| 1 | %%% |
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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 6 | ->'''Mario:''' So, this is ''not'' a dream?\ |
| 7 | ''(Toad suddenly hits Mario in the arm with his hiking stick, resulting in a yelp of pain)''\ |
| 8 | '''Toad:''' That hurt, right?\ |
| 9 | '''Mario:''' ''(angrily)'' ''YES!''\ |
| 10 | '''Toad:''' Definitely not a dream. |
| 11 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The intersection of AllJustADream and the OntologicalMystery. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | You're trapped in a weird and inexplicable situation. Nothing you do seems to get you any closer to sorting it out. However will you escape? |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Simple: it's all just a dream. Once you know that, you're free. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | It doesn't have to be a literal dream. Maybe you've been hooked up to a LotusEaterMachine. Maybe you're having a hallucination thanks to your enemy spiking your drink. It could be a magical perception-altering spell. Whatever. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | The key thing is that as soon as you ''realize'' that it's not real, you snap out of it. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | There is ''some'' real life support for this: most people have found themselves suddenly woken just as they realize that they're dreaming. This may be a defensive mechanism to prevent sleep disruptions (the state of being aware that one is dreaming, called "lucid dreaming", cannot cause a breakdown of the mechanisms that normally prevent behaviors such as sleepwalking, contrary to popular belief. Many people enjoy lucid dreams and try to have as many as possible, generally with only positive side effects). But anyone who has experienced sleep paralysis knows that it's not always as simple as that (and if you've ever been able to control sleep paralysis, things get more complicated). |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Pinching is generally used as a method of dream detection because it is said that we don't have the sense of touch in a dream. If it's real, then you'd feel the pain from a pinch. This has been debunked by lucid dreamers, who can feel pain/touch in a dream. More recommended is to consciously attempt to read things in the environment (the parts of the brain related to language processing are less active in a dream), which often results in either garbled text, or the text changing every time it's viewed. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | See also YouCanSeeThatRight for seeking confirmation that something is real. Unrelated to ''Literature/AdamAndEveAndPinchMe'' (the novel or the childish prank). Not to be confused with the use of self-inflicted pain to free themselves from a dream or an illusion, which is DreamEmergencyExit and SlapYourselfAwake. Compare InTheDreamingStageOfGrief and BizarreDreamRationalization. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | ---- |
| 30 | !!Examples: |
| 31 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 34 | * ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': Tanjiro ''beheads himself'' in order to get out of a LotusEaterMachine dream reality, where his family never died. |
| 35 | * ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' has one gadget called the Dream Checking Machine, which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - a robotic hand on wheels that pinches you to make sure you aren't in a dream. |
| 36 | ** Said gadget first appeared as a gag in ''Anime/DoraemonTheRecordsOfNobitaSpaceblazer'', when Nobita and Doraemon, on Planet Koya Koya, gain SuperStrength and superhuman abilities thanks to the planet's weak gravity. When Nobita wonders if he dreamt the whole thing, Doraemon takes out said gadget and drags Nobita around for a while. |
| 37 | ** The same gadget re-appears in ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasGreatAdventureInTheSouthSeas'' when Nobita, against all odds, manage to track down the hidden 18th-Century pirate treasure with ''billions'' of yen on Doraemon's mapping machine... on his first try. Cue Doraemon taking out the Dream Checking Machine and using it on ''himself''. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/KOn'': In maybe the third or fourth dream she had that day, Azusa rightly guesses she's in a dream and asks dream!Mugi and dream!Ui to pinch her, and she laments that she won a trip to Finland in that dream. |
