega-Evolved fire type to try and eke out a win. In spite of the type advantage, Charizard narrowly knocks out Greninja. Though it still becomes mitigated when Alain, in spite of being crowned champion, considers Ash the superior trainer for taking on Team Flare and winning.
* Joey/Jou from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' makes a sudden comeback against Yami Malik in their Dark Duel in the Battle City Finals when he pulls out Gilford the Lightning and has him on the ropes. Yami Malik manages to hold out once again, but apparently has nothing else up his sleeve, with nothing left on the field or his hand, so our hero is in the clear, finally about to be the hero for once and save the damsel, Mai, from her [[MindRape fate]], right? Things seem to be looking that way, as the following turn, Yami Malik draws Monster Reborn, with nothing powerful on its own in his grave to stand up to Gilford, including Ra at this point, since that would require a tribute summon to get any ATK points. So he's basically reviving a [[MemeticMutation giant flaming chicken]] with no attack points, except that it turns out that it has an EleventhHourSuperpower that destroys Gilford and, in this very situation, shocks the controller of said monster into death, and... OhCrap. Sure enough, things go as predicted, except that as the smoke clears, our hero is NotQuiteDead, and is good to make another move, with Yami Malik's Ra leaving the field. All he needs is a monster with enough attack to finish Yami Malik off, and he draws Gearfried, summons it, and is just about to declare an attack until... he collapses and as such is disqualified.
* For another ''Anime/YuGiOh'' example (this one from season zero), Jonouchi enters a game show to win a million yen so he can pay off his father's debts. In traditional ''Anime/YuGiOh'' style, the host of the game show is a [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat Cheating Bastard]], and rigs the game so Jonouchi can't possibly win. Yugi helps out by {{Mind Rap|e}}ing the host, allowing Jonouchi to win the money. Of course, [[spoiler: the check ends up being no good anyways- because [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Yugi's mind spell also resulted in the show being cancelled and losing all its budget.]]]].
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has a particularly {{Mood Whiplash}}y example: right after the TimeSkip, we learn that [[spoiler:Simon proposed to Nia, and we see her accept via phone]]. Right after we see this, [[spoiler:her Anti-Spiral nature takes over and forces her into a FaceHeelTurn]]. Ouch.
** Then [[spoiler:the Anti-Spirals attack, threatening to eliminate the human race]], and none other than [[spoiler:Rossiu, Simon's NumberTwo in the new government]] goes all WellIntentionedExtremist and uses Simon as a scapegoat since ultimately [[spoiler:Simon defeating Lordgenome is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero what caused the Anti-Spiral attacks]]]]), having him thrown in jail to be executed.
** [[spoiler:The Anti-Spirals refer to this trope as "Ultimate Despair," and their goal is to do this to all Spiral Races.]] [[AvertedTrope It doesn't quite work.]]
** What comes across as the ''ultimate'' example of Yanking the Dog's Chain is Nia dying the ''exact second'' she and Simon were married, especially since it's a series already rife with [[AnyoneCanDie people dying left and right]]. And not only that, Simon, the man who ''broke reality'' just to save her, stands there and calmly accepts her death as saying the dead should stay dead. [[FlatWhat What.]]
** To be fair, this last trope is [[AvertedTrope another aversion]]. Nia's dying was, by this point, ensured to everyone, [[spoiler: since she was an Anti-Spiral sleeper agent from birth, and her existence was connected to the villains.]] The marriage is Simon carrying his promise and making her happy at her final hour. After all said and done (mostly [[{{Pun}} after literally "all done"]]), they were both content.
* Almost the simplest one of the anime examples, ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'''s title character, [[spoiler:meets up with the girl that he's (apparently) loved for the last ten years. You save her from the ''honored spirit'' inhabiting her body. She tells you she loves you too. Things are going to be happy now. No. She leaves you as you tell her you have to return to your master and you're left with the impression that you won't see her again]].
** Then again, [[spoiler: she]] only told him to do it because he was torn between the two choices presented, and [[spoiler: she knew that he'll come to blame himself for whatever happens after that since it would have been his choice. That's why she made that choice for him, in a rather sad example of IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy]].
* ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}'' plays this ''brutally'' with [[spoiler:Sahara's death. After making his way across the bridge of death, he finally prepares to open the door to cash in on the price money... Only to be blown off the building by the air compression blast from the window towards a certain death]]. The anime itself is ripe with these moments, but this one moment has to be the worst.
* Upon managing to gather up all the spell fragments, ''Manga/ThoseWhoHuntElves'' will ALWAYS blow it at the absolute final moment, usually due to Junpei and Celia's bickering.
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' has an infamous one that is just [[TearJerker brutal]]. With a few teasing hints of her past, [[spoiler: Faye]] suddenly remembers who she is, and where she came from. She apologizes to Spike before she goes, showing she's starting to revert to a more softer side. She's coming home, mirroring herself when she was a little girl and a teenager. She then opens the gates in her flashbacks, but in reality [[spoiler:the entire mansion was burnt down to the foundation. So Faye [[TearJerker draws lines in the sand of where her furniture was]] and looks up at the sky and reflects]].
* In ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'', Canale eventually feels like he has a place in Preveza and thinks that Ayace might actually love him and that they can be happy together, and he manages to confront some of his issues from his past. However soon as [[BastardBoyfriend Ayace]] suspects he is going back to Sesaam, he becomes [[CrazyJealousGuy enraged]] and rapes Canale, making him feel utterly betrayed.
* ''Manga/BillyBat'' gives us [[spoiler: Lee Harvey Oswald]] who, because of his IJustWantToBeSpecial nature, gets yanked around by both the Bat and a GovernmentConspiracy to the point where he doesn't have any idea what the right thing to do is. By the end of his arc, it looks like he's done the right thing by trying to live a humble life and allowing [[TheHero Kevin Yamagata]] to [[HeroicSacrifice give his life]] saving [[spoiler: President Kennedy]]. But wait! [[spoiler: Kevin isn't dead, and it turns out the Bat never wanted him to save Kennedy in the first place. JFK is shot, [[ForegoneConclusion as history demands]], the police are rushing into the building, and Oswald is with a girl who saw members of the previously mentioned conspiracy setting up for the assassination. In a BittersweetEnding, the only way to save the girl from being eliminated is to let the police find him and take the fall for the assassination while she makes her escape.]]
* The second half of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' starts with things [[ThrowTheDogABone finally looking up for]] [[TheChewToy Kotetsu]]: he's going up in the rankings, his partner actually likes and respects him now, his boss isn't treating him like he's completely expendable, the Sternbild population no longer considers him a joke, and he seems to have acquired an [[spoiler:unexpected but very welcome boost in his NEXT abilities]]. Then comes the fifteenth episode, where Ben meets up with him and regretfully informs Kotetsu that [[spoiler:the "power boost" he experienced in the previous episode is a phenomenon that occurs in a very small number of NEXT -- just before they start ''losing'' their powers]].
* In ''Manga/GEGoodEnding'', it happens to Utsumi, the main protagonist, more often than he really deserves. Poor guy just can't get a break.
* In ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', this happens to the heroes on a few occasions concerning their goal of getting an anime. They manage to tie with their rival Eiji's manga at the height of their first manga's popularity, but Mashiro is hospitalized for overworking, and their manga is ultimately canceled. Their third manga manages to meet the editor in chief's standards, but parental concerns prevent it from getting an anime.
* In ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'', whether the protagonists will ever succeed is up for debate, but up to this point every time they get a HopeSpot things just keep getting worse.
* In ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'', the protagonist Issei, [[HaremSeeker who wants a harem]] [[ObliviousToLove but doesn't know that he already has one near him]], wants to confess to Rias but can't because of trauma of rejection (he ''did'' get killed by his ex-girlfriend fallen angel after all, not to mention found him boring). [[spoiler: He finally does get to confess to Rias and what happens after that? One volume later, [[OurHeroIsDead he gets killed by]] [[AchillesHeel poison, specifically made for dragons.]] [[DeathIsCheap It doesn't stick, however.]]]]
* Erza/Jellal get one at the end of the Nirvana arc in ''Manga/FairyTail'' by means of DiabolusExMachina. After managing to regain his senses after ''eight years'' being BrainwashedAndCrazy Jellal manages to convince Erza, who is relieved to have him back to normal, that he's good again, and even gains the acceptance of her friends. While he's trying to figure out what to do with himself afterword and Erza is attempting to confess her feeling to him he gets arrested for the things he was forced to do while brainwashed, and also sentenced to life imprisonment. [[spoiler: He got broken out later by the very person who made him BrainwashedAndCrazy in the first place after she did a HeelFaceTurn, but still...]]
** An especially tragic example happens during the ''Tartaros'' arc. Natsu, after searching for his [[RaisedByWolves dragon parent]] Igneel for over '''14''' years (seven of which were spent in suspended animation during the TimeSkip, but still), finally sees him again. Except it turns out that Igneel has [[spoiler:[[HeWasRightThereAllAlong spent that time sealed inside of Natsu]]]] and he needs to deal with [[spoiler:[[DiabolusExMachina Acnologia]]]] first. [[spoiler: And then he dies fighting the Dragon King, only with enough time to telepathically tell Natsu why he left and how much he loved him]]. And Natsu gets a front-row seat of watching his father [[spoiler: get blasted to oblivion.]] Somebody give this guy a hug...
* Since the main story arc of ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' is Shinichi trying to get himself back to his normal age and the series has yet to end, pretty much any attempt to cure himself will be met with failure. On top of that, every time he temporarily changes back, he ''never'' gets a chance to tell Ran what he wants to say to her. The first time it happens it's entirely unexpected and thus he thought it would be permanent, only to start to change back into Conan right after solving the case he was working on. The next time is even worse, because the prototype cure he's given does keep him in his teenage body even after he collapses in pain (the previous sign that he was changing back). Thus, it really did look like he was cured for good... only to de-age ''again'', two days later.
* This tends to happen whenever something good happens to Yuuko in ''Manga/{{Nichijou}}.'' In one instance, she successfully scores an 80 on a test, a rare feat for her. She's so happy about it she's bragging it about it constantly, much to her friend Mio's annoyance. Before the day is done, however, we learn that the class average was ''92'' points.
* ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' has a particularly cruel one. 3/4ths of the way through, Yuri is called to the Great Heart Tree, where she's confronted by the spirit of her fallen fairy partner Cologne. During this time, Tsubomi, Erika and Itsuki is forced to battle the QuirkyMiniBossSquad and the Dark Precure and Yuri, no longer wanting to stand behind in the sidelines, begs to have her powers restored. After returning to action as Cure Moonlight and mopping the floor with everyone, she returns to the tree and it seems that this action just may also return her partner to her. [[spoiler: Instead, he floats back up to heaven, his last words to her being "You really are a crybaby."]]
* ''[[Manga/HighSchoolOfTheDead Highschool of the Dead]]'' heaped so much misfortune onto [[TheCutie Asami]], that it [[BreakTheCutie broke her]] - from being used a scapegoat [[UngratefulBitch by the mall survivors]] that'd been left in her care, to being gently turned down by Hirano after she'd fallen in love with him. Still, she maintained hope that her CO, [[http://www.mangareader.net/170-11328-13/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-18.html whom she respected and admired]], would be back with help for them. [[http://www.mangareader.net/170-11332-1/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-22.html Nope.]] When Asami saw her CO had been killed she became despondent and thought she had no one left to care about her. And just [[http://www.mangareader.net/170-11333-22/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-23.html when it]] ''[[http://www.mangareader.net/170-11333-23/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-23.html seemed]]'' her lot in life was about to change, [[http://www.mangareader.net/170-55384-45/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-25.html her duty as an officer]] compelled her to save the so-and-so who had put them all at risk, by letting "them" in ''[[DirtyCoward to save himself]]''. Which [[http://www.mangareader.net/170-55384-53/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-25.html cost her her own chance at escape]], and her only chance at happiness. The cruelest part being, [[spoiler: the guy she was in love with had no choice but to KillTheCutie [[MercyKill to keep "them"]] [[http://www.mangareader.net/170-55384-59/high-school-of-the-dead/chapter-25.html from getting to her]]]].
* ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'': After losing his sister and reaching his lowest emotional point, [[spoiler:Shirou]] finds an ally in the form of his potential love interest [[spoiler:Sakura]]. She's killed in the next chapter after trying to protect him from [[spoiler:Shinji]].
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': After breaking in and out of Impel Down and storming Marineford, Luffy manages to free his brother Ace from execution, and it seems that they can escape from the marines. [[spoiler: But then Akainu calls Whitebeard a coward for not going after the One Piece and becoming Pirate King, enraging Ace to go back and silence the admiral. And when Akainu attempts to kill Luffy, Ace jumps in to take a magma fist to the chest, rendering Luffy's entire quest to save him AllForNothing.]]
* The manga ''Manga/{{Uwagaki}}'' does this to the heroine Chiaki at one point. Chiaki had been forcibly split into two people, one of whom has no memory of her boyfriend and is spending time with her admirer instead. If, after a few months, this copy has romantic feelings for said admirer greater than her own for her boyfriend, then the two will be fused and she too will forget the boyfriend completely. Immediately after this happens, her boyfriend dumps her for a woman he's long crushed on. After a lot of pain and seeing the copy become happy, she thinks to ask the professor responsible if he can do the same thing to her ex. He tells her that it can be done if he's given time to study him, but then when her hopes are finally up he tells her that this would also require him to erase her copy who'd just started to fall in love herself.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'':
