"If you see God, you tell him this: leave me the hell alone!"
— Guts, Berserk
If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.
The universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it??
— Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Infeno blow up, Wazzpinator must salvage! Wazzpinator blow up, nobody salvage! Why univerze hate Wazzpinator?
— Waspinator, Beast Wars, "Deep Metal"
"I don't know if I believe in God, but I think he must hate me."
— Carl, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, "Hand Banana"
Follow the rainbow, my lucky omen
There ain't no pot of gold, just copper tokens
I found the key to life, the lock was broken
All my accomplishments, are best left unspoken
I dug a hole so deep
I'm gonna drown in my mistakes
Can't even sell my soul
'Cause it ain't worth shit to take
There ain't no pot of gold, just copper tokens
I found the key to life, the lock was broken
All my accomplishments, are best left unspoken
I dug a hole so deep
I'm gonna drown in my mistakes
Can't even sell my soul
'Cause it ain't worth shit to take
It was never meant to be! Fate has conspired against us!
— Edd/Double D, Ed, Edd n Eddy, "Don't Rain on my Ed"
As private parts to the gods are we, they play with us for their sport!
— Melchett paraphrasing a line from King Lear, Blackadder
The world had suddenly decided to take a joyride on the road of irony and not to take me with it.
My brief flash of relief and confidence melted away. Good thing it did, too. I'm sure the world would come to an end if I were allowed to feel a sense of relief and well being for any length of time.
— Harry Dresden, The Dresden Files
When you're rife with devastation
There's a simple explanation,
You're a toymaker's creation,
Trapped inside a crystal ball.
There's a simple explanation,
You're a toymaker's creation,
Trapped inside a crystal ball.
— Pinkie Pie, Friendship is Witchcraft
I AM WHAT THE GODS HAVE MADE ME!
— Kratos, God of War II
Why does the universe keep doing these insanely bewildering things to me?
— Arthur Dent, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978)
Why should I die, oh, why should I die?
Can You show me NOW, that I will not be killed in vain?
Show me, just a little, of your omnipresent reign!
Show me there's a reason for you wanting me to die!
You're far too keen on where and how, but not so hot on WHY!
Can You show me NOW, that I will not be killed in vain?
Show me, just a little, of your omnipresent reign!
Show me there's a reason for you wanting me to die!
You're far too keen on where and how, but not so hot on WHY!
— Jesus, Jesus Christ Superstar
God used me as a hammer, boys
To beat His weary drum today
To beat His weary drum today
— Tom Waits, "Hoist That Rag", Real Gone
We're all fate's bitch. You might as well go ahead and bend over for destiny now.
— Jaye Tyler, Wonderfalls
Damn it! You know what? I'm sick of this crap. I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's Butt-Monkey!
— Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Sometimes I feel that God doesn't want me to be happy.
— Edith Crawley, Downton Abbey
Okay. Okay, universe, think you're pretty tough?
— Sam Greenfield, Luck (2022)
"This is Moleman in the Morning, good Moleman to you. Today, part four of our series on the agonizing pain in which I live every daaaay."
— Hans Moleman, The Simpsons, "Round Springfield"
I was the happiest guy in the world, but fate likes to play a little game called "Up Yours, Moe".
— Moe Szyslak, The Simpsons, "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story"
The cogs that operate in the background take to grinding you up instead. Funds, treasured belongings, friendships, love, they are all harder to find and easier to lose. Enemies, danger, chaos, and disruption find you more readily. In looser terms, all Others, spirits and practitioners get the sense, innate or otherwise, that they can and should work against your interests. Things start to fall apart, and the pieces fall down in the least convenient arrangements for you. The universe conspires against you.
— Mann, Lewis, and Levinn on the nature of karmic debt, Pact
The Doctor: Come out! Meddlesome interfering idiots! I know you're up there somewhere, so come on out and show yourselves! Messing about with my TARDIS. Dragging us a thousand parsecs off course.
Sarah: Oi, have you gone potty? Who are you shouting at?
The Doctor: Who do you think? The Time Lords. [...] There's something going on here, some dirty work here they won't touch with their lily-white hands. Well, I won't do it, you hear?!
Sarah: Oi, have you gone potty? Who are you shouting at?
The Doctor: Who do you think? The Time Lords. [...] There's something going on here, some dirty work here they won't touch with their lily-white hands. Well, I won't do it, you hear?!
“My plan had worked perfectly. If I'd been a bit more paranoid, I would've realized that there could only be one explanation for why things had started going so well for me. The universe wanted me to drop my guard. If you haven't noticed yet, it seems to have some kind of personal vendetta against me.”
— Harry Dresden, My Little Denarians
“And then the clouds opened up and God said 'I hate you Alfalfa'.”
— Alfalfa, The Little Rascals
“'He cannot kill me like this every time,' believes the Underworld Prince. 'He shall eventually have no more ideas.' But the Prince, as is often the case, is wrong.”
— The Narrator, Hades
The universe is against me,
and no one here defends me,
and everyone pretends we
haven’t seen it all before,
and it sends me
into this manic frenzy!
And yes, it still offends me!
The whole universe is against me!
and no one here defends me,
and everyone pretends we
haven’t seen it all before,
and it sends me
into this manic frenzy!
And yes, it still offends me!
The whole universe is against me!
"We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life."
— C-3PO, A New Hope
"Of course he gets his favorite. He always gets his favorite. And why? Because the universe unfairly loves Kirby more than me."
— Dawn Buckets, on her family preparing pancakes for breakfast, Kirby Buckets, "Get a Grip!"
“Like Unluckiness, but worse. When anything goes wrong for your party, it happens to you, first and worst. If something goes right, it misses you. Any time the GM feels like hosing you, he can, and you have no complaint coming, because you are Cursed. You can’t buy this off just by spending points — you must determine what has cursed you and deal with it, and then spend the points.”
— Cursed description, GURPS Basic Set
See? God hates me.
— Sypha Belnades, Castlevania (2017) in Season 2 Episode 5 "Last Spell"
"The Force does not want me dead. It doesn't want me happy, but it doesn't want me dead."
— Zayne Carrick, Knights of the Old Republic
"Yay! I get to be in this Volume! (Gets slashed by Ruby) Oh no... I forgot... my existence is to suffer..."
— Oscar, RWBY Thoughts
“I just keep losing. I mean some people just supposed to lose? For balance in the universe? I mean, like, are there just some people on Earth who supposed to be here just to make it easier for the winners? Like, really.”
—Earnest discussing this trope, Atlanta
"Sometimes I think there's a conspiracy against me. I mean, things like this just don't happen to all the other costumed clowns. I mean— when was the last time Clark Kent found Kryptonite in his phone booth?"
— Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man #120
