Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Be Careful What You Wish For / The DCU

Go To

The DCU

    open/close all folders 

    Comic Books 

Comic Books

  • In Aquaman (1991), Black Manta blows up Arthur Jr.'s grave to anger Aquaman and ends up making him angry enough to attempt to murder him.
  • Batman:
    • Batman '66: In a Wonder Woman crossover, Ra's Al Ghul uses the Lazarus Pits so much that he's eventually de-aged into a ten-year-old. Batman agrees with his "old chum" when he says, "Holy be careful what you wish for".
    • Batman: Last Knight on Earth: Issue #2 reveals that Lex challenged Superman to a debate of ideals, which ended in Lex himself being moved by Superman's ideals. Unfortunately, the world chose Doom, resulting in Superman's death and sent the world on a path towards destruction. So Lex got what he wanted (the world choosing Doom and Superman dead) just as he underwent a Heel–Face Turn.
    • Batman: Under the Hood had the main driving point of Jason Todd resenting Batman for not avenging his death at the Joker's hands by killing the Clown Prince of Crime. Jason later gets his wish in the worst way possible during Countdown to Final Crisis, where he winds up in a universe where Batman did avenge him by killing the Joker, only to escalate towards wiping out the other supervillains as well as his fellow heroes when they showed their disapproval towards his methods.
  • In Green Lantern #61, Alan Scott commands his Power Ring to "get rid of all evil on Earth that plagues mankind" in a fit of rage. His order causes all of humanity to disappear, himself included. It's only by pure luck that he did not cause omnicide (his ring instead displaced Earth's population to another universe and placed them all in suspended animation), and he leaves the story with a very rude reminder that unfortunately, vices are inherent to human nature.
  • JLA (1997): In the "Id" story arc, a group of 6th-dimensional beings release an entity capable of granting wishes... unfortunately, it's a Literal Genie. It affects the league, splitting them into their superheroic and secret identities and wreaks havoc (most hilariously when some guy wishes that his boss would go to hell). In the end, Plastic Man's alter-ego pulls the league back together, comes up with a plan to defeat Id, and saves Earth.
  • In The Just #1, Damian Wayne says that the world needs a genius supervillain like his mom or his grandad. It has one. He's sleeping with her.
  • Kingdom Come: The conflict originates when the public reject the traditional heroes, who won't kill their enemies no matter how deadly they are and instead turn them over the justice system to be dealt with. The public demand a new breed of heroes who are willing to permanently deal with threats such as the Joker and not being concerned about taking lives or deferring to the justice system. They get what they ask for — but unfortunately, the new breed of heroes are also not particularly concerned about collateral damage or what the public think about them, resulting in unrestrained metahuman warfare and the complete stagnation of human society. Suddenly, Superman's Thou Shalt Not Kill rule didn't look so bad after all...
  • The Sandman (1989):
    • Richard Madoc holds one of the Muses captive as a sex slave because, as a writer, he needs ideas. It all works pretty well for him until Morpheus (said Muse's ex, and the Anthropomorphic Personification of Dream) gives him more ideas than his brain can handle. When he pleads for it to stop, he loses the ability to think entirely.
    • Lampshaded by Morpheus as he's watching A Midsummer Night's Dream, which he commissioned in exchange for giving William Shakespeare the inspiration for the plays that he would be remembered for. Mortals never realize the true price of what they believe they want, in this case the play is implied to have attracted Titania's attention towards his son Hamnet, and in a more meta sense his theatrical career consumes his life.
    • In a misguided attempt to get revenge on Morpheus for Daniel's kidnapping, Lyta ends up bound to the Furies' will to kill Morpheus for an unrelated crime and inadvertently causes Daniel's "death" when he becomes the new Dream.
  • Superman:
    • Action Comics #1 included an episode where three gangsters kidnap Lois Lane as she is traveling home from a nightclub in a taxi. Clark Kent and Lois were dancing at the nightclub when one of the gangsters, Butch, smugly tried to cut in, but Lois refused, and Clark was unable to stand up to Butch. Later, after Butch and his goons have kidnapped Lois, Butch arrogantly hopes that Kent will come after him... shortly before realizing they are being chased by a strongman who easily picks up their car, shakes it violently so that the bad guys fall out and then, after securing Lois' safety, vaults the now scared-out-of-his-wits Butch onto a telephone wire to await the authorities.