| 39 | ** In the first episode, after Yui agrees to join the Light music club despite having no experience with musical instruments and after declaring Mio, Ritsu and Mugi not very good as a band, Mio and Ritsu pinch each other to check if they are dreaming. They weren't. |
| 40 | * ''Anime/TheLawsOfEternity'': When Patrick muses he's dreaming upon entering the Spirit World and finding it looks like a normal city, Roberto pinches him in the rear to "wake him up". |
| 41 | * In ''Anime/LoveLiveSuperstar'' Keke demands to get piched by Sumire, when her most beloved Idols "Sunny Passion" had entered the room. But the reality check failed, because here limbs got numb from all the ice she ate before. |
| 42 | * In ''Manga/LuckyStar'', doujinshi artist Hiyori is approached at Comiket by a man who offers her an opportunity to write for Comptiq. She pinches her cheek, finds that it hurts, and thinks for a moment that it was reality... until she wakes up and discovers that she was, indeed, dreaming, and can feel pain in a dream. |
| 43 | * Parodied in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': When Akane goes on a date with Ryōga, he's sure that it must be a dream -- so he hits his head against the wall hard enough to cause structural damage to the building. It doesn't hurt, so he thinks he must be dreaming. However, the real reason it didn't hurt is because he's just that strong after training with Cologne. |
| 44 | * ''Anime/{{Tamagotchi}}'': |
| 45 | ** In episode 30a, after waking up from two nightmares related to their mother in a row, Mametchi and Chamametchi pinch each other to make sure they're not dreaming a third time. |
| 46 | ** In ''Yume Kira Dream'' episode 11, the fictional celebrity duo D2 visits the Kira Tamamori shop and gives Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi some D2 cards. Yumemitchi and Kiraritchi pinch each other to make sure they're not dreaming, then get excited since they actually met D2 in real life. |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 50 | * ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': In episode 49, Doctor H., is excited over Miss Peach saying she's actually willing to date him, and asks Happy S. to punch him to see if he's dreaming it all up. Happy S. whops him with his Happy S. Punch. |
| 51 | -->'''Doctor H.:''' You know, a nice, light punch would have sufficed. |
| 52 | * ''Manhua/LittleCherry'': In episode 12, Little Cherry does a rather painful pinch to herself after her idol Ah Lun chose her to be onstage. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 56 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'': At the start of "The Weirdo Map" (Gold Key #8), Peevly issues weekend passes to the bears. Bubi pinches himself to see if he's awake. |
| 57 | * Exploited in a ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' comic. The heroes are trapped in a dream-machine by the villain The Key; however, the machine is constructed so that realizing that they're dreaming and awakening will provide the energy for the machine's true function. |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 59 | ** In ''ComicBook/Supergirl2005'' issue #22, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} the titular heroine]]'s dream starts to fade as soon as [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Lightning Lad]] explains that she is dreaming. |
| 60 | ** ''ComicBook/ThePhantomZone'': Charlie Kweskill suddenly wakes up from a long nightmare and finds himself in a dark room full of machines. He promptly pinches his left hand to check if he is dreaming or not. |
| 61 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Zot}}'', Jenny "woke up" to find that she had dreamed Zot and his parallel world, until she realized it was a dream. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 65 | * [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/07/11 This]] ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' story has Calvin falling from a great height. He figures it's just a dream, and that all he has to do is look down and gasp, and then he will wake up. Doesn't work. |
| 66 | * In [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1999/05/13 this]] ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' comic, when Jon learns that a woman wants to go out with him, he says to Garfield: "Pinch me, I must be dreaming!", to which Garfield complies. Jon then wakes up in his bed, screaming. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 70 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2308041/5/Black-Letters Black Letters]]'' Harry pinches himself when he meets Sirius several weeks after the latter's apparent death. |
