This Is Gonna Suck

"And you know what Hell is, folks...it's Andy Gibb, singing 'Shadow Dancing' for eons and eons, and you have to wear orange plaid bell bottoms, and sit next to the Bay City Rollers--'How you guys doing?' 'This is gonna SUCK!'"
—Denis Leary, No Cure for Cancer

A variation of Oh Crap and Casual Danger Dialog. Sometimes leads into a Bolivian Army Ending. The Deadpan Snarker's equivalent of the Obi-Wan Moment. This trope refers to situations when the character realizes he's screwed, but groans instead of gasping. Inevitably followed with the lucky character just lowering their head and bulling through the punishment (or bending over and taking it, if they're really screwed). If they come out on top, the result is nearly always a Crowning Moment of Awesome, but this trope specifically refers to the "Oh, great" reaction before the pain begins. Operates on the same principle as Understatement. Bystanders may offer commentary. If they make it through, they may shout "I'm Okay!" at the end, even if they're obviously not.

Not to be confused with one's opinion on a movie. And not that, either.

Examples of This Is Gonna Suck include:

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  • An M&M commercial had Red demonstrating a new variety or feature by putting his partner Yellow inside a blender. Right before he switches the blender on, Yellow mutters in a low, resigned voice, "This is gonna hurt, isn't it, Red?"
    • One for pretzel M&Ms has Orange complaining about having a large pretzel put inside him. Cue said pretzel appearing on screen saying, "I'm not too thrilled about this, either." The commercial ends with the pretzel cracking his knuckles and saying, "All right, let's get this over with."


Anime & Manga

Sidoh: So I guess I have to go to... the human world.
Armonia Justin: Yep, that's right. Have fun.
Sidoh: ...Well that sucks.

  • From the Dark Tournament semifinals in Yu Yu Hakusho, Bui from Team Toguro is fighting Kirenja. Kirenja unsheathes a BFS, and makes a comment about Bui deserving an extra-large sized defeat. Cue Bui summoning an axe into his hand, one so large and heavy that it makes Bui's feet crater the arena.

Kirenja: Oh, damn.

    • Yusuke actually says "This is gonna suck." in episode 35 of the dub.
  • In the fourth episode of Mnemosyne, Rin grapples Android Ruon and throws herself out of a flying airplane. What she probably didn't count on is that they are flying straight into the plane's turbine. But her reaction? "This may be too much even for me..."
  • Hellsing Jan Valentine, when he bursts in on the Round Table conference to find Integra and the other members calmly facing him with anti-vampire weaponry.

Integra: You made it. Congratulations.
Jan: ...oh, fuck me. [gets utterly ventilated]

Sadachiyo: (evil grin) "We're going to have SUCH a good time."
Fujiko: (deadpan) "I'll bet."

  • Rally utters this when pinned down by gunfire on a warehouse catwalk in the first ep of Gunsmith Cats:

Rally: This sucks.

  • In the English dub of Digimon Tamers, Impmon tries to take on a Deva all by himself, and of course gets his ass handed to him. The Deva throws him away, and Impmon shouts "THIS IS GONNA HUUUUUURT!" just before hitting the pavement.
  • That same line is used in the 4Kids dub of One Piece during Luffy's second fight with Crocodile...by Crocodile, right before Luffy sends him flying into a smallish stone building and knocking it down.
  • Also used in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX during Jaden and Aster's duel with Serena and her clone, right before an attack hits them.
  • Often said in some form or another by Kyon in the Haruhi Suzumiya series. He can reliably begin any given story wondering when Haruhi will burst into the clubroom with some new insane scheme that he will undeniably have to suffer through just to keep her happy.
  • In Bleach, Ulquiorra treats losing everything below his waist pretty well, considering he knows that he's dying. He even makes note of it in his head and isn't even remotely panicked, like it's the ending of just another fight and everyone's just scratched. He even states flat-out that he's dying when he turns to ash and it seems like he's just stating a regular order.
  • Often done briefly in Clannad, where Tomoya and Sunohara will get a second to realize their imminent demise after provoking Kyou in some fashion. See the fake-love-letter prank from After Story episode 23, the reaction to Kyou as a magical girl in the clubroom, and brief facial expressions shown when they realize she's coming at them with a flying kick or throwing a dictionary at them.