** Rika arrives in a Hinamizawa where [[spoiler:all her friends have vague memories of past universes, and where Rika confides in them about how she's going to be killed]]. Due to the episode number, there was no way they could make this stretch the entire anime. This didn't make it any less depressing when, [[spoiler:after beating up several of the Yamainu and charging to take over a car, Keiichi gets shot in what would be the first of all their deaths]].
** ''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei'' takes this to a new level of dickery: [[spoiler:Rika has successfully gotten to the bottom of the Hinamizawa Disaster, and stopped the BigBad. As the fateful summer finally passes she has just enjoyed a peaceful day at the pool with her friends... And then she's run over by a truck. She awakens back in Hinamizawa. The GroundhogDayLoop is still in effect... And ''this'' time around, all the rules of the game have changed. For one, Keiichi isn't around anymore. But she gets better. It was either a dream, a flashback/hallucination to another Rika in another world, or she died and was brought back to the previous world (the one she died in)]].
** ''Gou'' (which is otherwise a MilestoneCelebration reboot) twists the knife ''again'' in the start of the second episode -- [[spoiler:Rika wakes up to find out she's NotQuiteDead. A vision of Hanyu directs her to a fragment sending her ''right back to the beginning of the story'']].
* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' features both serious and humorous examples for all three of the protagonists in the GrandFinale. After going through hell and back to find the Samurai Who Smells of Sunflowers ([[spoiler:her father]]), Fuu not only learns that [[spoiler:he's already dying of a terminal illness, but that the BigBad has followed her to his location, proceeding to kill the Samurai and rob her of her last chance for proper closure]]. Later, once everything is wrapped up and the aforementioned Big Bad defeated, Mugen and Jin finally get to have the DuelToTheDeath they've been putting off since the first episode. They get into position, draw their weapons, charge forward, and... [[spoiler:both their swords break.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'': Vincent has spent the last week in agony over not only having to deal with the fact that his girlfriend, Katherine, is hinting at wanting to make things more serious between them, but also the fact that he ends up cheating on her with another girl ''and'' the problem that Katherine might also be pregnant. He's at the end of his wits, but has finally decided to make up his mind. He's intent to set everything straight, be honest with both girls and choose to stay with one. Then the 8th Day arrives and [[spoiler: Katherine arrives for a talk when Catherine is suddenly in Vincent's apartment, too! The two get into a heated argument, with Catherine trying to kill Katherine, but ultimately ending up stabbed herself]]. But thank goodness that was only a [[AllJustADream dream]]! Unfortunately, Katherine arrives to talk with Vincent, who is still flustered from the dream and Katherine drops a huge bombshell. [[spoiler: She knew that Vincent's been cheating and is breaking up with him.]] Despite Vincent's work over the last week and finally deciding what he wanted, things fall apart all around him. Fortunately, he still has a chance to [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn his happy ending]].
* In one of the endings of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}},'' [[spoiler:Almaz loses everything when Mao's father declares him the overlord]].
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': [[TheDragon Ladja]] blasts the Hero's mother Mada right after she and the main character reunite after eighteen years of forceful separation, then mocks both of them about it. Mada survives the attack, though... and is promptly murdered by [[BigBad Nimzo]].
* Eggman in ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''. Sure, he's an evil bastard, but he's tried so many times to establish his Eggman Empire, coming quite close more than a few times, when suddenly and quickly all his hard work is washed away. You start to feel sorry for the guy...
** There was that time in ''[[Videogame/SonicTheHedgehogTripleTrouble Triple Trouble]]'', in which Eggman finally gets all the Chaos Emeralds, only to have a machine blow and send the gems to the far corners of the Earth.
** Then in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', Eggie gets all the Chaos Emeralds inserted into the Eclipse Cannon, causing him to think he's invincible and can do whatever he pleases. No. His granddaddy's secret planet-destroying program is initiated when he inserts the last emerald.
** Happens twice in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed''. Not only does Eggman beat Super Sonic and rid his GreenRocks of their invincibility-granting powers, but he manages to collect energy from Dark Gaia and finally builds his long-awaited Eggmanland. Unfortunately, his latest pet disobeys him (once again) and he ends up stranded in the desert with nothing but a back-sassing robot who maliciously reminds him of his constant failures.
** Also ''VideoGame/SonicRiders''. His plan manages to work, he gets the good guys to hand over a treasure (which he's expecting to be better than an angel wing that could rule the world) and it turns out to be a very soft carpet. He then faints and the good guys say what it really is (which still isn't as good as what he was expecting.).
** In ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', Eggman's plan and execution are reasonably professional and almost free of buffoonery. Sonic and Tails show up to keep an eye on him even then he is poised to activate his latest and greatest evil device. It promptly explodes because his dim-witted minions forgot to clear robotic debris from the first boss that lodged into part of it after Sonic defeated it. And this is after Eggman gives us one of the best boss fights in the series...
** In ''Videogame/SonicForces'', Eggy ''finally'' gets rid of Sonic and conquers the world! Not only that, he learned from his past mistakes and prepared in case [[LaResistance the Resistance]] put up more of a fight than he expected. The only reason his plans failed was because of [[spoiler: Infinite's carelessness. He decided Sonic was NotWorthKilling, meaning the Resistance kept their most powerful member. He let the Avatar go after killing their teammates, leading them to join the Resistance and team up with Sonic. And most importantly, he [[ForWantOfANail dropped a Phantom Ruby Prototype]] during his fight with Silver, which was then found by the Avatar and used to cancel the ColonyDrop]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' Hey, Shinjiro! It looks like things are looking up for you in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 Portable]]''! Not only are you a Social Link character for a cute girl, but if she maxes out your link, [[spoiler:you survive TakingTheBullet! Sure, you fall into a coma for the rest of the game, but you wake up for the ending... just in time for said girl to die either right before you get there or in your arms. But hey, you're still probably gonna die from those drugs you were taking, so at least you get to meet up in the afterlife, right? Ehh, sorry! She's become the Great Seal for Eternity, so meeting up with her in the afterlife is... unlikely]].
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'':
** Oh, Kei. Near the end of ''III'', he reassures Rei that "there might still be some hope", as he thinks he's found out a way to potentially end the Tattoo Curse for good. [[spoiler: And then Reika kills him or [[WordOfGod sends him into a deep slumber]].]] Either way, he's out of commission for the rest of the game.
** IV spend a good while getting the player attached to Choushiro Kirishima and thinking he'll help Ruka stop Sakuya. [[spoiler:While he does help Ruka, [[TomatoInTheMirror it turns out that he died 8 years prior to the events of the game]].]]
* In ''VideoGame/Portal2'', [=GLaDOS=] pulls several of these as a way to demonstrate just exactly how angry she is with Chell.
** In a CallBack to the first game, [=GLaDOS=] presents you with a Weighted CompanionCube in one of her test chambers. The instant you pick it up, she fizzles it. Then drops another, which she also fizzles after you start to solve the puzzle with it. Finally she lets you complete the test, only to mention offhandedly that the Emancipation Grill is malfunctioning and ''[[SchmuckBait not to take anything with you]]''. Sure enough, if you try to leave with the Companion Cube, she fizzles it yet again. Bad, bad [=GLaDOS=].
** At one point she offhandedly mentions having seen a deer outside. She offers, if you complete the next test, to let you ride an elevator ''all'' the way up... to the employee break room, where she'll tell you about the time she saw a deer again.
** After continuously teasing you about being adopted (yet another CallBack), [=GLaDOS=] promises a surprise in which you're going to "meet two people you haven't seen in a long, long time." Of course, it's a lie. Then later in that same test chamber, she promises to put them on the phone, but instead puts on a fake "prerecorded message" in which they claim not to love you. Yes, [=GLaDOS=], we get the point. You don't like Chell. Thank you for being so discreet about it.
** The last one is more noticeable for being subverted HypocriticalHeartwarming. Later in the game, she contradicts [[spoiler:Wheatley]] when he tries to pull the same "adopted fatty" insults on Chell, creating an "awwwwwww" moment, but promptly yanks the rug out when she whispers to you, "For the record, you ARE adopted, AndThatsTerrible."
* ''[[VideoGame/ClockTower1995 Clock Tower: The First Fear]]'' has the A Ending: you make it to the top of the clock tower, defeat the killer. Then, Ann or Laura ([[DoomedByCanon but never Lotte]]) will run out to Jennifer. [[spoiler:Then Mary appears and throws Ann/Laura off the ledge after her son.]] Poor Jennifer. She'll also get it pretty bad in the D Ending: after running around terrified for hours, Jennifer finally finds Ms. Mary, and it told it'll all be fine. [[spoiler:Then Mary stabs her.]] Girl can't catch a break.
* ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' involves [[TheSquad Noble Team]] moving from battle to battle to repel [[AlienInvasion the Covenant]] and save the planet [[TitleDrop Reach]], humanity's most important extra-solar colony and the last bastion of might between the Covenant and Earth. They score victory after victory, sometimes [[HeroicSacrifice at great cost]], and sometimes it seems [[HopeSpot like they will even win this thing]]. [[DoomedByCanon They cannot]], and for every little victory they achieve the Covenant hits back twice as hard. Even {{Super Soldier}}s can only do so much...
* ''VideoGame/{{Antichamber}}'' starts you off in a room with a door marked "exit" behind glass. [[spoiler: You will actually get to the door several times during the game, but the first few times you are simply chided about being halfway there and things.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SheepDogNWolf'', Ralph the Wolf (the main protagonist), after who knows how long time of unsuccessfully trying to steal sheep from Sam the Sheepdog, suddenly gets sucked into a game show all about stealing sheep from Sam. He finally started being successful in this task, stole Sam's entire flock, became pretty much a television star, and after a long and tiring adventure [[spoiler:that included even a space trip]], he finally got himself his own sheep. [[spoiler:Just when you think he finally won, it all turns out to be just a dream. The expression he has when he goes back to unsuccessfully trying to steal sheep from Sam says it ''all''.]]
* Jackie Ma from ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'' is buried alive in one mission but is rescued and appears to have gone through the worst the game can throw at him. He has some serious reconsideration about his choice to be a gangster and it looks like he's going to go clean by the end of the game. [[spoiler:So the following mission sees the poor guy GuttedLikeAFish, hung up in a back alley, and used as bait to bring Wei to "Big Smile" Lee.]]
* ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'': The whole human race has been destroyed, except for five people have been kept alive and tortured by AM, a [[AIIsACrapshoot psychotic, all-powerful computer for 109 years.]] Any offers for suicide, food, shutting him down, etc. will be torn away by AM if attempted, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever since AM does not want to lose his toys.]] It becomes a plot point later on. [[spoiler: Ted was offered a chance to go to the surface world. If he succeeds, he will discover the Earth has been rendered an unlivable wasteland.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'', the Counter-Demon Force, Tokyo's resident UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce, suffer indignity after indignity with intermittent {{Hope Spot}}s that are just as quickly taken away. [[spoiler: First the Angels enter Earth from the Expanse, unleashing demons upon the physical realm. Fortunately, they get the National Defense Divinities, indigenous deities to help defend the country. The Angels promptly escalate to unleash nuclear warfare. They release the seals on the biggest Divinity, Masakado, to provide a massive shield for Tokyo. They succeed, but lose their most promising summoner and are buried under Masakado's body. They reach to the sleeping Masakado and drill their way out, and thanks to YearOutsideHourInside they get out after the radiation has died out. They begin fixing things and preparing a new land... only to face the returning Angels. After being forced back into Tokyo, the organization quickly fell apart, losing the ritual items for the Divinities to rising Yakuza warlord Mr. Tayama and reduced to two members slumming out in Shinjuku.]]
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
** Oh Scorpion. fate hasn't been good for you, hasn't it? [[spoiler:From being [[MistakenForMurderer told by the killer that someone killed your clan and family]], being killed by [[MistakenForMurderer said someone]], unable to [[GetBackHereBoss kill the killer after finding out you had been lied to]], been killed [[TheyKilledKennyAgain - again]], being given a chance to save your family and clan by the Elder Gods, only to be lied to again and so much more. At least ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' will be [[ThrowTheDogABone your saving grace, as you and your clan become guardians of earth]].]]
** [[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 Repeat after me, Liu Kang]]: "I hate Time Travel". Sure, it meant undoing his descent into madness as an undead overlord, but it also [[spoiler:retconned ''all'' of history. So Cassie and Jacqui are unwritten... and the original cast... and Earthrealm and Outworld for good measure! Now he has to rewrite history all the way from the primordial ages... after dealing with Shang Tsung one last time]].
* Every time [[Characters/SuperRobotWarsZ Crowe Broust]] finally manages to pay off his current debt in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' series, expect him to be saddled with another equally ludicrous amount of debt almost immediately. Always.
* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Knowing that one's work can get undone by a higher power without warning easily leads to apathy.]] After all, what's the point?
-->'''[[spoiler:No Mercy Sans]]:''' You can't understand how this feels. Knowing that one day, without any warning, it's all going to be reset. ...To be blunt... it makes it kinda hard to give it my all.
* White Face of ''VideoGame/{{Imscared}}'' loves messing with the player. Whenever the player thinks the game has ended, the game opens up, or a new text files downloads to your computer...
* In ''VideoGame/GettingOverItWithBennettFoddy'', one can always slip up and lose one's progress, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_lGDi1EDts Even if you're almost near the end]].
* In ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'', you can kill a random security guard seconds after he gets a call from his doctor informing him he doesn't have cancer. Since the guard is not a target, you would only do so if you feel like [[KickTheDog kicking the dog.]]
** One of the targets in ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' is a race car driver whom you have to eliminate during her big race. You can help her win the race if you wish, and doing so will open up an opportunity to kill her during the award ceremony.
* Thanks to the somewhat random nature of the AI Director in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', it can certainly feel like your chain is getting yanked. You could have one or two dead players while the remaining survivors have next to no healing items thanks to the hordes and special infected (as well as the lack of coordination from your fellow players or just plain bad luck). The AI Director may take mercy by spawning pills or first aid kits in a side room, only for you to get ambushed by a special infected. If the AI Director is feeling very dickish, it can spawn a [[EliteMooks Witch or Tank]] right by the [[LevelGoal safe room]], even after all the hell you went through just to get there.
