Tempting Fate / Comic Strips

Would you believe Jon doesn't learn to not tempt fate?

Jon: Nothing bad has happened today! [Beat Panel as Garfield turns to look offscreen] I probably shouldn't have said that.
Garfield: Here come the locusts.

— Garfield

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• Calvin and Hobbes:
  • One segment has Calvin try and snowball Susie in the back, only to miss with every single one. After the barrage ends, Susie turns around to laugh at Calvin's throwing ability... and THAT'S when Calvin's aim finally pays off.
  • In another strip, Calvin doesn't feel well in the middle of the night:
    Calvin's Mom: Calvin probably just ate too much dessert. If he's going to get me up at this hour, he'd better really be sick.
    [Offpanel, we see a massive "BAAARRFF" as she reacts in horror]
    Calvin's Mom: [Shouting to the heavens] I DIDN'T MEAN IT!
• FoxTrot does it on multiple occasions:
  • In one arc, Jason accidentally makes Eileen Jacobson fall in love with him thanks to a poem he wrote for his mom. Then this happens:
    Jason: Could anything be worse?! Could this situation possibly be any more dire?!
    Huge crowd of students: JASON AND EILEE-EEN, SITTIN' IN A TREE... KAY-EYE-ESS-ESS-EYE-EN-GEE!
    Jason: Boy, that question sure got answered in a hurry.
    Eileen: I hope you don't mind, but I told a few of my friends.
  • One week of strips revolves around Paige getting a surly Tamagotchi knock-off called a Tamagrouchy. Near the week's end, she sends it to Jason, who thinks he can reprogram it.
    Paige: I figure it can't get any more annoying.
    (cut to upstairs)
    Tamagrouchy: (Beep) Feed me and give Jason $10.
    Paige: I take that back, Peter.
  • Jason and Paige try the so-called "super gum" invented by Marcus' uncle. With all the upsides, Paige has to ask, "Does this gum even have a downside?" while they're each blowing a monstrous bubble. They spend the next three strips stuck to each other.
• Garfield likes to play with this trope. If someone says things can't get worse, they will (usually with Garfield warning not to say it). However, if a character admits things could get worse, they get worse.
  • The October 25, 1981 strip had Garfield invoke the old "sticks and stones" saying, only to then get hit by a dictionary, disproving the "words can never hurt me" part of the mantra.
  • In the strip from October, 13, 1984, at the end of a storyline where Jon and Garfield go on a picnic, only for it to be plagued with disasters, Jon, despite Garfield trying to stop him, asks how else things could go wrong. Cue the rain.
  • At the beach, Jon tried to get the attention of a girl by screaming "Shark!". He was trampled by everyone who ran away out of fear, was slapped by the girl and, when he said things couldn't get worse, a shark appeared.
  • Jon sees a fly in his coffee cup in this strip. After the fly leaves, Jon asks "What could be more disgusting than that?!" Cue a swarm of flies setting up on and around his cup and treating it like their own beach resort.
  • In December, 15, 2011, Garfield told a spider that was under a mistletoe to forget it and that he'd rather kiss a dog. Odie then showed up.
  • In the February, 16, 2014 strip, after being snowed in by a blizzard, having the cable go out, and running out of hot chocolate, Jon wonders what else can happen. Cue the house blacking out, much to Garfield's dismay.
    Garfield: You said it.
  • Exaggerated in this strip.
  • Garfield wonders what the new year will bring in the December 31, 2020 strip. Cue Jon telling Garfield that he just found a great new tofu recipe.
    Garfield: Bring back the old year!
  • Jon considers the world a dangerous place and prefers the safety of his own home.
    Garfield: 3... 2... 1...
    [crash]
    Jon: Oww!
  • In the August 21, 2021 strip, Garfield boasts to the grumpy, chained guard dog that nothing can wipe the smile off his face.
    Dog: I know what's really in cat food.
    Garfield: [in a panicked expression] Don't tell me!
  • The September 26, 2021 strip combines with trope with Exact Words. Garfield goes outside, sees a leaf from a tree turning orange, points at said leaf, and saying in a commanding tone: "I am not ready for autumn yet. Do not fall off that tree!" Cue all other leaves from that tree falling on top of him.