Comic Books

Incredible Hulk: "Hulk know Kung Fu."

Kyle: This is going to hurt.
[Smashes through a bus]
Kyle: Yup.

  • Empowered, just after slipping from over ten stories:

Emp: This sucks. *WHUDD*

  • Invoked by The Captain in Nextwave, just before punching though a nuclear reactor.

The Captain: This is going to sting.

  • In Power Girl #5, PG actually says "Oh Crap", but her face is totally expressing this line instead.
  • Phoney Bone in Bone when he has to go work at the tavern for Lucius, especially after the disastrous Cow Race. Phoney also bets Lucius that he can run the bar better than Lucius, and if he wins, he gets relieved of his debt. If, however, he turns out to be wrong, he has to work for Lucius for the rest of his life. Realizing almost immediately that this was a not-too-stellar idea (the townsfolk hate him, and won't patronize the bar at all while he's in charge), his reaction is "... groan I'm dead."
    • Also when he finds out Grandma Ben is Queen of the Valley - "My life is gonna suck, isn't it?"
  • An issue of Justice League of America has the league facing down a new alien menace. Batman has a plan, but it is rather dangerous for The Flash (it involves him basically riding a missile). When Flash shows up, Batman starts to explain the plan, while putting a companionable hand on Flash's arm. "He's touching me. Batman is touching me...I'm gonna die, aren't I?"
  • Basile in Leonard Le Genie can often see the pain coming in advance. For example, when the aeroplane he is testing fails, he yells something like "I'm gonna break every bone in my bodyyyyyyyyyyy!!!" as he crashes down.
  • In Dream of a Lifetime, Donald Duck entered Scrooge's dreams and, through them, reviewed several aspects of Scrooge's life. When he found himself at a ship, he was relieved until he realized it was the Titanic. "Oh, brother" really fits the problem.
  • Nodwick. His job description is basically 'professional Chew Toy', and he tends to react to incoming and unavoidable pain like this. Especially of note is the time he ended up plunging out of a gradual Anti-Magic field, while wearing a collection of magical artifacts who were only being kept stable by said Anti-Magic field. His only thoughts prior to being utterly atomized was "this might sting a little..."
  • It Got Worse so frequently in Negation that "BOHICA" (Bend Over, Here It Comes Again) used in this sense became Obregon Kaine's Catch Phrase.
  • In issue 40 of The Simpsons, Krusty the Klown is taping a show at the family's house. A stick of dynamite is lobbed through a window by Fat Tony's goons, and Homer tries to solve the problem by putting a vase over the stick and sitting on it. Krusty just shuts his eyes and plugs his ears, thinking, "Oh, this won't be pretty. But I gotta admit, it's already better than that sketch was ever gonna be."


Films

  • The live action movie remake of George of the Jungle features George—who incidentally thinks that hitting the tree at the end of the swing is proper vine-swinging technique—attempting to psych himself up for the epic distance he has to travel at the film's climax. "This biggest swing in jungle history. Will hurt very much... But George have to do it." The swing is so long that he builds up enough velocity to actually knock a George-shaped section of bark off the other side of the tree. Ow.

George: ...George don't feel so good.

  • The Incredibles: Prior to catching a train—literally—in the first section of the movie, Mr. Incredible winces appropriately. And near the end of the same movie, Syndrome also gets a moment of this right before the convertible Mr. Incredible himself tosses at him knocks him into the Turbine Blender of his Manta plane.
  • In Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan is fighting Jango and dropkicks him off the platform... only to realize that he is actually tied to the guy. "Oh, not good!"

Han: I think we're in trouble.
(C-3PO explains why)
Han: We're in trouble!

    • Return of the Jedi contains an extended This Is Gonna Suck sequence when Luke and Han are being ferried out to the Sarlacc pit for execution:

Han: Together again.
Luke: Wouldn't miss it.
Han: How are we doing?
Luke: Same as always.
Han: That bad, huh?