** Every campaign has the survivors getting rescued at the end of each campaign, only for the rescue to go horribly wrong, which leads them to the next campaign with none of their equipment and having to find another way out again.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' and its remake, ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', Alm and Celica finally reunite after seven years, and they're both excited and relieved to see each other again. ''Echoes'' even has Celica breaking into TearsOfJoy and [[TheGlomp glomping]] Alm when she sees him. Then [[spoiler:they get into a huge argument that causes them to split up again]].
** Berkut. After Alm beats him from the rematch, he regroups in a final attempt to prove himself the rightful heir to the throne... [[spoiler:only to discover that his Uncle has willingly 'surrendered' (i.e. threw himself into an unwinnable battle) the throne to his secret heir, ''Alm''. Alm finally has an older cousin to look up to, except that cousin is now a paranoid, murderous wreck from the realization that his uncle never believed in his strength his whole life and planned on giving his entire inheritance to a son he never raised. Alm's constant insistence that the throne is worth nothing compared to having family just drives him further into kamikaze attacks.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', after an entire game of things steadily getting worse and worse, Samus ''finally'' scores a decisive victory when [[spoiler:[[ImplacableMan her nemesis]] the SA-X is killed in a hidden laboratory that detached from the station and [[SelfDestructMechanism detonated]]. When she reports it Adam tells her it's time to leave as ''more'' are on their way, and explains that because the X reproduce asexually there's now no fewer than ''ten SA-Xs on the station'']].
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'': During the crossover event with ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'', Geralt ends up in a society that actually respects monster-hunting as the dangerous, specialized field it is. When he slays a Leshen, an OutsideContextProblem the Research Commission couldn't even approach, Astera is more than willing to follow their own guidelines and actually pay him a king's ransom. Geralt is forced to turn it down as he's about to head back to his own dimension and Monster Hunter World's currency is no good there.
* ''VideoGame/NaufragarCrimson'': Jarret had a harsh life, being kicked out of Oragibe's knight academy for trumped up reasons and struggling to find a way to cure his sister's blindness. His luck seems to turn around when he manages to escape Anetha's prison with a magical coin that could cure his sister. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Hyo has the Oragibe knights kidnap his sister in order to force Jarret to give up the coin.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', after Jill has spent a good chunk of the game struggling to survive, putting a plan together to escape, evading [[ImplacableMan The Nemesis]], and actually succeeding in calling a rescue helicopter, the triumphant music plays as it begins to land. Then a rocket blows it out of the sky: cue BossFight!
--> '''Nemesis:''' [[ItCanThink S.T.A.R.S...]]
** It happens in the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake'' as well, albeit much earlier in the game.
* In ''VideoGame/PapersPlease'' early on you receive a "gift" of $1000 from "a man who dropped it off at the house", which handily solves all of your finance problems. If you choose to take it rather than burn it, the neighbors take note of your sudden wealth and report you, and the government takes ''all'' of your savings pending an investigation-- not just the $1000 but all the money you've saved up fair and square. Not only are you now forced to help EZIC and locked into one of their endings, since they're the only ones able to sabotage the investigation and prevent the government from learning it was a bribe (which results in a NonStandardGameOver), but even when you're found innocent [[KickTheDog the government doesn't give any of the money back]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Steve in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' always gets this when it comes to trying to pursue relationships. The most brutal example is a Halloween episode, "Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls", where he takes out his friend's sister for trick or treating and both are forced to go on the run when he goes over the time limit to bring her home and Toshi tries to hunt them down and kill Steve (Yes he's ''that'' overprotective). Through the chase it seems the two are developing feelings for one another, but at the end, when they finally convince Toshi to back off, his sister proclaims she has a boyfriend, a ''nine year old'' boyfriend.
** Though he does finally get together with Akiko in "Spelling Bee My Baby". [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Too bad that Akiko disappears in the next episodes]].
* Near the end of season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The ObstructiveBureaucrat who ran the Earth Kingdom's secret police has been arrested, the real leader has promised them support against the Fire Nation, Sokka's finally seeing his dad after two years, and his girlfriend's in town, Toph's mom wants to reconcile with her, Aang is going to train to master the Avatar state... But there's still two episodes left. And as soon as Sokka says "[[TemptingFate Everything's gonna be perfect, now and forever]]," you know something's gonna happen. Sure enough, before ''this'' episode is even out: the secret police are still loyal to the man they "arrested", Toph was tricked and captured by bounty hunters hired to drag her home and it's not Sokka's girlfriend that's in town, it's TheDragon in disguise, and the king, not knowing better, welcomes her with open arms. And in those next two episodes, things get worse.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBeatles'' cartoon "Money," John, Paul and George yank Ringo's chain by sewing their concert take in his pocket and then have him get chased by a mysterious stranger throughout Coney Island and losing the money. After the stranger is unmasked as George, John confesses that he sewed [[StageMoney stage money]] in Ringo's pocket and kept the concert money. But it's John's chain who winds up getting yanked--he kept the stage money.
* This always happens to Brandy in ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers'' when she is about to make it home.
* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'':
** Done very cruelly in the final episode, when Lumpus has finally gotten praise and respect, when a DiabolusExMachina undoes it all, and to rub salt into the wound, [[spoiler:it turns out he was a fake who locked up the real scoutmaster and gets dragged off to an asylum]].
** In "Bad Luck Be A Camper Tonight", The Scoutmaster in the Sky allows [[ButtMonkey Samson]] one last chance at using the slot machine that determines somebody's luck before birth in order to change his. He gets the good luck on his first try, but his ambition causes him to operate the slot machine again, this time ending on the bad luck he was born with.
* This is pretty much standard for the [[BlackAndNerdy nerdy]] ButtMonkey Tucker from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. He usually ends up getting the short end of the stick either through his numerous failures to pick up girls or constantly getting the most emotional/physical abuse due to his comic relief character setting. The best shown is "King Tuck" where he [[DorkhorseCandidate runs for school president]] in order to get some respect from others, including his friends. After Danny and Sam get AnAesop that they should listen to Tucker once in a while, they promptly, ''in seconds'', [[IgnoredEpiphany ignore it and walk off]] when Tucker rambles about his interests. Worse, for no reason other than to play up his ButtMonkey status, the writer gets two popular girls to chase after him with intent to do some bodily harm.
* This happens to Dan in ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' frequently. For a few examples, Dan destroys an animal shelter in order to get some sleep, only to have a firing range built in its place, his favorite show gets pre-empted by baseball, and later basketball, and just when he thought he won the trip to an adult astronaut sleepaway camp after cheating on an obstacle course in a reality show, it turns out to be another reality show where he's trapped with coyotes.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'':
** One of the most ''heartbreaking'' examples ever. After [[spoiler: Magica De Spell is freed]], Scrooge makes a deal with Lena: she helps him get his family back and she'll have a part in it. However [[spoiler: Magica]] was listening and proceeds to trap Lena in her shadow. Later on, Lena is forced to sacrifice herself. [[spoiler: But a brief scene establishes that she did survive somehow, and she returns partway through the following season.]]
** After noticing Donald's health deteriorating from the ongoing stress of adventure and keeping his nephews safe from the chaos that ensues in [=McDuck=] Manor, his family decides to give him a full-paid vacation with the boys assuring Donald that Scrooge will take great care of them. Unfortunately, before the bus to the cruise arrived, Donald spots [[spoiler: Della's spaceship landing. Excited to see his thought-to-be-dead sister for the first time in ten years, he races over to look for her... only to be locked inside the ship and accidentally take off, later crashing on the Moon and being captured by its inhabitants whom are planning an invasion]]. And his family has ''no'' idea any of this happened.
* The kids in ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' spend every episode on the trail of some new possible way back to their own world. Not one of these leads ever works out, either because the route simply wouldn't work or because the kids are obliged to give up the chance in order to help others. [[spoiler:Averted (sorta) in the MissingEpisode. The kids are outright told by the Dungeon Master that they've done what he brought them here to do and that they can go home now if they want, but we don't see whether or not they do.]]
* Epically subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Fistfuls of Ed". After Edd being falsely accused of being a bully and subsequently ostracized by the entire school, and then [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beaten to a pulp]] by [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Jimmy]]. Things are looking up for Edd near the end, but then we smash suddenly into a typical episode ending where the [[AbhorrentAdmirer Kanker Sisters]] pop out of the woodwork to set in with their usual "[[IHaveYouNowMyPretty treatment]]" of the already pathetically tired and beaten-down Double Dee. Eddy, who has as usual been the main source of conflict in the episode, watches in disgust before giving the Kanker Sisters the most singularly awesome chew-out they ever get in the series. As they slink away in terror, he breaks up the lingering awkwardness by giving everyone hotdogs. Double Dee even Lampshades this trope.
-->'''Edd:''' I'm touched! That you would interrupt a cliché plot ending for my sake!
** Eddy is always a victim of this when it comes to his scams, even though he does deserve it sometimes.
* Happens repeatedly on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' to almost everyone.
** Pretty much every time it looks like Timmy will finally win Trixie's heart. When Timmy had finally undone all of [[JackassGenie Norm's]] tricks, [[AlphaBitch Trixie]], who had been brainwashed to fall in love with several Timmy Turners, has finally showed up, deciding to give "the biggest, wettest kiss" to Timmy... only to have it wear off then.
** Any time it looks like Timmy might finally be free of Vicky, she gets hired to babysit again. This was happening as far back as the ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' shorts.
* Meg in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' was made to exploit the trope 100%. Any form of happiness Meg finds will be quickly taken away from her. Examples:
** The B-plot in the episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS5E9RoadToRupert Road to Rupert]]" has Peter and Meg bonding after Meg becomes Peter's chauffeur when Peter's license gets suspended. Peter, of course, goes back to his abusive ways after he gets his license back. Played so straight that [[spoiler:Peter tells Meg that he's going back to tormenting her to keep up appearances in front of the family. Meg is actually okay with this after Peter splashes a glass of juice at her, as if this is the closest thing to love that she can ever expect out of these people]].
** In the episode "Peter's Daughter", Peter vows to treat Meg better if she wakes up from a coma, which she's in because he made her go into the kitchen to save his beer when the house flooded. Meg gets a sweet, affectionate, (over-)protective father, as well as a boyfriend, because she starts dating a med student who was there when she woke up. Then Peter accidentally ruins her relationship ... then she finds out she's pregnant ... But then Michael (her boyfriend) proposes to her, saying he loves her and wants to be there for her. [[ShotGunWedding Ignoring the fact that her dad was there with a rifle]]. So Meg's going to get married... [[spoiler:except on the day of the wedding, she realizes she isn't pregnant and isn't sure she can go through with it. Her mother tells her to do what she thinks is right, ("Thanks, Mom. I love you." "I, uh, you too.") and Meg tells Michael the truth when she gets to the altar, prompting him to run out of the church.]]
** Meg gets her chain yanked again in ''[[Recap/FamilyGuyS11E7FriendsWithoutBenefits Friends Without Benefits]]" where a boy she likes agrees to hang out with her, only to reveal afterwards that not only he is gay, but he is also in love with Meg's brother, Chris. [[TheWoobie Meg did not take this well.]]
** In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS10E2SeahorseSeashellParty Seahorse Seashell Party]]", she manages to [[CallingTheOldManOut chew out her family]], but at the end, she learned she should be the family's "lightning rod" (if she's not abused, they will try to kill each other).
** In "Yacht Rocky", she meets a guy named Chad on a cruise. When the ship gets hit by a tidal wave, he ends up getting decapitated by a boat oar, [[ILoveTheDead not that this stops her]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
** Fry is often victim to this.
*** In "A Fishful of Dollars", he gains several billion dollars from compound interest, and loses all his wealth to Mom.
*** In "Parasites Lost" He becomes super-intelligent, witty and charming due to intestinal worms, capable of playing a difficult to master instrument amazingly well, enough to seduce Leela. He throws it all away because he doesn't feel he's earned it.
*** In "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", He saves the Earth from the Brain-Spawn, but no-one else remembers or cares (save Nibbler).
*** In "Time Keeps on Slippin'", when time starts skipping he manages to impress Leela enough for her to marry him. She attacks him at the altar, then quickly divorces him. Also when he finally discovers the thing he did to make Leela fall in love with him, it's immediately destroyed.
*** In the [[UnCanceled first series finale]], "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", he manages to make a deal with the Robot Devil, and becomes a holophoner virtuoso... only to give it all up to save Leela, making his fame instantly evaporate. By the time of the first movie, Leela's ignoring him again.
** The young, orphaned, physically handicapped robot, [[PunnyName Tinny Tim]], is also a frequent victim to this trope, in almost every single one of his appearances.
*** While searching for Bender's missing parts in the episode, "[[PunBasedTitle Assie Come Home]]," the Planet Express crew finds that Tinny Tim was given Bender's legs to replace his own broken ones. The scene is somewhat heartwarming, as Tinny is grateful to be walking properly for the first time. This is followed by the sound of Bender [[ComedicSociopathy chainsawing his legs off Tinny]] and reattaching them to himself. The now legless Tinny Tim sadly drags himself back onto his wooden cart, to which Bender remarks "Nice cart." [[UpToEleven Cut to Bender riding the stolen cart, immediately getting bored with it, and tossing it into a dumpster]].
*** "You raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly, sir. Bravo!"
* Happens to Mina at the end of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}'' episode "A Knight to Remember" as Trina chases her down after she becomes Trina's slave after they both regain their respective personalities.
* The ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom" has Dib finally achieve everything he wanted, including respect and acclaim, after being TouchedByVorlons, only for it all to be a fantasy created by Zim's LotusEaterMachine. To get back at him for throwing a muffin in his face, no less...
* Charlie Brown gets his chain yanked near the end of ''WesternAnimation/ItsMagicCharlieBrown'', where he is unknowingly turned visible again by Snoopy and fails to kick Lucy's football this time. This doesn't bother him in the slightest, however, as he states to Lucy that he finally did it.
* Same in ''WesternAnimation/{{Jumanji}}''. [[spoiler:Averted in the finale: Allen got his clue, solved it and got home legitimately with the kids.]] The final episode played it straight at the same time. Allen's challenge [[spoiler: was to remove the thorn from the paw of a lion he met the second he was first transported into the game.]]. Allen stunned, figures he could have left the game the second he came in all those years ago if he hadn't ran away.
* ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'':
