"I admit I went over to the Dark Side, but only to pick up a few things."
— Andrew, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"Funny, how some movies will seduce you into their stories while others remain at arm's length. Titanic was just as artificial and effects-driven as Hard Rain, and yet I was spellbound. Maybe it was because the people on the doomed ship had no choice: The Titanic was sinking, and that was that. In Hard Rain, there is a bad guy (Morgan Freeman) who has a choice. He wants to steal some money, but all during the film I kept wondering why he didn't just give up and head for dry ground. How much of this ordeal was he foolish enough to put up with? Water, cold, rain, electrocutions, murders, shotguns, jet-ski attacks, drownings, betrayals, collisions, leaky boats, stupid and incompetent partners, and your fingertips shrivel up. Is it worth it?"
"Spike, I don't know what upsets me more; that you deliberately tried to set up Owlowiscious, or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work!"
"I don't know whether we should pound him or buy him an ice cream cone."
— Michelangelo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
Dread Emperors and Empresses broadly fell into two categories: the laughable and the terrifying. Thankfully for Calernia, the latter were few and far in between. For every Maleficent and Terribilis, there were ten Sinistras – whose notorious attempt to “steal Callow’s weather” had resulted in the devastation of half her realm instead. The point was that, most of the time, the Dread Empire was comically inept. They used undead plagues and flying fortresses, sentient tiger armies and invisible invasions. Those grand projects inevitably failed and most backfired spectacularly. Of the Empire’s seventy-odd attempts to conquer Callow only two had succeeded.
"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with The Heartless, but he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes."
— Sora, Kingdom Hearts II
"You know, for hardened criminals, they can be so cute!"
— WordGirl
Felony Carl: You know you're a rotten thief, right?
Dibs: Pretty sure you mean "awesome thief".
Felony Carl: It's not meant as a personal attack, just an observation.
Dibs: Pretty sure you mean "awesome thief".
Felony Carl: It's not meant as a personal attack, just an observation.
— Big Hero 6: The Series, "Big Roomates 2"
"No! Stop! Please! Just let me rob you! I've never robbed anybody in my life: please don't make this a bad experience for me!"
— The Spot (at first), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
"Don't worry, he's not dangerous. Even if he tries to be."
— Sans concerning Papyrus, Undertale
"Gilbert, 'reimagined'. Same bumbling model, now with more desperation!"
— Third enemy description of Gilbert, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky - Second Chapter
"Why can't I do it? Instead of lightning, it keeps exploding in my face, like everything always does."
— Zuko, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Moxie: They probably assumed the worst just because I'm a fox. Rude!!
Treat: That's odd.
Moxie: Huh? What is.
Treat: From what Mochi told me... And from what I've seen. You're the kind of person who likes those kinds of expectations.
Moxie: Oh yeah? What else did she say about me?
Treat: That you're not very good at being bad.
Moxie: Hah... yeah. I'm a failure alright. I can't do anything as a fox.
Treat: That's odd.
Moxie: Huh? What is.
Treat: From what Mochi told me... And from what I've seen. You're the kind of person who likes those kinds of expectations.
Moxie: Oh yeah? What else did she say about me?
Treat: That you're not very good at being bad.
Moxie: Hah... yeah. I'm a failure alright. I can't do anything as a fox.