  • In the October 10, 2021 strip, Jon tries to lure Garfield into consuming a pill hidden in a treat, so Garfield takes the treat on the plate Jon is not promoting to him, realizing too late that he fell for Jon's trick.
    Garfield: [takes the treat on the plate and swallows it] I believe I'll have this one instead. Heh, heh, heh.
    Jon: [with a sly grin] Heh, heh, heh.
    Garfield: I think I've just been had.
  • Nermal asks Garfield in the November 19, 2021 strip what he would do if he could do anything in the world. The strip ends with Garfield throwing Nermal out — through the door (with Impact Silhouette on said door, to boot). Nermal addressing him as "chubs" doesn't endear himself to Garfield, if anything.
    Garfield: He walked right into that one.
  • In the December 26, 2021 strip, Liz pokes fun at the matching Homemade Sweater from Hell that Jon, Garfield, and Odie receive from Jon's mother. She no longer finds it funny once Jon hands her the matching sweater his mother made for her.
  • The February 28, 2022 strip has Jon claiming he can make Garfield smile, while Garfield dismisses him because it's Monday. Jon succeeds.
    Jon: I bet I can make you smile.
    Garfield: Nothing about a Monday can make me smile.
    Jon: Tomorrow is Taco Tuesday.
    Garfield: [with a toothy smile] Curse you, Jon Arbuckle!
  • Upon weighing himself in the April 14, 2022 strip, Garfield attempts to bribe the talking scale into lying about the result for him, but the scale refuses. Garfield promptly proves Every Man Has His Price by naming his bribe of choice, which gets the scale to oblige.
    Garfield: If you give me a good number, I'll make it worth your while.
    Scale: You can't bribe me!
    Garfield: Two words: unlimited batteries.
    Scale: Hellooooo, SKINNY!
  • In the August 2, 2022 strip Jon says nothing bad has happened that day, only to regret his words a moment later when he realized he just tempted fate and soemthing bad is bound to happen soon.
    Jon: Nothing bad has happened today.
    (Beat)
    Jon: I probably shouldn't have said that.
    Garfield: [pointing to outside the screen] Here come the locusts.
  • In the December 20, 2022 strip, a mouse attempts to get a kiss Under the Mistletoe from Garfield. Garfield refuses at first, but the mouse gets him to change his mind by reminding him it's Christmastime. The last panel shows Garfield deeply regretting his decision.
    Jon: My mouthwash is all gone!
    Garfield: (with a grossed-out expression) And it still wasn't enough.
  • Garfield's moment of appreciating peace and quiet ("I love the starry nights... so peaceful... so serene") in the April 16, 2023 strip is disrupted once Jon and Odie turn up, with Odie barking and Jon shouting for Odie to shut up and then screaming in reaction to be a bee.
    Garfield: [over the phone] Hello, Snoopy? Your strip needs a cat. Think about it.
  • In the April 23, 2023 strip, Jon notes that Garfield is never seen walking on all fours nowadays and asks him whether he has actually forgotten how to do so, and so Garfield decides to prove Jon wrong by demonstrating... only to end up landing face-first on the surface with a THUD.
    Jon: A little rusty, Garfield?
    Garfield: You didn't see that.
  • Garfield boasts of having the balance of a cat while standing on one foot up on a tree branch in the May 4, 2023 strip... right before losing balance and falling off it, landing on his face onto the ground.
  • Garfield's claim of fearlessness gets shattered quickly in the August 24, 2023 strip.
    Garfield: I'm not afraid of anything.
    Jon: [off-screen] Garfield, they're ready!
    Garfield: [in hiding] Except broccoli smoothies.
  • In the October 10, 2023 strip, Garfield has a good feeling about the day.
    Jon: [off-screen] The ice cream truck and the pizza delivery van broke down! (Garfield is shocked) Right in front of our house! (Garfield gives a thumbs-up)
  • Garfield tells the spirit haunting him in the October 30, 2023 strip that the spirit in question isn't scary. Then the spirit lists off things that make Garfield change his tune.
    Spirit: I am the spirit of Mondays past. I came from 1978.
    Garfield: Not scary.
    [beat]
    Spirit: Mood rings? Leisure suits? Disco? Man perms? Laser discs?