** This often happens to Henry. In the episode "Won't Stick to Most Dental Work!", he gets tired of being the ButtMonkey and quits the show. After the first sketch, he opens his own restaurant and then quits after seeing how heartbroken June was.
** Also in "You May Already Be A [=KaBlammer=]!", he's upset over the fact that no one finds him funny, so June tells him that she'll be his sidekick as long as he's hers.
** And since he's famous for falling in love, only to be rejected, he gets his happy ending in episode 29, which was the so-called "last episode" (they ended up making a lot more, and some didn't get to air due to the cancellation), when a girl gives him a kiss: June.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'':
** Happens to [[CosmicPlaything Stumpy]] the squirrel almost any time something good is going to happen in his life.
** Happens to [[JerkassWoobie Mr. Cat]] in [[spoiler: Episode 57. Kaeloo sets up a lottery where the winner gets cool prizes, and Mr. Cat and [[BornLucky Quack Quack]] participate. Each time, Quack Quack wins. Mr. Cat believes that Kaeloo is playing favorites and even gives a CallBack to another episode where she cheated. Kaeloo walks offscreen and slides a giant box containing a "surprise" for Mr. Cat towards him. He makes a short speech saying how he's finally gotten lucky for once in his life... and Kaeloo, angry at having been accused of cheating, jumps out of the box and beats him up]].
** In the episode "Let's Play Air Pockets", Kaeloo forces Stumpy to take a plane trip on a plane where she is an air hostess, despite the fact that he's afraid of heights. Stumpy tries to calm down, and finally realizes that he can calm down by playing video games. As soon as he calms down, Kaeloo confiscates his console since electronic gadgets aren't allowed on the plane.
** In Episode 4, the main four go to a library. Stumpy spends the whole episode searching for comic books, and finally finds some of his favorite superhero, Mr. Coolskin. He decides to show it to his friends. To his disappointment, none of them have ever heard of the Mr. Coolskin series. Then, Bad Kaeloo, on a BookBurning rampage, grabs the comic books and sets them all on fire.
** One episode has the main four find a PortalDoor leading to a BizarroUniverse. Kaeloo, Stumpy and Quack Quack want to go to the other dimension to check it out. Mr. Cat stays home. Just as he becomes happy to have finally gotten some time alone, the BizarroUniverse!main four, who are even more annoying than the normal main four, come to the regular universe and start bothering Mr. Cat.
* The main characters in 80s music cartoon ''WesternAnimation/KiddVideo''. Particularly noteworthy example: As a reward for saving one of its citizens, a small village gives Whiz one free wish from the local Wish Genie. However, when about to make the wish, Whiz learns that the others are endangered, and he quickly wishes them to be "safe at home". The Genie, being a RulesLawyer-ing LiteralGenie, grants only the first ''half'' of the wish, reasoning that "being 'safe' and being 'at home' are '''two''' separate wishes."
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'''s [[UnluckyEverydude Ron Stoppable]] never seemed to come out on top in the first three seasons. At the most extreme levels of yankage he somehow managed to get all of his 99 million dollars he got from Bueno Nacho stolen by [[IdiotBall keeping it all]] [[TookALevelInDumbass in his pants]], leaving him with nothing [[FridgeLogic (though most can't figure out what happened with the continued royalties after that payment)]]. [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Drakken]] also has his leash [[KickTheDog yanked]] a few times more than comfortable.
* There have been a few times where Bill Dauterive from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' has started a relationship or found acceptance with an outside group, but every single time it happens, something comes up to ruin it for him. The last relationship he gets involved in turns into a case of him yanking his own chain, since he begins dating Reverend Stroup and both seem infatuated with each other, but he rejects her after she steps down as pastor of Arlen Methodist just to be with him, since he preferred the ForbiddenFruit aspect of their affair. It's almost like the writers did this just so we wouldn't feel sorry for Bill anymore when he gripes about his loneliness, since from that point forward it's clear he brought it on himself by being a selfish asshole.
* While the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' [[http://www.vimeo.com/11486841 TV short]] based on the reality series ''I Shouldn't Be Alive'' is mainly based on footage of the original ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner'' shorts, there is one notable scene of original animation at the end: Wile E. Coyote finally manages catch the Road Runner (simply by pouring birdseed and leaping onto him while he was eating), [[spoiler:but he turns out to be so weak from not eating he couldn't even choke the Road Runner]].
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Doofenshmirtz]] ''finally'' finds a nice evil girlfriend. They hit it off, FallingInLoveMontage and all -- and then in the last five seconds of the episode, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the love-destroying satellite he built earlier]] crashes and zaps her, causing her to storm away with a declaration of "I feel NOTHING!"
** Then there's Candace. OncePerEpisode she'll have solid proof of her brothers' schemes (which actually shares fun and joy to the neighborhood more than it harms), only to find that it's vanished or destroyed when she shows her mother. Other times, any special moment with Jeremy will be interrupted by something (possibly just by Candace herself), and any attempt to impress him will backfire in a humiliating fashion.
*** Then again, Jeremy seems to be as mellow and kind to Candace when she's disheveled with branches in her hair as any other time. Candace ''fears'' being humiliated in front of him, but he's so much of a legitimately NiceGuy that it may be impossible. You could say Jeremy is the personification of ThrowTheDogABone for Candace.
*** Candace ''does'' get her mother Linda to see Phineas and Ferb's inventions multiple times, but they're all undone somehow. In "Invasion of the Ferb Snatchers", the "Linda" who sees the alien launch pad Phineas and Ferb built is actually a robot piloted by an alien. In "She's the Mayor", Candace uses her day as mayor to get her parents to see the pioneer town the boys built, but Doof's Accelerate-inator malfunctions and rewinds time to the beginning of the episode. In "A Real Boy", Linda sees the jumping machine her sons built, but Doof's Forget-About-It-Inator erases her memory.
** Happens at the end of "My Fair Goalie" to Football X-7 creator Professor Ross Efrop, who was forced into hiding when it was discovered his name was a palindrome, as the British at the time were very anti-palindrome. He is about to come back out when he's still shunned for his name being a palindrome.
** Any time when it looks like Isabella is going to a romantic moment with just Phineas, something happens to ruin that moment. Notable examples include "Summer Belongs to You" and "Canderemy".
*** She gets a combo yanked chain and thrown bone at the end of TheMovie. When Major Monogram says that if the boys want Perry to stay with them, everyone must have their memories erased, Isabella takes the opportunity to plant a giant glomp kiss on Phineas before telling MM to start the memory eraser.
*** The "Act Your Age" special finally pulls the biggest one ever on her. Phineas actually starts falling for her in High School... right after she eventually gave up on him. They both finally manage to clear the air right before she leaves for college, but at least they made it.
* The [[Creator/{{Terrytoons}} Sad Cat]] cartoons directed by Creator/RalphBakshi are all about this trope. Every time it looks like Sad Cat is going to get a happy ending, he ends up in a worse situation than before. Luckily, when Bashki left Terrytoons, Sad Cat started [[ThrowTheDogABone getting happy endings]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' has made viewers come to expect him to fail when attempting either of his two stated goals: going back in time, and destroying Aku. In a strange combination, either he fails to go back in time because HonorBeforeReason dictates that he never leaves those in danger to harm to go back in time, or Aku tricks him into a MacGuffinDeliveryService. Aku himself is practically unkillable as well, despite Jack beating him to a paste several times.
** There are basically only three different episodes of ''Samurai Jack'': "Aku sends a new mercenary to stop Jack", "Jack frees innocents from the grip of Aku" and "Jack almost finds a portal but loses it to Aku who was disguised in an obvious costume." Once you've seen those, you've seen the whole series and you can walk away to stop getting your chain yanked. That said, the "filler" episodes like the one he goes "down the rabbit hole" and "learns to jump good" are a lot of fun, perhaps because in those he's not constrained to fail tragically.
*** Subverted in one episode, in which Jack appears to, yet again, suffer defeat when attempting to access an appropriate time portal, only for the episode to end showing an older Jack on the other side of the portal, and the implicit assertion by the portal's guardian that he will, eventually, pass through.
*** During their TrainingFromHell montage in Season 5, one of the Daughters of Aku (Ashi) sneaks away to marvel at the outside world. [[TheHeavy Her mother]] catches her and begins talking about how the beauty of the world was given to them by Aku and how that is what they are trying to defend... before she grabs Ashi by the throat, berates her for her lack of focus, and tosses her to a GiantMook for "[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown discipline]]".
** The worst, though, comes from "XCVIII"; [[spoiler: Jack and a trio of adorable sheep climb a mountain to find a working time portal. Jack gleefully jumps into the portal, only for Aku to ''drag him back out'' and destroy it, just before revealing that it was the last time portal left. To add insult to injury, Jack ends up killing the sheep in his rage after they are mutated by Aku, and loses his sword down the pit where the time portal used to be]].
** That's somehow still '''not''' the worst! The '''actual''' worst comes at the very end of the series, where [[spoiler:Jack finally accomplishes his goal and goes back to the past with Ashi, now a trusted ally [[LoveInterests and more]], to destroy Aku before his [[BadFuture dark timeline]] can come to pass. [[HappilyEverAfter Happy ending]], right? Except, Ashi is the spawn of Aku, killing him in the past before she is born retroactively erases her. '''Even worse''', this does not happen immediately after Aku is defeated, giving both Jack and the viewers some hope that Father Time might just have given up on keeping track of everything and that Ashi might still survive. Nope. Reality finally catches on to the glitch '''right in the middle of Jack and Ashi's wedding'''. This was so blatantly done to make the ending as cruel as possible (even at the expense of logic itself) that there exists a significant fan outcry against the ending]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Frank Grimes in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E23HomersEnemy "Homer's Enemy"]]. Mr. Burns sees a documentary about how Grimes went through a hard life and had recently earned a diploma in nuclear physics. Impressed, he tells Mr. Smithers to find him so he can make him his executive vice president. By the time Smithers returns with Grimes, however, Burns had seen a heroic dog on TV and now wants to make ''him'' executive vice president.
--->'''Smithers:''' In the meantime, here's Frank Grimes.\\
''(Burns does not recognize Grimes)''\\
'''Smithers:''' The, the self-made man?\\
'''Burns:''' What? Oh, yes, that fellow. Mmmm, put him somewhere out of the way, and find that dog!\\
'''Smithers:''' [[YesMan Yes sir.]]
** Gil, the unlucky businessman of Springfield, in "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II". The Simpsons let him stay in their house for one night, but he brought all his stuff in and made it into an extended stay. He got on the entire family's nerves, but Marge found herself unable to kick him out because she could not say "no" to him. After an entire year, Gil finally moved to Scottsdale because he got a job as a real estate agent. Marge still had to say "no" to him, so the family went to Scottsdale to talk to him. There, they discovered Gil was actually successful at this job, as everyone acclaimed him. But when Marge finally confronted Gil and shouted at him because of his being so annoying, Gil's co-workers thought was a miserable man, so he was fired.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan,'' it really looks like Peter is the only superhero around, though naturally he's outnumbered by {{supervillain}}s. One can hope that the supervillains are all local. So when J. Jonah Jameson's astronaut son and all-around decent guy gets superpowers and is willing to help, wouldn't it seem like [[BigApplesauce the Big Apple]] finally gets another hero? No, because WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity. Looks like the best Spidey can hope for are supervillains who aren't [[FriendlyEnemy quite]] [[EvenEvilHasStandards evil]] and won't stay local, like Black Cat, Sandman, and Molten Man.
* Squidward from ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. Sure he's [[SmallNameBigEgo an egomaniac]] and a jerk, but [[JerkassWoobie people kinda feel sorry for him]] [[ButtMonkey after a while.]]
** In "Bubble Stand" he briefly learns how to play the clarinet well after using [=SpongeBob=]'s technique to blow a giant bubble... until his house gets sucked inside said giant bubble, and it loudly pops, apparently destroying his clarinet skills.
*** It's implied that his skills at the clarinet are tied to his sense of self worth. When he's feeling good about himself, he plays better. When he's aggravated or depressed, his skill plummets, which just makes it all the sadder seeing how down he is all the time.
** In "Squilliam Returns" he briefly impresses Squilliam when [=SpongeBob=] disguises the Krusty Krab as a fancy restaurant... until [=SpongeBob=] goes crazy due to Squidward's earlier ExactWords on forgetting everything that isn't about fine dining, including his name, and destroys everything.
** The biggest moment goes to Plankton in the episode "Plankton's Regular": the episode starts with a man that regularly eats in the Chum Bucket and refuses to even eat a single Krabby Patty. Because of Mr. Krabs being jealous of him, he and [=SpongeBob=] try everything to steal said customer from Plankton, to the point of trying to steal Plankton's recipe for chum. However, at the end of the episode, it's revealed that said customer was paid by Karen to eat in the Chum Bucket so Plankton would stop complaining about his lack of success, but he couldn't eat more chum anymore, regardless of the money (they already pumped his stomach many times). Plankton is left in tears while Krabs laughs at his misery. Note that, even having only one customer, Plankton immediately stopped trying to steal the Krabby Patty formula.
** [=SpongeBob=] himself is often the victim of this trope as well, usually in episodes focused on trying to get his boating license. It seems that he ''finally'' is going to get it...[[DiabolusExMachina but something random will always happen to prevent [=SpongeBob=] to pass the exam.]]
** Plankton fits quite well here, but he kinda deserves it.
** In the beginning of "Frankendoodle", a live-action artist at sea accidentally drops his only pencil into the ocean, and goes into a depression because now he can't draw. At the end, he gets his pencil back, begins to draw... and breaks the tip on the canvas, not having a pencil sharpener. The episode ends with his anguished screams.
* After being tortured, mutilated, and reduced to a BrainInAJar throughout the first three seasons of ''{{WesternAnimation/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' (2003), Baxter Stockman finally regains a whole, human body in the episode "Insane in the Membrane". Unfortunately, it's not long before Stockman's new body begins breaking down, and the doctor begins losing limbs. Worse still, he begins losing the one thing he'd managed to keep throughout his tribulations: his mind. It gets worse for him in "Good Genes, Part 1." Bishop effectively brings him BackFromTheDead in a pseudo-body to continue their work. Stockman laments this development because he thought that he had finally found peace following his previous appearance.
* A rare ''comedic'' example exists in Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender''. Pidge and Lance find a store in the Space Mall selling Earth goods, and Pidge gets excited about seeing a video game she likes. She and Lance spend the episode scrounging up enough money to get the game, and once they take it back to the Castle of Lions... it turns out they can't even play it, since it's incompatible with Altean technology. Pidge gets a TwitchyEye and lets out a BigNo at the realization. [[spoiler:Subverted later on, as she does get it to work [[BrickJoke a couple seasons later]].]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' episode "Omitown" had Omi thinking he found his long-lost parents, only to learn at the end that they were fakes created by the show's BigBad.
[[/folder]]