| 71 | * In ''Fanfic/BlueSkyWaffles'', Wheatley asks Chell to touch him so she can prove she's really there, as [=GLaDOS=] messing around with his insides has been making him see things. She responds by painfully yanking him out of the wires connecting him to [=GlaDos=]. |
| 72 | * In ''Fanfic/FoxRain'', following the events of Volpina, Lila finds the actual Fox Miraculous in her bedroom (given to her by Master Fu after she [[GuileHero scare away some thugs that were harassing him by saying that Ladybug was nearby]]) with Trixx coming out to introduce himself. Lila initially thinks that Trixx is some sort of imaginary friend, which he disproves by giving her a smack to her head. |
| 73 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14161991/14/Harry-Potter-the-Metamorphpagus Harry Potter the Metamorphpagus]]'' Harry asks Hermione to pinch her after Snape takes twenty points from Slytherin and gives five points to Gryffindor. |
| 74 | * In ''Fanfic/HeroChat'', an Akuma traps most of Paris and the majority of Team Miraculous in their sleep. Marc is given the Goat Miraculous to enter Marinette's dream and wake her up, and she realizes she's dreaming because she never gave them a Miraculous in real life... ignoring the fact that her classmates are currently puppets. |
| 75 | -->'''Marc''': That's what makes you think this is a dream?! Your classmates are puppets! Juleka is literally just Kermit in a wig! |
| 76 | * Fan fiction for ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has many girls who [[TrappedInAnotherWorld fall into Middle-earth]]. If she wants out, she may deduce that she is dreaming, and try to wake herself. This never works, because it is no dream. |
| 77 | ** In ''Fanfic/TheAwkwardAdventuresOfMeghanWhimblesby'', when she sees the movie characters, she tries to wake from her dream. In chapter 1, Meghan pinches herself. In chapter 2, she tries to escape danger by shouting, "WAKE UP!" Then she bleeds. Because of her blood, Meghan concludes, "I'm not dreaming." |
| 78 | ** ''Fanfic/IAmNotAMarySue'' dumps Caroline into bad fan fiction. She tries to wake herself as in ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', by clicking her heels and saying "There's no place like home!", but it was not a dream. |
| 79 | * ''Fanfic/MaybeTheLastArchieStory'': Invoked when [[ComicBook/ArchieComics Reggie Mantle]] wonders whether he is really talking to a cat, and [[ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Salem]] retorts "[He's] not about to claw [Reggie's] ankle to prove [he's] not dreaming." |
| 80 | * In ''Fanfic/MyHuntsmanAcademia'', Izuku pinches himself every now and then just to make sure he isn't dreaming because he just feels so lucky and blessed to be able to come to Beacon and become a Huntsman despite being born a Broken Soul without an Aura or a Semblance. |
| 81 | * In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26698570/chapters/94208674#workskin Strange Potter]]'' Wanda pinches Remus' cheek when he thinks he's dreaming after Tony and Bruce cure his lycanthropy. |
| 82 | * ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/46730197/ A Taste of Magic]]'': Upon seeing [[spoiler:Pansy Parkinson being nice]], Lavender pinches Parvati to help her know she's not dreaming. Parvati attempts to pinch her back, then later tries again and succeeds. As they leave the class, it escalates to a barrage of pinching and pushing on both sides. |
| 83 | -->'''Parvati:''' Okay, I'm just going to say it, that was weird right? Please tell me that I'm not the only one that thought that was weird. |
| 84 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5312967/2/Through-the-Cupboard Through the Cupboard]]'' Harry pinches his cheek after waking up in a reality where his parents survived. |
| 85 | * In the ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TwoIdiots'' Keith asks Cherry to slap him to make sure he's not dreaming any of the events of the story. |
| 86 | * In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14164712/1/Unexpected-Love-NaNoWriMo-2022 Unexpected Love NaNoWriMo 2022]]'' after Harry, Hermione and Teddy are sent back in time, Harry suggests that they might've been slipped one of George's daydream charms and Hermione gives herself a small cut to test it. |
| 87 | * In ''Fanfic/TheWebOfTheSpiderMan'', Peter pinches himself and twists his own skin to make sure he isn't dreaming after waking up [[HeroicBuild ripped]] and with superpowers. After confirming that he isn't dreaming (and that it really, really hurt), he's ready to jump for joy. |
