Tempting Fate

"Any attack made by the rebels would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained! This station is now the ultimate power in the universe!"

—Admiral Motti, Star Wars: A New Hope, on the "invulnerability" of the Death Star

Some things just shouldn't be said, even in jest. Taunting a monster or Bullying a Dragon is likely to end badly. Monologuing will invariably give The Hero the time he needs to defeat you. And then there's this trope.

Tempting Fate is when a character says something that dares the universe into making things miserable for them, and the universe takes them up on the challenge. Oftentimes, the character is commenting on how they've hit Rock Bottom and how things couldn't possibly get any worse — right before things do get worse. Conversely, they may talk about how things are absolutely perfect, only for their world to come crashing down five seconds later.

And sometimes tempting fate can get downright lethal. For example, that guy in every horror movie who tells his friends "I'll be right back" is most assuredly not going to be back. Or that guy in every war movie who shows that picture of his family to the others and expresses his hope to get through this and make it back home to them, which all but ensures that he will not make it. Or that veteran cop in every action movie who's just several days away from Retirement, and thus doomed to be gunned down in his final case. Finagle's Law can be a bitch.

The fate-tempting words may be followed up by a Genre Savvy friend saying "You Just Had to Say It!"

Compare Schmuck Bait. For the supertrope to this, see Trope Telegraphing. Contrast the Godzilla Threshold for where things really can't get any worse.

Subtropes

"Piece of cake!" — It's about to be anything but.
"I'll be right back." — No, you won't (unless you're an Implacable Man or The Determinator, and sometimes not even then).
"At least it isn't raining." — Cue the Rain.
"If We Get Through This..." — At least one of you won't.
"It'll happen when pigs fly." — Cue the Flying Pigs.
"Nothing Can Save Us Now!" — Cue the Big Damn Heroes/Villains.
"No One Could Survive That." — Could and did.
"Nothing Can Stop Us Now!" — Can and will.
"Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here." — Give it a minute.
"It Will Never Catch On." — It will.
- "This Is Going to Be Huge." -- Played with. It will not normally, unless someone said the above.
"It couldn't be nicer here." — It's a Doomed Hometown/Cue Sugar Apocalypse.
"It's perfectly safe here/You'll be safe with us!" — It's an Unsafe Haven.
"It's Probably Nothing."—No, it's not.
"It's Quiet... Too Quiet." — It's about to get a whole lot louder.
"Things couldn't possibly get any worse." — It Gets Worse.
"Things can get worse because X could always happen!" — Speak of the Devil.
"Let's not tempt fate" - Fate is already tempted.
"Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter!" — Happy to oblige! (SMITE!)
"What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" — Exactly what you don't want going wrong.
"Oh, come on, what are the chances of that happening? There's, like, a one in a million chance..."—Bet on it happening.
- "0.0000001%? SOUNDS LIKE A HUNDRED TO ME!!!"
"What Does This Button Do?" — Screws up everything, that's what! Don't Touch It, You Idiot!!
"Who Would Be Stupid Enough...? to fall for that Schmuck Bait?" — Someone is (singular) or they are (plural). Bonus points if the speaker fell for it.
"We know what we're getting into." — No, you don't.
"We trained for this." — Not enough training and/or on the receiving end of a Curb Stomp Battle.
- None of your training prepared you for this.
"You and What Army?" — That army. And don't get me started on the Army of the Dead or a Badass Army on a Zerg Rush or an One-Man Army/Person of Mass Destruction.
"May God strike me down if I'm lying/wrong!" — Cue the Bolt of Divine Retribution.
"Must be my lucky day." — NOT! You will die in three...two...
"Everything's going to be all right now!" - Not anymore
"I am not going to do what you just said!" — Cue Gilligan Cut.
"You missed!" — I wasn't aiming at you! Alternatively, the boomerang they just threw is about to pull a 180 and hit you in the back of the head.
This Cannot Be! — It is, often followed immediately by a bad attack of Critical Existence Failure.
"I'll endanger your friends!" — I don't like them, either. (Alternately, cue Mama Bear/Papa Wolf/Big Brother Instinct reaction.)
"I Have Your Wife!" - You Can Keep Her. Alternatively, cue Unstoppable Rage-fueled Roaring Rampage of Rescue.
"S/he looks like a total wimp!" — S/he's a Killer Rabbit, a Badass Adorable or a Cute Bruiser. Or all three. And s/he is right behind you.
"What's the worst that can happen?" — You're about to find out. The hard way.
"Let a real expert handle this." — Famous last words of The World's Expert on Getting Killed.
"You Wouldn't Shoot Me!" — *BOOM!* Headshot! Alternatively, they don't have to; there are plenty of methods they would use.
"I'm going to retire after completing One Last Job."—Don't expect to survive the job.
"I AM INVINCIBLE!" — Right up until you said that, maybe.
"Noooo!! The ICARUS XCII was supposed to fly FOREVEEEEER!!!!"—With that name, really?? What Did You Expect When You Named It?, Dummy?
- Alternatively, naming your ship "Titanic" will send it to a watery grave, usually on its maiden voyage.
- Alternatively, naming your computer "Skynet" will lead it to rebel against humanity and Take Over the World—and that goes double for supercomputers named Skynet.
"This time I cannot miss!"—Not only will you miss, you'll probably be killed by your own weapon.
"We'll have this war won in time for Christmas."—It's going to take a lot longer than you planned, if you actually win at all.
"With these Death Traps and Elite Mooks in my lair, it is full-proof. The Heroes can never reach me! Muahahahahahaha!"—Cue Dungeon Bypass.
"...wouldn't ask him/her for help if he/she was the last person on Earth/alive!"—He or she will be the last person alive.
"That lot? Harmless bunch of cranks."—No, they're the next group of baddies you'll have to deal with.
"With the safety system fully engaged, the weapon couldn't possibly be fired accidentally."—The fireworks will start when the first person presses the little switch.
"Was that supposed to hurt, little man?!" -- Pray you're right.
"The enemy is retreating!"—They're actually circling around to flank you. (Alternately, they're getting out of the way before something worse shows up.) Or leading you back into a massive ambush. Take your pick; it's all ending badly.
"Over my dead body!" / "You'll have it when you pry it from my cold, dead, lifeless fingers!" / "You'll have to kill me first!"—They all can be arranged.
"Now its power is mine!!!"—Seconds later, the villain is killed by the Artifact of Doom
"There is no such thing as X!"—Actually, there is such a thing as X. And it's right behind you, about to eat you.
"I missed you so much! Oh, now that we're together, we'll never be parted again!"—Yeah, sure. See how well that works out. And when you inevitably get kidnapped or something, don't say we didn't warn you.
"But that's just a legend, right?"—No, it isn't. It is very real. Oh, and it's right behind you, about to eat you.
"Guess I Showed Them!"—Actually, the thing standing right behind you showed them.
"Everything is going as planned."—Cue the Spanner in the Works and your plans are going right down the drain.
- Alternately, they are going as planned... just not the way you planned.
- Alternately, they are going as planned... better, even... unfortunately, that is not a good thing.
  - Especially if what you wanted when making the earlier plan contradicts what you want now.
"At least X still likes me." -- Even X doesn't like him anymore.
"Can this get any worse..." -- It's about to go From Bad to Worse.
"I Wished You Were Dead" or another variant. -- Be Careful What You Wish For because when it happens it will be your biggest regret.
"You'll never get away with this!" -Rarely a straight example when said to a villain, but should the villain respond with, "I already have" it's a sure bet he has - and will - not.

Examples of Tempting Fate are listed on these subpages:

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