* [[Franchise/StarWars Luke, Leia, and Han]] in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', big time. You'd think that after ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', all of their troubles would come to an end? Hell no. Thirty years later, Luke has [[spoiler: become a hermit after an apprentice of his turned to the dark side and killed the next generation of Jedi that Luke was training]]. Said apprentice was [[spoiler: Ben Solo, the son of Han and Leia, whose FaceHeelTurn drove the two apart, with Han and Chewie returning to smuggling, while the knowledge that Leia is Darth Vader's daughter effectively destroys her political career]]. The First Order, a political and military faction partly made up of former Empire operatives and led by Supreme Leader Snoke, is waging war against the Republic and [[spoiler: destroys its capital, Hosnian Prime]]. Finally and most heartbreakingly, Han tries to turn [[spoiler: his son]] back to the light side, and it almost seems as if [[spoiler: Ben]] decides to do so...[[spoiler: until he stabs Han in the chest with his lightsaber and kills him.]] And the cherry on top is that [[spoiler: Ben Solo/]]Kylo Ren is inspired by [[spoiler: his grandfather, but not for being Anakin Skywalker, but rather for being]] Darth Vader. Considering all the Jedi and the Rebellion went through starting from ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' until ''Return of the Jedi'', it seems as if fate is purposely trying to cause hell. Just imagine how the force ghosts of Anakin, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Yoda must be feeling, watching all of this (and [[Film/TheLastJedi the]] [[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker follow-ups]] [[FromBadToWorse only make things even worse]], [[spoiler:to the point that by the end the Skywalker family is dead, even if Rey has taken up the surname rather than acknowledge she descends from Palpatine]]; it says something that after the sequel trilogy, many fans started to prefer [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends the old books\comics\games that continued]] from ''Jedi'' because at least there the heroes were actually successful after their LastStand with the Empire).