  • Die Hard: as John McClane always improvises, and usually with something that'll get him killed if it fails, he's always spurring this kind of phrase.
    • "Oh, John, what the fuck are you doing?" (in the first film, just before he jumps off the roof with nothing but a fire hose tied around his waist to hold him up)
    • "Ah John, what the fuck are you doing out on the wing of this plane?" (second, trying to stop a plane from taking off)
    • "This is a bad idea!" (third, about to jump on a subway train from the sidewalk; fourth, about to throw a car into a helicopter)
  • The Lord of the Rings:

"They have a cave troll."

    • Theoden's expression immediately before being bowled over by the Witch King screams this trope.
    • As does Gandalf's when a large number of trolls burst through one of the gates in Gondor in The Return of the King. Made particularly amusing by the fact that he'd just been giving the Gondorian soldiers a pep talk to the effect of "Whatever comes through that door, we'll take it down!"
  • Batty in Fern Gully gets one of these when Hexxus tries to crush him and Zack with falling debris.
  • Armageddon had Bruce Willis lamenting his decision to stay behind on the asteroid to manually throw the switch on the bomb that will split the asteroid in two, saying "This was a smart idea".
    • Armageddon has one of these every five minutes, and then doubles up after they actually get into space.
  • Ghostbusters: "I like this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it!"
  • Baby's Day Out: "Ha-ha, ha-ha... the kid's in the gorilla cage."
  • Batman Begins has one of these for Ra's al Ghul when he realizes that Batman isn't going to save him. His reaction has this expression written all over it.
  • If Hellboy says "Oh, crap", it's one of these moments.
    • A better example might be during the climax of the first movie, in which Hellboy is about to be swallowed by the monster he's been fighting, right after setting his grenade belt to blow: "Oh, this is gonna hurt."
      • What makes Hellboy the master of this is that he pulls one off AFTER he beats the monster: "I'm gonna be sore in the morning..."
  • In Days of Thunder, during one race where Cole is heading in for a pit stop, he has to swerve to avoid another car that suddenly pulls out in front of him. This causes him to spin out and, upon realizing he's about to hit the pit wall head-on at what is, by pit stop standards, a fairly high speed, Cole says, "Uh-oh, this is gonna hurt."
  • In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Epps has called for air support during a heavy firefight.

Epps: [to Lennox] "I hope these F-16s got good aim."
Lennox: "Yeah, why is that?"
Epps: "I told them to hit the orange smoke."
[orange smoke drifts into the shot, surrounding them]
Lennox: "You mean that orange smoke?"
Epps: "It wasn't my best toss, okay?"
Beat as both characters are silent, and the page title line can practically be seen going through both their minds.

    • Epps gets another one earlier, when he sees the various Decepticons coming at their group of soldiers and Autobots:

"We're 'bout to get our asses kicked!"

    • This from Lennox in the first film during the Mission City battle:

[Hears helicopter and turns around in time to see Blackout landing on top of a building]
Lennox: Oh, we're so dead.

Wash: Well, if she can't get me some extra flow from the engines to offset the burn-through, this landing is going to get pretty interesting.
Mal: Define "interesting."
Wash: [completely deadpan] "Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die"?
Mal: [pulls down intercom speaker] This is the Captain speaking. We're having a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some turbulence, and then... explode.
[Just after that on a different part of the ship]
Jayne: Are we gonna explode? I don't wanna explode.

    • Of course, that scene is mostly a joke about Star Trek: TOS, in which Spock would say that something was about to get 'interesting'. Then various other characters would 'define' it...
  • From Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Oh... not good."

    • Also, in the second film of the series, Jack Sparrow utters the word "bugger" at least three times. The first time is an Oh Crap moment; the second time, it's used when Jack is dangling from his leg by a rope attached to a bamboo pole stuck between two high clifftops- just before the pole gives way - and it's a This Is Gonna Suck moment.
  • Hannibal. After being handcuffed to Clarice Starling, Hannibal Lecter holds a hatchet above her wrist (after she refuses to give him the key) and says, "You know, this is really going to hurt." He then cuts off his own hand. (Averted in the book.)
  • In National Lampoon's Animal House, when the gang enters the black night club, and everyone inside is instantly silent (including the band), Otter leans forward and says, calmly, "We are going to die."
  • Captain Nesmith of Galaxy Quest gets one of these after realizing that "Gorignac" was not the multi-eyed pig-like monster that he was managing to outsmart, but rather the 40 foot high rock monster that was forming behind him.