    Garfield: Okay, that's scary.
• Peanuts has a few where the universe often takes offense to a character's Badass Boast:
  • In one arc, Linus gets a new hobby, drawing on air. Simply put, he traces things on air with his finger, and being a Mr. Imagination, perceives it as art, one that costs no money and needs no materials. However, he enjoys it a little too much, saying "nothing can interrupt your work! Nothing, nothing!" And then it starts to rain.
  • In another arc, Linus' hobby is building snowmen; he builds lots and lots of snowmen. However, he gets a little Drunk with Power, and starts talking to them like a general leading an army. "I am your leader!" he shouts to his "troops". "Stand behind me and you will be invincible! Nothing can stop us, nothing, nothing, NOTHING!" And then the sun comes out and melts them all.
• U.S. Acres:
  • In the November 3, 1987 strip, Orson said even Lanolin couldn't ruin that day. She shouted "I just washed my car!" and it rained.
  • In the March 24, 1989 strip, Booker blows on a dandelion seed head, causing the seeds to disperse and fly away. The flower next to it laughs at the seed head, only to be plucked by Orson immediately afterwards.
  • Booker asks Orson to make a story scary in the March 15, 1987 strip. Orson being Mr. Imagination, it doesn't take long for Booker to change his mind.
  • Booker encourages Wade to jump into a pool in the August 30, 1987 strip, telling Wade that his inner tube will keep him afloat. Once Wade jumps in, he slips right out of his inner tube and sinks, though he manages to save himself before drowning by drinking the pool water.
  • In the April 9, 1986 strip, Orson finds a book of jokes and claims that he's in the mood for a good laugh. Upon opening the book, he finds himself the target of a joke.
  • In the November 13, 1986 strip, Orson warns Roy not to eat corn so close to the stove, but Roy dismisses him. It turns out to be popcorn, which promptly pops inside Roy's body, much to his discomfort.
    Orson: I know it's popcorn.
    Roy: Why didn't you warn me?!
  • In the June 24, 1987 strip, Booker decides to do a cannon ball dive with a jump onto the springboard. It bounces him off in the direction from whence he came.
    Sheldon: Whoops, backfired.
  • Orson, after donning his "Power Pig" costume, declares himself leaping over barns in the August 22, 1987 strip. He ends up slamming into a wall of a barn.
  • In the October 17, 1988 strip, Booker succeeds on getting onto a hammock. He claims "Victory!", only for the hammock to flip him off it.
  • In the November 15, 1988 strip, Bo is excited to see the sunset, but Lanolin is not enthused, claiming sunrise and sunset always happen the same way. Cue the ensuing sunset taking place in a very unconventional way (i.e. turning out to be a flat disk and falling over after hitting the ground), which piques Lanolin's interest.
    Bo: [yawns] Coming to bed, Lanolin?
    Lanolin: Not tonight, Bo. This should be one interesting sunrise.
  • Lanolin tells Roy to stop smirking in the June 14, 1988 strip, or else she'd slap it to the moon. Roy, however, dismisses her. Bad move — the strip ends with Roy's mouth landing on the moon.
  • Possibly played with in the April 4, 1986 strip, in which Orson wonders where his food is, but a corn on a cob is thrown and hits him on the head before he even finishes the question.
  • When Booker places a gigantic megaphone at Roy in the January 1, 1989 strip and claims "Prepare to Die, rooster!", Roy dismissively mocks him with "What are you going to do, cheer me to death?". Booker promptly throws a small snowball into the megaphone... which becomes big enough to cover most of Roy's body when it gets out of said megaphone.
  • When Wade hears the sound of sleigh bells in the December 19, 1988 strip, he gets inside a chimney and looks upwards for Santa Claus. The strip ends with a large bag full of toys falling on top of him.
• In one Zits strip, Pierce runs off a list of his many, many body piercings, including an impressive twelve earrings on each ear.
  Pierce: I defy anyone to find a way to attach more metal to my head.
  [cut to Pierce at an orthodontist appointment]
  Mr. Duncan: Pierce, you need braces.

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