*** After losing her parents and her brother and being overridden by guilt over the events of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', Wanda finds some happiness in her relationship with Vision, only for [[spoiler:Vision to get badly wounded and to ask her to destroy the Mind Stone, killing him in the process]]. She spends the majority of the movie trying to find another way, [[spoiler:but after an intense battle in Wakanda, as Thanos approaches the couple, Wanda finally decides to destroy the Stone, killing Vision in a particularly painful manner. While she succeeds, Thanos reverses time to restore Vision and his Mind Stone only to rip it off of Vision and kill him again. Wanda is helpless to stop him, and dies herself after the BadassFingersnap a few moments later]].
** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'': The A-plot is Scott Lang teaming up with Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne to rescue Janet van Dyne, Hank's wife and Hope's mother, from the Quantum Realm where she has been trapped for decades. And they succeed! [[spoiler:...Only for [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Thanos's Snap]] to occur a short time later whilst the family has Scott recovering particles in the Quantum Realm, resulting in the family being disintegrated by the Infinity Gauntlet and Scott stranded in the Quantum Realm.]] ''Series/WandaVision'' keeps up the trend [[spoiler: with Wanda briefly enjoying domestic bliss with Vision and twin sons before being forced to give them up when she realizes the cost of her fantasy on the innocent people of Westview.

** ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'': The A-plot is Scott Lang teaming up with Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne to rescue Janet van Dyne, Hank's wife and Hope's mother, from the Quantum Realm where she has been trapped for decades. And they succeed! [[spoiler:...Only for [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Thanos's Snap]] to occur a short time later whilst the family has Scott recovering particles in the Quantum Realm, resulting in the family being disintegrated by the Infinity Gauntlet and Scott stranded in the Quantum Realm.]]

* The kids in ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons'' spend every episode on the trail of some new possible way back to their own world. Not one of these leads ever works out, either because the route simply wouldn't work or because the kids are obliged to give up the chance in order to help others. [[spoiler:Averted (sorta) in the MissingEpisode. The kids are outright told by the Dungeon Master that they've done what he brought them here to do and that they can go home now if they want, but we don't see whether or not they do.]]

* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. [[RealityEnsues Knowing that one's work can get undone by a higher power without warning easily leads to apathy.]] After all, what's the point?

*** Kalos was where the chain-yanking hit its peak. Ash manages to make it to the finals this time, putting him against Alain and his massively powerful Charizard. Ash uses his Greninja in the final battle against the Mega-Evolved fire type to try and eke out a win. In spite of the type advantage, Charizard narrowly knocks out Greninja. Though it still becomes mitigated when Alain, in spite of being crowned champion, considers Ash the superior trainer for taking on Team Plasma and winning.