| 88 | [[/folder]] |
| 89 | |
| 90 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 91 | * ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland'': When Alice is being chased by the Queen and her subjects, she begs the talking Doorknob to let her out. The Doorknob explains that she ''is'' outside, and shows her sleeping under a tree through his keyhole. With the mob closing in on her, Alice calls through the door, telling herself to hurry and wake up, [[CrashingDreams which turns into the voice of her sister trying to get her attention]]. |
| 92 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'': During her first conversation with Barry, Vanessa stabs the back of her own hand with a fork to wake herself before realizing she ''is'' talking to a bee. |
| 93 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'': When Geppetto discovers his wooden puppet has come to life, he assumes he's dreaming in his sleep and [[WaterWakeup douses himself with a pitcherful of water]] to wake himself up. |
| 94 | -->'''Geppetto:''' ''Now'' we'll see who's dreaming! Go on! Say something!\ |
| 95 | '''Pinocchio:''' ''(beat)'' Gee, you're funny. Do it again!\ |
| 96 | '''Geppetto:''' You ''do'' talk! |
| 97 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress'': The Hero Boy does this to try and wake himself up on top of the titular train. It doesn't work, and he tries to wake up by throwing snow in his face, then burying his face in the snow. Both don't work. |
| 98 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': When Mario arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom and meets [[MushroomMan Toad]], he questions whether or not he's dreaming. (Un)fortunately for him, Toad is glad to help by whacking him in the arm with his walking stick. |
| 99 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', when Mei turns into a giant red panda for the first time she initially thinks that she is just having a bad dream and slaps her cheeks in an attempt to wake up. |
| 100 | * ''WesternAnimation/WakingLife'': About halfway through, the main character learns he can tell if he's dreaming by flipping light switches or checking digital clocks. Unfortunately, this knowledge doesn't help him wake up. |
| 101 | [[/folder]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 104 | * A similar gag is used in ''Film/{{Airplane}}'', where Ted sees his love interest for the first time. He asks the man next to him to pinch him, earning a disgusted look. |
| 105 | * A deleted scene in ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'' -- after Marty has realized that he's in 1955 from a newspaper -- had him asking an passing-by old lady to pinch him. It comes out a bit brusque because he's panicking, resulting in him receiving a smack across the face. |
| 106 | * ''Film/{{Inception}}'': The totems that TheTeam carries are supposed to be personalized ways of doing this; if the totem doesn't behave as you know it's supposed to in the real world, then you're in a dream. But Cobb points out to both Ariadne and [[spoiler:Fischer]] that you can also tell you're in a dream by trying to think about how you got to where you currently are, noticing any impossible geometries and phenomenon, or other inconsistencies like rapid weather changes. The infamous ending focuses on Cobb's spinning top totem with the film cutting to black before the audience can see whether or not it stops spinning (Cobb's awake) or if it spins forever (Cobb's still in a dream). |
| 107 | * In the movie ''Film/VanillaSky'', Tom Cruise realizes that he is dreaming at the end of the movie when he finally removes the mask he wears to hide his disfigured face to find that his face is perfectly fine underneath. This prompts him to start shouting that he wants to wake up. |
| 108 | [[/folder]] |
| 109 | |
| 110 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 111 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the spinoff novel ''The Stealers of Dreams'', the Doctor scoffs at someone who literally pinches himself to remind himself that it's ''not'' just a dream. The Doctor explains that though a dream can feel real, when something ''is'' real you generally just know - so the pinching is unnecessary. |
| 112 | * In Creator/RebeccaLickiss's ''Literature/EccentricCircles'', Malraux, unasked, pinches Piper to establish that it's not a dream. |