"Oh darn."

Rizzo the Rat: Oh, this is too scary. I don't think I wanna see any more!
Gonzo: When you're right, you're right. [turning to face the audience] You're on your own, folks. We'll meet you at the finale!

  • Friday the 13th (film) features one female protagonist being sucked out into space through a tiny jagged hole. She laments, just before losing her grip, "This sucks on so many levels!" Also doubles as a handy commentary of the film itself.
  • Notting Hill; Hugh Grant's character is climbing over a fence in a most inept manner; he exclaims "Ohh, this is going to be very unpleasant." He then bangs his shin and swears wholeheartedly.'
  • In Cannibal! The Musical, the juvenile character Humphrey uses the exact phrase before crossing the Green River.
  • In Toy Story 3, when Andy's toys are first sent to the daycare, they get in place on the floor for the toddlers to find them. Buzz notices, with a sense of trepidation, that the more veteran toys are scurrying to find a hiding place. The door bursts open, and Rex is thrown to the side. Cue Buzz quickly flipping his helmet up just before a kid snatches him up.
  • In Iron Man 2, when Tony and Rhodey/War Machine are enjoying their victory over the Hammer drones, Ivan Vanko arrives wearing his own suit of armor. Rhodey's response? "Oh, this ain't gonna be good..."
  • In Next (2007), Frank Cadillac (Nicolas Cage) can see a bit into the future. Right before he gets punched in the face, he mumbles "Incoming."
  • In We Were Soldiers, Sergeant Major Plumley lays it out for the surrounding younger (and many wounded) troops as their HQ is about to be overrun by the NVA:

GENTLEMEN! PREPARE TO DEFEND YOURSELVES!

  • In Over the Hedge, the Verminator, just before he and Gladys and Vincent are zapped by the Depelter Turbo: "Prepare for a lot of stinging!"
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: On the way to Julie's party, Scott and Neil complain about how much the party's gonna suck.

Scott: Oh man, this is gonna suck!
Neil: Suck!
[cuts to them at the party]
Scott: Oh man, this sucks!
Neil: Sucks.

  • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows features an extended battle on a train, culminating with one Mook accidentally dropping a grenade without a pin into a bag full of grenades. The poor bastard has enough time to look up at his mate and wince.
  • Said word for word in the Jackass movies when the guys are confronted with stunts that even they know are going to terrify the lights out of them.
  • Averted in 'The Perfect Storm', When the boat is sinking, and the water is rising where the crew members are trapped, the one fisherman's last words are "This is going to be really hard on my kids."
  • In Cloverfield, Hud muses aloud that they could enter Beth's tilted and half-collapsed apartment building through the adjacent building it's leaning on, only to start babbling that it's a very bad idea when Rob opts to do just that.
  • In The Avengers movie, Loki has this reaction after being captured and realizing he's about to get a visit from Thor.


Literature

  • In the novel Blade of Tyshalle, by Matthew Woodring Stover. The main character, Hari, is a paraplegic - and at the moment, he is trapped in a burning building thanks to an assassination attempt. His 200-lb. companion has been knocked unconscious and must be dragged along, the air is full of dust and smoke (making it hard to breathe), his wheelchair is unavailable, and he has to bypass several stories of staircase anyways before he can find an exit. "This, thought Hari, is gonna suck." Don't worry, he gets them both out alive.
  • Standard reaction for the characters of the Warhammer 40,000: Gaunt's Ghosts books whenever a Chaos superheavy tank, daemon, or similar threat shows up.
  • Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy: Arthur Dent's catchphrase: "So this is it. We're going to die." Thoroughly Lampshaded as a Captain Obvious Moment.
  • In Chris Wraight's Battle of the Fang, the Space Wolf called Blackwing ejects from his heavily damaged scout ship seconds before it blows up. Drifting away from the blast, he soon finds himself in the path of one particularly large piece of fast-flying debris. He has just enough time for three thoughts, the last of which is basically "This is really going to hurt.". Cue plasma drive shaft smashing into armored Space Marine at a couple hundred mph.
  • This is Marco's modus operandi in several volumes of Animorphs.
  • Posleen War Series: In A Hymn Before Battle, an ACS trooper[1] comments, just before getting his hand blown off by a grenade he had planted as part of an effort to escape from a collapsed building, "This is gonna hurt".
  • From the Honor Harrington novel In Enemy Hands:

"Damn," Alistair McKeon said almost mildly.