    • In For the Man Who Has Everything, Superman has been trapped by an alien plant that gives him a hallucination of the happy ending he would have wanted — living on Krypton, which was never destroyed. Apparently, the plant's victims are normally happy in their delusion, but it turns out that the logical extrapolation of what would have happened on Krypton includes social upheaval and unrest, making the scenario kind of nightmarish. However, it's a bit borderline to say all this follows from the wish; the things that happen are not illogical from what is known of Krypton, but there's no clear reason they had to be like that other than the writer deciding it. Given the Lotus-Eater Machine nature of the plant, however, the dystopian nature of the fantasy is also almost certainly a result of Superman's mind fighting against the dream in an effort to free himself. Notably, the dystopian parts become far more prominent after his allies arrive at the Fortress and find him trapped, with Batman trying multiple methods to free him - ending with realizing he is helpless here and desperately pleading Kal to wake up.
    • In Superman (1939) #282, Supergirl is considering giving up her Supergirl identity. To illustrate she might regret that decision, Superman tells her a tale about a Kryptonian who wanted to live forever and managed to make himself immortal, only to find out that he would be alone forever.
      Superman: So you see, Kara... Sometimes, when we get the things we think we want most... they turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing!
    • The Great Darkness Saga: Dream Girl wished to become team leader. She won the election right when the Legion was undergoing their worst crisis since their foundation.
      White Witch: Don't be so grim, though, sister — the Legionnaires protected me from the Servants of Darkness? Surely they can prevent your vision from becoming real.
      Dream Girl: Maybe — But this isn't the kind of first mission I wanted as Legion leader.
    • This happened to Supergirl in the Elseworlds story Superman vol. 1 #149: The Death of Superman (1961). Back then she was Superman's secret emergency-weapon until her cousin decided she was well-trained enough and ready to operate openly. Kara was dying to reveal her existence to the world... until Superman got murdered by Lex Luthor. She arrested and punished Luthor, revealed herself and took over for her cousin, becoming a beloved hero, but she wasn't happy at all.
      Bystander: Good luck! We miss Superman, but we're glad you're taking over for him!
      Supergirl: ...I never thought it would turn out this way... All the time I was Superman's secret emergency-weapon, I eagerly looked forward to the day when I could operate openly! Now that it's finally happened, I — I feel no happiness at the "glory" that's now... mine...
    • In Supergirl (2011) issue #21 -titled "Be Careful What You Wish for…"- Kara Zor-El arrives on I'noxia, a planet whose inhabitants could completely recreate Krypton. However, Cyborg Superman's presence means the reimagining of Krypton can cost Kara her life.
    • Superman vs. Shazam!: Karmang's experiments succeeded in making him immortal, but in the process his machine killed one billion Martians and bonded their souls to him. Karmang has spent thousand millennia been tormented by legions of ghosts, knowing they will hound him literally forever unless he finds a way to set them free.
    • At the start of Starfire's Revenge, Supergirl admits she often wishes she was a non-powered normal person. One day later, her powers disappear right when she is being shot by a pack of thugs.
    • The Girl with the X-Ray Mind: Linda Danvers used to wish Dick Malverne stopped trying to find out her secret identity. Then Dick transfers his suspicious to Lena Thorul and starts ignoring Linda, who is definitely not happy with such a development.
      Linda Danvers: Ever since Dick began to suspect that Lena was Supergirl, he's danced only with her! I suppose I should be grateful his suspicions are turned away from me... But I'm not!
    • Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom: Darkseid paying notice to Maelstrom's crush on him like she wanted got her tortured, humiliated, defeated and finally banished from her homeworld forever.
  • Teen Titans Go!: Beast Boy tells Dr. Light this when Dr. Light gets electrocuted trying to get Cyborg's battery's power.