| 113 | * In Creator/StanislawLem's novel ''Literature/TheFuturologicalCongress'', Ijon Tichy is the victim of a hallucinogenic attack, and treats his doctors, revival after cryo-freezing and FishOutOfTemporalWater setting as a product of his hallucinations, usually trying to fall back in a sewer he had originally been hiding in to snap out of it. [[spoiler: He's absolutely right.]] |
| 114 | * In Creator/RobertSheckley's short story ''Ghost V'', the two main characters realize the air of the planet they've landed on contains chemicals that cause hallucinations; unfortunately, since YourMindMakesItReal, knowing that they're hallucinations doesn't make them the least bit less dangerous. |
| 115 | * In ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'', after [[spoiler:Sara sees the food, furniture, and fire left for her in the attic]], she marvels that for a dream, everything ''feels'' real, and then puts her hands by a fire. She draws them away quickly, saying that a dream-fire wouldn't be so hot. In the next chapter she admits to pinching herself repeatedly and "just now I touched a hot coal, on purpose." |
| 116 | * In ''Literature/RaggedDick'', a wealthy man pays Dick to give his nephew a tour of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, and gives him a new suit to wear. Dick is so amazed by his generosity that he tells Frank to pinch him to make sure he isn't dreaming. |
| 117 | * ''Literature/SmallPersonsWithWings'': When Mellie first sees Durindana, one of the titular Persons, she thinks she's dreaming. But then she realizes that she can smell the mildew, and she's never smelled something in a dream. |
| 118 | * ''Literature/TheStormSwimmer'': When Ginika first sees the sea people, a human subspecies that have adapted to live in the ocean, she pinches and slaps herself to make sure she's not dreaming. |
| 119 | * ''Literature/{{Thora}}'': In the first book, Thora pinches herself to make sure she's not just having a wonderful dream when she learns that [[spoiler:Dottie Greenberg is her grandmother]]. |
| 120 | [[/folder]] |
| 121 | |
| 122 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 123 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': When Sheldon [[spoiler:wins a Nobel prize]] he wonders if he's dreaming, so Leonard administers a slap he'd clearly been waiting twelve years to give. |
| 124 | * The episode of ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' where he accidentally burns the [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup only copy]] of the dictionary. The writer of the dictionary bursts in on Blackadder and says something to the effect of "I'm tired of the damn thing, it's rubbish, burn it." Blackadder is overjoyed, but then "Baldrick, who gave you permission to become an Alsatian?" Which is enough of a clue for Blackadder to realise and wake up. |
| 125 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 126 | ** In the first season episode, ''Nightmares'', where everyone's nightmares are coming true, Xander tries to get out of standing in front of his entire class while wearing only his underwear, by pinching himself. |
| 127 | ** Mildly subverted in the season 4 finale. Buffy realises she's dream-fighting the First Slayer and wakes up. As she's looking around the Slayer attacks again. Buffy ignores her and wakes up for real. |
| 128 | * ''Series/DogWithABlog'': Karl and Avery pinch other to detect if they are in one of Avery's kissing dreams. |
| 129 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': "Vengeance on Varos". Also "The Trial of a Timelord". |
| 130 | * ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' did it with a psychological tool. |
| 131 | * ''Series/FirstWave'' in approximately every third episode. |
| 132 | * In one episode of ''Series/FawltyTowers'', as yet another ZanyScheme begins to disintegrate before his eyes, Basil says "Yes! I must be having a nightmare!" and bangs his head on the front desk. "No, not a nightmare, we're stuck with it!" |
| 133 | * ''Series/TheGeorgeLopezShow'' uses this twice when George eats a peculiar worm in his drink. Both [[GRatedDrug hallucinations]] end with his Cuban father-in-law dancing in a worm suit. |
| 134 | -->'''Vic Palmero:''' You are having a hallucinogenic reaction to ''me''. I'm in your ''belly.'' Watch me dance. |
| 135 | * ''Series/{{Jonas}}'': |
| 136 | -->'''Joe''': Quick punch me in the arm so I know I'm not dreaming!!! ...Ok I'm definitely not dreaming because that really hurt!!!\ |
| 137 | '''Kevin''': ''(ComicallyMissingThePoint)'' Unless you're dreaming that it hurt so that was a dream hurt.\ |