    • Someone typically says something along these lines in most of the battles.
  • The Dresden Files: If Harry Dresden can see his beatdown coming, he'll usually say something like this.
  • The first chapter of The Black Gryphon ends with Skandranon Rashkae taking a crossbow bolt through the wing and going into an uncontrolled crash landing (Something he apparently did many times during his long military career according to the later books). The absolute last sentence of the chapter is "Oh, sketi, this is going to hurt."


Live-Action TV

  • Doctor Who, "The Beast Below": Right before The Doctor and Amy are going to be vomited up by a giant space whale

The Doctor: [Adjusts bow tie] Right then! This isn't going to be big on dignity.

    • What really sells the moment is that while Amy looks appropriately horrified, he has a couldn't-be-happier grin going on.
  • Witness any pro wrestler who finds himself standing across the ring from The Giant. Their body language just about says it all.
    • Hornswoggle (a 3'10" leprechaun) started crying when he saw he had to go up against the 7'2" Great Khali.
    • Tommy Dreamer had one of these moments after being told he had 30 seconds to make it to the ring for his match. He just barely manages to beat the clock, celebrates that... then turns around to see his opponent, the 6'9" 487-lb. Big Daddy V. Dreamer's expression at that moment says it all.
  • In season seven of Twenty Four, Jack has to escape from an FBI building by driving a car out of the third story of the parking garage. Right before doing so, the normally deadly serious Jack quips: "This is gonna hurt."
  • Darien Fawkes on The Invisible Man lets out an "Ah, crap" in a deadpan tone with such frequency it's one of his catch phrases.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000
    • Crow T. Robot says this phrase during the opening credits for the movie Monster a Go-Go! after trying (and failing) to maintain a positive attitude.
    • Also, during Space Mutiny, as the hero is running away from a wrecked space craft screaming, "It's gonna blow!":

Tom: If the first ten minutes are any indication this movie's gonna blow!

    • Considering the movies they have to watch, it's a wonder this trope isn't used more.

Mike: So - our first plot point involves knitting socks. I think we're in for quite a ride, guys!

  • Mal has this reaction in the Firefly episode "The Train Job", when he realizes that he has just revealed himself and Zoe to be former Independence Soldiers to an entire bar full of patriotic Alliance patrons.
    • Zoe has a sort of retroactive one later, after they've been chased out of the bar and are standing by the edge of a cliff while still being confronted by dozens of angry brawlers.

Mal: Whoa! There's just an acre of you fellas, ain't there? [to Zoe] This is why we lost, you know. Superior numbers.
Zoe: Thanks for the reenactment, sir.

  • Dead Like Me: Georgia Lass's famous last words when she realizes she's about to be killed by a flying, flaming toilet seat:

Georgia: Aw, shi- [BOOM]

  • Seinfeld: Kramer testing out his new "bladder" experiment for oil tankers (essentially, large rubber containers to store oil in to prevent oil spills) by pushing a duffel bag-sized bladder out of his apartment window. George and Jerry, watching from their own window, tried and failed to get a bystander, Jerry's girlfriend, on the street below to move out of the way. Jerry states, "This is gonna be a shame," right before the bladder lands on the woman and breaks, ruining Kramer's prototype and covering the woman in crude oil.
  • Stargate SG 1 ("Prometheus Unbound"): During the fight scene between Daniel and Vala on Prometheus, she pulls out a Zat gun (a stun gun, basically) and points it at him. Knowing exactly how much getting hit by a Zat shot sucks, he just says "Oh, crap".
  • Stargate Atlantis ("No Man's Land"):

Lt. Col. John Sheppard: "Operation This-Will-Likely-End-Badly is go."