    Films 

Films

  • Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker: The Joker always wanted to make the original Batman laugh and thought of himself as the greatest supervillain of all time. But when the new Batman laughs, he's laughing at the clown for not breaking the Bat. Worse, he says that the Joker is just a piss-poor comedian whose jokes are bland. It enrages Joker, who can brush off almost anything except being laughed at.
  • In The Dark Knight Rises, Selina Kyle wishes for the rich to "wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us." Her opinion changes after seeing just how destructive Bane's "liberation" of Gotham is.
    • Also, twice, this happens with Daggett. First time is when he's going to his office:
    John Daggett: And can we get some girls in here?
    Selina Kyle: Careful what you wish for. [immediately pounces on Daggett, throws him across the room, and pins him against the wall with her left boot and right hand] Cat got your tongue?
    John Daggett: You dumb bitch!
    Selina Kyle: Nobody ever accused me of being dumb!
    • There's also Daggett's confrontation with Bane:
    John Daggett: How the hell did Miranda Tate get the inside track on the Wayne board?! I mean, has she been meeting with him?! Has she been sleeping with him?!
    Philip Stryver: Not that we know of.
    John Daggett: Ah, clearly you don't know much of anything, do you?! Where is Bane?!
    Philip Stryver: Well, we told him it was urgent.
    John Daggett: Oh, where is the masked-
    Bane: Speak of the Devil....and he shall appear. [Daggett whirls around to see Bane has instantly appeared]
    • This second time does not go so well for Daggett's neck.
  • In Justice League vs. Teen Titans, Atomic Skull tells Superman that when last they fought, he sensed Superman holding back, being a good guy and all. He states that now, Superman doesn't have to play nice, because Skull has gotten "a lot, lot stronger." Unfortunately for Atomic Skull, Superman's currently possessed by Trigon's minions, and has no intention of holding back or playing nice. Superman demolishes Skull in twelve seconds flat, then nearly beats him to death before Batman and Wonder Woman intervene.
  • In Superman vs. the Elite, the titular team is a group of anti-heroes who try to convince Superman that his Thou Shall Not Kill policy is hopelessly outdated in the modern world. After a series of confrontations, Superman shows them how terrifying he would be if he gave up his morals.
  • Wonder Woman 1984: A godly artifact called "the Dreamstone" works exactly like this, and is explicitly compared to the Monkey's Paw. It's the central MacGuffin of the movie and drives much of the plot:
    • Diana wishes for the return of her dead lover, Steve Trevor. Steve does return, by way of his "soul" inhabiting the body of an unwitting man, but his presence causes Diana's powers to falter and fail.
    • Barbara Ann Minerva, who is bookish and lacking in self-esteem, wishes to be like her new friend Diana — unaware that Diana is a superpowered demigod. As Barbara grows into her new powers, she becomes angry, selfish and vengeful, and loses the kind, personable qualities that led Diana to befriend her in the first place.
    • Maxwell Lord, who desires to save his failing business, prove himself to his son and never be called a "loser" again, wishes to become the Dreamstone. It allows him to grant the wishes of others and take something from them in return, from oil rights to personal fortunes to all the power and prestige of the United States Presidency. It causes a Class 1 Apocalypse, teetering on the brink of a Class 2, as society buckles under the weight of so many selfish wishes being granted.

    Live-Action TV 

Live-Action TV

  • Throughout the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Legion of Doom", Malcom Merlyn and Damien Dhark are pissed because Eobard Thawne isn't treating them as equals and is withholding information from them, so they trap him in a vault with them until he spills the beans, having deduced that he can't stay in one place for too long or something will come for him. Then they all hear The Black Flash screech as it approaches. Thawne immediately notes that Merlyn and Dhark are about to get what they wanted: They're all going to be equally dead.
    • In "Fellowship of the Spear", Mick is talked into betraying the Legends to the Legion, partly because he's promised a world where he and Snart can go back to being the carefree criminals they used to be before their Character Development kicked in. However, the following episode, "Doomworld", shows that in the rewritten reality, Snart owns all the banks the pair are stealing from, and has a reputation as a harmless eccentric who likes to pretend to be a bank robber, so the police always let the two of them walk away without a fight. And while Snart himself loves this, it denies Mick the thrill of true theft, taking all the fun out of the situation.
  • In the third season of Lucifer (2016), Cain, the first murderer, spends much of the season looking for a way to finally die. It finally becomes possible, and he is now desperate to stay alive.
  • Smallville:

    Western Animation 

Western Animation

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top