| 138 | '''Nick''': ''(softly punches Kevin)'' Was that dream hurt or regular hurt? |
| 139 | * In ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al says this to Jefferson, who responds by punching him in the jaw. Al promptly goes, "I said ''pinch'' me, not ''punch'' me!" Jefferson then grabs a big handful of Al's gut. |
| 140 | * ''Series/TheNanny'': Fran has a DreamWithinADream about having huge feet and then waking up to Mr Sheffield making out with her after she tells him about it. When she wakes up for real, she pinches herself to make sure she isn't still dreaming. |
| 141 | * In an episode of the sitcom ''Series/{{Newhart}}'', after suffering through yet another day's worth of insanity from the locals, Dick pinches himself hoping he's dreaming. It doesn't work, but [[spoiler:at the end of the series it's revealed that he really ''was'' dreaming the whole thing]]. |
| 142 | * ''Series/StargateSG1'': In "The Gamekeeper," SG-1 becomes trapped in a virtual reality simulation. They are then forced to relive events from their pasts. They soon realize that what they are experiencing isn't real. |
| 143 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 144 | ** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': "Specter Of The Gun". The realization that their situation is just a psychic projection renders Kirk and company ImmuneToBullets. In their defense, immunity required a certitude of belief that could only be achieved via mind-meld to a nigh-emotionless Vulcan. |
| 145 | ** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Waking Moments", [[MagicalNativeAmerican Chakotay]] uses an embedded subconscious trigger to let him know if he's actually asleep (Earth's moon). He can then will himself awake by tapping the back of his hand three times. |
| 146 | ** An early episode of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' involved hallucinogenic alien pollen, but most of those affected didn't figure it out. |
| 147 | * Subverted in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'': Bailey realizes she is dreaming when London calls her "the prettiest girl in the whole world" and tries to pinch herself to wake up, naturally finding that she can't feel anything in a dream. |
| 148 | * ''Series/TheXFiles''. Subversion: Mulder and Scully realize that they are trapped in a chemically induced hallucination, and are promptly freed. Wackiness continues to ensue, at which point it occurs to Mulder that there is absolutely no scientific reason that their having worked it out should negate all the hallucinogenic chemicals in their systems. It's the supporting cast who end up rescuing them for real. |
| 149 | [[/folder]] |
| 150 | |
| 151 | [[folder:Magazines]] |
| 152 | * In one letters column in Nation Lampoon, a baseball player finally achieves his dream of getting signed to the majors, and says "pinch me!" Someone does... [[CruelTwistEnding and the pinch severs a nerve and cripples his pitching arm]]. |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Manhua]] |
| 156 | * One ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' strip have the titular character finding a duffel bag bursting with cash at random while taking a stroll. He immediately exclaims, "this can only be a dream" before biting his hand. Cue the next panel showing Master Q waking up in his bed. |
| 157 | -->'''Master Q:''' Damn it, ''I knew'' that's a dream! |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 161 | * National Theatre's 2014 production of ''Theatre/{{Treasure Island|2014}}'' has a variant: when the castaway Ben Gunn discovers that there are new people on the island where he's been marooned alone for years, he pinches ''them'' to test whether they're really there. Jim Hawkins takes it in good part, but Captain Smollett objects violently. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/{{Guenevere}}'': Upon waking up to the sight of a dozen doppelgangers of herself running around the castle, Guen can opt to {{Invoke|dTrope}} this. If she does, Arthur will in her place. |
| 166 | * ''VideoGame/RakenzarnTales'': Regardless of whether you're playing as Kyuu Renjo or Kyros Tazanuki, your protagonist does this upon arriving in Rakenzarn. |
| 167 | [[/folder]] |
| 168 | |
| 169 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 170 | * Evoked by Franziska von Karma in ''Franchise/AceAttorney: Justice for All'', where, after hearing that [[spoiler:the killer had flown away from the crime scene]] the Judge asks Phoenix for his opinion. |