  • Farscape ("Crackers Don't Matter"). On realizing their survival depends solely on John Crichton's zany scheme, Aeryn states flatly: "We are all going to die." Then again, she says that any time the crew's survival depends on one of John's schemes.
    • In "Season of Death," D'Argo tries to hold off a Scarran warrior with his pocket knife. On the first strike, the blade breaks against the Scarran's hide, and D'Argo has just enough time to grumble "Frell," before getting hammered to the ground.
    • Scorpius, while facing down a heavily-armed bounty hunter and realizing that the rifle Crichton gave him is empty, gives an irritated mutter of "Thank you, John."
    • Considering that the entire crew of Moya pretty much survives on Xanatos Speed Chess or just plain luck, this tends to be the reaction of any sane person in any situation they come across (so you can count out Stark... and John on a bad day...). Just pick a season finale. Any finale.
    • Heck, there was a series ofepisode titles prefixed "We're So Screwed Trilogy".
  • In the Red Dwarf episode "Parallel Universe", when Holly screws up the countdown, Rimmer says, bemusedly, "We're going to die..."
    • In the later episode Pete, Part Two, faced with a T-Rex, Cat, with a voice that suggests he's soiling himself, says, "We are all... going to die!"
  • In Criminal Minds when Prentiss realizes, as part of an investigation, that she's going to have to allow herself to be the target of an incredibly cheesy pick up artist in order to study his technique: "Oh, this is really gonna suck."
  • In the pilot episode of Leverage, Parker says this exact phrase right before forcing herself to vomit in order to get the doctor's attention.
  • In the final season of Lost, when Frank Lapidus realizes he's about to get brained by a huge metal submarine door with the full force of the ocean on the other side: "Aw, hell."
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • Vampire Willow's last words, as she reappears into the Wishverse only to be pushed onto a broken plank: "Oh fu-."
    • Angelus and Drusilia have this look when facing down Buffy armed with a rocket launcher. They unfreeze from their terror just in time to dive out of the way.
  • Greys Anatomy: Meredith Grey says exactly this when she realizes that Owen's trauma certification exercise involves treating two dozen mangled dummies strewn across the parking lot, in the rain. She's right.
  • Frequently invoked on MythBusters, verbatim in one case when Tory figures he has been "volunteered" by Grant and Kari to be the experimental guinea pig.
  • Said word-for-word by Audrey Parker and Nathan Wuornos in Haven when a swarm of Reality Warper butterflies enter their truck.
  • At the end of an episode of Scrubs, Elliot grabs J.D. (who at the time was in love with her) to come with her to meet her boyfriend who was coming home in a few minutes. J.D.'s voice over says "Oh, this is gonna suck".
  • A few contestants on Wipeout 2008 have said this verbatim before attempting an obsticle.


Music

  • This sums up Dr. Light's feelings in the first half of the song "Here Comes The Arm" from The Protomen's The Father of Death.
  • The Sarah McLachlan song "Hold On" has a line "Hold on, hold on to yourself, this is gonna hurt like hell". It's referring to emotional pain rather than physical, but the message is the same.


Stand-Up Comedy

  • Part of an old routine by Canadian comedian Mike MacDonald. He thinks that death during skydiving due to parachute failure would suck, because after a couple of minutes you'd get tired of screaming. Then what? "Oh, God, this is gonna hurt...how did I let those jerks talk me into this?!" [shakes fist at the sky]
  • Christopher Titus has a story [dead link] about falling into a bonfire, and being conscious while the doctor treats him. Couldn't feel it though...at the time.

"This is gonna hurt tomorrow, huh?"

