Basic Trope: A character does something that has unintended negative consequences.
- Straight: Bob's well-intentioned actions cause a lot of unintended problems.
- Exaggerated:
- Millions of people die as a result of Bob's actions.
- It causes an apocalypse.
- Downplayed: Bob's plan has success, but it has some negative consequences he did not expect.
- Subverted: It seems that there will be problems at first, but they are easily prevented.
- Defied: Bob does a lot of planning and research precisely to prevent this kind of a situation.
- Exploited: Emperor Evulz tries to provoke Bob to act before he thinks it through, so this happens.
- Parodied: Everything, no matter how trivial, ends up like this for Bob.
- Implied: We don't hear Bob actually saying that, but we do see Jim doing a colossal Face Palm while they are surrounded by a warehouse full of Noodle Implements.
- Played For Laughs:
- This is the only defense Bob can give to an Indy Ploy allegedly Crazy Enough to Work that failed utterly.
- Bob saying this is an excuse so lame that the brains of everybody who heard it shut down.
- Bob is a Cloud Cuckoolander and his "good ideas" are absurdly nonsensical ("Why did you strap flippers to the feet of the giraffes?" "For what it's worth, I am currently regretting my decision.")
- Played for Drama:
- Bob feels guilty as a result.
- Bob is afraid to act because of this possibility.
- When this is all the explanation Bob can give in his defense, Jim (who was collateral damage to the alleged "good idea" and requested said explanation while foaming at the mouth), decides it's a "good idea" to try to kill Bob.
- Played For Horror: The "idea that seemed good at the time" was making a Deal with the Devil, and now he has come to collect.
Back to It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time.