| 171 | -->'''Phoenix:''' Right now, I can't believe any of this! I'm not even sure if this day has been some kind of [[Creator/FranzKafka Kafkaesque]] dream... ''gets whipped by Franziska'' OWWW!!!\ |
| 172 | '''Franziska:''' Now do you think its still a dream!? Huh, Mr. Phoenix Wright!? |
| 173 | ** Hilariously echoed in ''Trials and Tribulations'' after another piece of similarly dubious testimony. |
| 174 | --->''(Franziska whips the Judge)''\ |
| 175 | '''Judge:''' Uwaaah! What was that for!?\ |
| 176 | '''Franziska:''' ...This is all a bad dream. I was hitting you on the cheek to test that theory. |
| 177 | * ''VisualNovel/BadAppleWars'': After being informed that she's died, the protagonist pinches her own cheek in an attempt to wake herself up. |
| 178 | * ''VisualNovel/HavenfallIsForLovers'': In Antonio's Season 4, the protagonist can offer to pinch [[spoiler:Eva]] in order to help confirm that [[spoiler:her new life]] isn't a dream. |
| 179 | * ''VisualNovel/IkemenRevolution'': Alice realizes that she isn't dreaming about having fallen into Wonderland when she hits her head inside Blanc's carriage. |
| 180 | [[/folder]] |
| 181 | |
| 182 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 183 | * ''WebAnimation/LoveOfTheSn'': While Charger Block is still denying that the afterlife is real, Crown suggests that Charger Block pinch them so they can wake up. It doesn't work. |
| 184 | [[/folder]] |
| 185 | |
| 186 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 187 | * In ''Webcomic/ButImACatPerson'', Sparrow asks her friend Bianca to pinch her [[https://www.bicatperson.com/comic/chapter-one-13/ when she hears the stray dog that followed her home start talking to them]]. |
| 188 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', Parson, still not quite sure it's not all a dream, tries pinching himself to "wake up". |
| 189 | * In ''WebComic/{{Menage a 3}}'' Gary finds himself handcuffed to an unconscious girl through no fault of his own (long story) and thinks he's dreaming, so he tries to supply his brain with a sensation that it can't replicate. As he's a virgin, he does that by groping her breast. Then he realizes that he's awake. |
| 190 | * In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', this is how [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0889.html Elan helped Roy and Haley escape the phantasm at Girard's Gate]]. He figured out that the resolution being provided for his own familial issues in this illusion was not realistic, and held on himself for long enough to communicate this to the other two. |
| 191 | -->'''Roy:''' So, what, we're still there? We're not at a wedding, we're just standing around in a dungeon in the middle of a desert?\ |
| 192 | ''(BeatPanel)''\ |
| 193 | '''Roy:''' Ah, hell. We are, aren't we?\ |
| 194 | ''(all three awaken from the illusion)'' |
| 195 | * ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': When Sette is startled by Murkoph trying to escape the khert into the physical plane through a floor she bites her arm thinking she's asleep, and is [[https://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch09/ch09_56.html displeased to realize she's not dreaming.]] |
| 196 | [[/folder]] |
| 197 | |
| 198 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 199 | * At the near end of ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers''' "The Mario Parable", when Narrator sends Mario to [[spoiler:be killed]], the latter wonders he's just dreaming, and Narrator accepts with him by saying that everything is not real except him. |
| 200 | -->'''Narrator:''' Of course. None of this is real. I am real. You are not.\ |
| 201 | '''Mario:''' ''(scene switches to Castle Grounds)'' I am Mario! Of course I am real. |
| 202 | * Bowser Jr. upon finding out he's in Chef Pee Pee's body in the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode "Switching Bodies". He tries slapping himself and slamming into the mirror wall. |
| 203 | [[/folder]] |
| 204 | |
| 205 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 206 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'', believing a situation too good to be true, Little Dog orders Big Dog to pinch him. After he complies, he tells him "Harder!" |
| 207 | * ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'': Cleo exaggerates this trope by [[OverlyLongGag pinching herself, slapping herself, smashing a glass of water in her face, pouring gasoline on her head and lighting it on fire, shooting an arrow in her eye, sawing at her head, and then stepping on a bear trap]] when she realizes she's no longer popular at the start of the second season. She later offers the bear trap to Abe when he similarly gets rejected by the new popular kids in favor of JFK. |