* At the start of ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'', former Chief Inspector Dreyfus has spent several years locked in an insane asylum for treatment over the psychotic break caused by his hatred of Closeau. The therapy has been working, and he is within hours of being formally assessed as sane and being released. Then Closeau decides to show up to testify on Dreyfus' behalf in front of the sanity commission. A mere ''five minutes'' in Closeau's company causes Dreyfus to suffer a complete relapse and end up crazier than ever.

* At the end of ''Film/TheGodfather Part III'', Michael has finally gotten out of the mob, his son has just made a triumphant debut as an opera singer, and he is retiring, secure in the knowledge that the Corleone name will now be remembered for his son's music and his daughter's charity foundation rather than the criminal empire started by his father. Then an assassin sent by Michael's final batch of enemies from his mafia days tries to kill him and shoots his daughter by mistake.

* ''ComicBook/SuperboyPrime'': DoubleSubversion. At the end of Adventure Comic #5, where Superboy-Prime admits that he hates what he has become and just wants a happy ending. Laurie Lemmon enters the basement and comforts him, telling him that they are sorry for what they did to him and are going to leave him alone—"they" being previously mentioned as being the writers at DC Comics. As they embrace, a Black Lantern ring is shown on Laurie's hand that detects the hope within Prime's heart, implying she is really a Black Lantern and is manipulating him into feeling hope before she kills him. However, when Superboy-Prime is accidentally transported back to New Earth, a flashback shows him reconnecting with Laurie Lemmon and his parents, implying she is the real Laurie Lemmon and they are happy together. Sadly for Prime, he is separated from his loved ones again. He blames the Teen Titans and battles them. When he loses, they imprison him within the Source Wall.

** She eventually finds her way to [[Franchise/{{Wolverine}} Logan]], who offers to bring her to Xavier's school to give her a fresh start and help her cope with all the hell she's been through. And then she's attacked and arrested by Comicbook/CaptainAmerica. Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} even ''lampshades'' this [[WhatTheHellHero by telling Cap that he may have just stolen Laura's last chance at a normal life]]. The poor girl just can't catch a break!

** In "Bad Luck Be A Camper Tonight", The Scoutmaster in the Sky allows [[ButtMonkey Samson]] one last chance at using the slot machine that determines somebody's luck before birth in order to change his. He gets the good luck on his first try, but he unwittingly operates the slot machine again, this time ending on the bad luck he was born with.

* Done very cruelly in the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', when Lumpus has finally gotten praise and respect, when a DiabolusExMachina undoes it all, and to rub salt into the wound, [[spoiler:it turns out he was a fake who locked up the real scoutmaster and gets dragged off to an asylum]].

* Played for laughs in the climactic battle of ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', where the Fairy Godmother's magic gives Pinocchio about ten seconds to BecomeARealBoy, before a misfire turns him back into a puppet. Sorry, Pinocchio.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* In the ''FanFic/TamersForeverSeries'', every time it looks like Takato and Rika are becoming closer, something happens to drive them apart. The ultimate one comes when they finally do get together [[spoiler:then Takato has to leave her behind forever]]. Good thing Takato's an IronWoobie.
* In ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'', Phoenix finally avoids [[DudeWheresMyReward being paid with an I.O.U.]] when Celestia herself rewards him with a huge haul of money for his work on the case. Cue his excitement turning into distress when he finds out the money is in bits, the Equestrian currency, which would be completely worthless on Earth.

* ''[[FanFic/IcedFairysANewWorld A New World]]'': After an epic battle with the immensely powerful Yuuka Kazami (who she ''barely'' manages to kill), one of the many Lunarian warriors sent to purge Gensokyo yells how she's the most powerful warrior of her race, and sits down to catch her breath. As she does, she feels a bit lightheaded... and turns to see [[MasterPoisoner Medicine Melancholy]], who's been filling her lungs with paralyzing toxins for a while. As she chokes on the venom, Medicine realizes she's not feeling particularly merciful, and snaps the Lunarian's neck.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

--> '''Michael:''' "Let's see if [Shao Kahn] '[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII M. Bison]]'s me. For those of you who aren't familiar, the 'M. Bison' is when you win the first round, and do fairly well on the second round and it looks like you're going to win the game. Then the computer goes "[[BigNo NOPE!]]", gonna take that right the fuck away from you!"

* In ''[[LetsPlay/{{Dream}} Dream's]]'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tylNqtyj0gs "Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters GRAND FINALE,"]] [[spoiler: after getting chased by three hunters with iron armor and swords (the luckiest they've been, according to Dream,) having to fall off a mountain to buy himself some time, and having to go underwater and make himself a hole in which he almost drowned himself in, he finds a cave with some diamonds... only for Dream to have to make an iron pickaxe to actually get the diamonds. By the time the furnaces are done smelting the iron and having made himself the pickaxe, the hunters are right on his tail, and they notice the diamonds. They successfully prevent Dream from getting half the diamonds, and he's upset about this.]]
** An even more extreme example occurs in [[spoiler: ''Minecraft Speedrunner vs 3 Hunters FINALE'', where Dream has gone through a huge ordeal, exhausting his supplies and at incredibly low health when he finally takes out all 3 hunters in the End. He yells out in triumph, thinking that all he has to do is take out the less threatening Ender Dragon... only for Bad to sneak up behind him and [[CherryTapping hit him once and kill him]]]].
* ''Website/{{Springhole}}''
** In "How To Write Dark Stories, Settings And Characters", Syera advises not to abuse this trope by repeatedly establishing a lighthearted moment in the story, only to crush it 5 minutes later, as the audience will get bored of it.
** In "How To Evoke Audience Reaction & Keep Things Interesting Without Being Cheap Or Manipulative", Syera derides this as manipulative as well as depressing, particularly if a marginalized character is on the receiving end of it and finally dies, as it can imply that marginalized people don't deserve happy endings.

Clever writers can cause viewers quite a bit of tension and suspense this way, since we know the good turn can't last and that ''something'' will inevitably come to take it away. Hacks will merely cause viewers to bash in a new window and [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy abandon a series in frustration]].

* [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryMToZ Superboy-Prime]]: DoubleSubversion. At the end of Adventure Comic #5, where Superboy-Prime admits that he hates what he has become and just wants a happy ending. Laurie Lemmon enters the basement and comforts him, telling him that they are sorry for what they did to him and are going to leave him alone—"they" being previously mentioned as being the writers at DC Comics. As they embrace, a Black Lantern ring is shown on Laurie's hand that detects the hope within Prime's heart, implying she is really a Black Lantern and is manipulating him into feeling hope before she kills him. However, when Superboy-Prime is accidentally transported back to New Earth, a flashback shows him reconnecting with Laurie Lemmon and his parents, implying she is the real Laurie Lemmon and they are happy together. Sadly for Prime, he is separated from his loved ones again. He blames the Teen Titans and battles them. When he loses, they imprison him within the Source Wall.