| 208 | * ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': |
| 209 | ** "Operation UTOPIA": Nigel realises that he's in a hallucination the moment he sees Wally swim (the real Wally can't swim). Cut to a chamber with Nigel in it, struggling to break free. |
| 210 | ** "Operation WHITEHOUSE": Nigel wakes up one morning as the President of the United States and about to sign a bill to take away Children's rights. After escaping the White House, he thinks it is a nightmare and pinches himself to wake up, which fails. The episodes ends with the reveal that is was AllJustADream, [[spoiler:though it was really a simulation created by the same technology used in "Operation UTOPIA"]]. |
| 211 | * ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': DM and Penfold are confronted with sentient appliances in "Mechanised Mayhem." Penfold pinches DM. |
| 212 | -->'''DM''': Ow! Penfold, what was the pinch for?\ |
| 213 | '''Penfold:''' I wanted to see if I was dreaming.\ |
| 214 | '''DM:''' Well, why didn't you pinch yourself?\ |
| 215 | '''Penfold:''' Ah, I might have been only dreaming I pinched myself. |
| 216 | * In "First Responders to the Rescue" from ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'', when the boy Dev is accidentally transported to the Toy Hospital, Stuffy tells him that he's still in his bedroom and he's just having a dream. Stuffy sounds less than convincing, but Dev buys it. Then Stuffy decides to take it further by saying it won't hurt if he pinches ''himself'', then does so and shouts in pain. It's then ruined completely when he [[AgonyOfTheFeet accidentally steps on Dev's foot]], causing him to feel pain too and decide that what's happening must therefore be real. |
| 217 | * In "Franklin the Fearless" from ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' Franklin experiences AnxietyDreams about riding down Thrill Hill with a DreamWithinADream scenario. In the morning, when he wakes up, he ''hopes'' he's still dreaming, but a pinch confirms he's awake. |
| 218 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHairBearBunch'' episode "Raffle Ruckus" has Hair Bear winning the zoo in a raffle only to take on the same keeper responsibilities Peevly usually does. He's about to call it a night when the phone rings. |
| 219 | -->'''Hair Bear:''' Oh no! Tell me I'm dreaming! ''(after Bubi fields the call)'' It's no dream... it's a nightmare! |
| 220 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': |
| 221 | ** In [[ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything an episode]] where Superman is entrapped by a LotusEaterMachine and has to realize that his world was destroyed. In the same episode, Batman is attached to the plot device in question, and realizes it almost immediately--he knows, deep down, that his father didn't beat up the mugger, but was killed by him. A tearjerker moment for both, as Superman tells his scared son good-bye as Krypton explodes and Batman is forced to relive that terrible moment again. |
| 222 | ** In "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E5And6OnlyADream Only a Dream]]", Flash recognizes that he's in a dream a few minutes after Dr. Destiny shows up and believes that his alarm clock will wake him up. |
| 223 | --->'''Flash''': Huh? This isn't supposed to happen.\ |
| 224 | '''Dr. Destiny''': That's because this time, there isn't going to ''be'' a wake-up call. |
| 225 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "Fear of a Krabby Patty", when [=SpongeBob=] hears that the Krusty Krab is now open 24 hours, he repeatedly pinches himself in the side and yells out in pain, realizing that he's not dreaming. |
| 226 | * ''WesternAnimation/PBAndJOtter'': Subverted in the story "Where Oh Where is Flick?" Flick enters into a dream in which Mallard Man asks him to help him and he immediately says "I must be dreaming!" Mallard Man agrees that he is and Flick is perfectly cool with this. |
| 227 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekLowerDecksS1E04MoistVessel Moist Vessel]]", when Mariner gets promoted, Boimler is seen slapping himself and pinching his cheeks in the background, hoping that it's all a dream. |
| 228 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ZigAndSharko'', when Zig finds Marina next to him, he pinches himself with a crab just to be sure. |
| 229 | [[/folder]] |
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