Tabletop Games

  • A standard reaction to a certain group of circumstances in Warhammer 40,000. A partial list is as follows:
  • In D&D, this would be anytime the DM asks you to make a save...with your weakest save. Examples include Fortitude involving some form of expensive-to-cure poison or disease, Reflex a lovely pit of spikes...and Will is you losing your mind.
    • Anytime the Barbarian starts to rage. Doubly so if he's a Frenzied Berserker.
    • A monster casually walks up to you. Assume the worst.
    • You feel an unholy chill fall over the room.
    • If you see the Dungeon Master smiling...or in certain cases, chuckling. There are plenty of cases where that will chill you.
  • All tabletop horror games can and will mess with your characters in the worst way. Embracing the horrors just makes it suck less...temporarily.
  • Warhammer Fantasy Battle is just as bad as 40000 when given some of the war machines. The first thing that comes to mind is one of the spells from the Lore of Zeetch list that whose strength is equal to 2d6. Since the max characteristic test is 10, if the strength rolled is a 11 or 12 it will instant kill a whole unit, no saves allowed. I personally saw a Tzeetchen sorcerer kill a unit of 400 point sof orks, plus standard bearer and general, in one move. It wasn't pretty.


Toys

  • In Bionicle, Lewa finds himself surrounded and held at spearpoint by a group of angry Agori:

Lewa: Oh. It's going to be this kind of day.


Videogames

(Walking into a cave and the music changes)
Kazooie: "Oh this can't be good, the music suddenly changed."

  • This is the Player's reaction to a possible certain death in Fallout 2. If your character critically fails a skill check in the Enclave base, he has a possibility of "successfully" setting off the timer for a nuke... for 5 seconds.

The Chosen One: Mother of--

    • In Fallout 3, you (the player) get a line that amounts to this during the quest, "Wasteland Survival Guide." For the second chapter, Moira mentions she wants to study how to treat and survive gruesome injuries. The option to inquire about this part of the quest reads something like "I'm going to hate myself for asking this, but what did you want me to do about studying injuries?"
  • Guitar Hero III. Through the Fire and Flames. "Good luck."
    • Rock Band 2 has a similar message when you qualify for the "Endless Setlist 2", also known as "Eighty-four freakin' songs in a row."
  • Every boss in Radiant Silvergun (except for the Stage 1 boss) is preceded by a warning screen with three pieces of cryptic advice. For the Stage 6 boss, the three tips (shown above) are "Be praying," "Be praying," and "Be praying."
  • In Mortal Kombat: Deception, if knocked from the roof of the Sky Temple, Havik screams the trope's name before going splat on the ground.
  • In Stronghold Crusader, order any low-level soldier to attack the enemy Lord, or any unit not on horseback to walk a long way, or a powerful soldier to dig the moat and you'll usually get a response on these lines.

Monk:"Pray for us..."
Pikeman:"It's gonna be a bloodbath..."
Engineer:"I'm not afraid to die..."
Swordsman:"Damn, this armor is heavy..."
Digger:"I don't even have a shirt on!"
Monk:"(Resigned sigh) This will be a long haul...

  • During the boss fight with Dalton on the Blackbird in Chrono Trigger, after enough time has passed and he's taken enough damage, Dalton tries to summon the Golem Boss. Thing is, the Golem Boss ran away earlier, so all Dalton's done is open the equivalent of a black hole. Dalton's expression switches from Oh Crap to him cursing himself out as the portal sucks him in.
  • In Ultimate Spider-Man, Spidey comes across a path of flaming destruction left by the Rhino and comments "Oh, this hurts already."
    • And then later, when you finally catch up to Rhino:

Spider-Man: "Hey, is that your horn or are you just happy to see--"
*Rhino turns around and sizes him up*
Spider-Man: "...I am so scared right now, I forgot my lame joke."

  • Comedic example in Fate/stay night, During one route, HF possibly, Taiga starts worrying that Shirou might try something on Saber... at which point Saber casually notes 'Hey, if he really wants to, I guess I'm okay with that. Not a problem.' At which point Shirou freezes, because he knows Taiga is now going to beat the crap out of him. Couple seconds of silence and... Yea, you're really not helping the situation at all, Saber.
  • The hardest difficulty setting in Doom is Nightmare!, featuring faster monsters that respawn shortly after being killed, and most cheat codes disabled. The only advantage you have is that enemies that drop ammo drop more than normal. When selecting it, the game asks "Are you sure? This skill level isn't even remotely fair."
    • id Software's next game, Quake, tells you This Is Gonna Suck without any words: the difficulty and episode are chosen by a small hub level. The entrance to the Hard difficulty is past a cracked bridge over a pool of lava (yes, it's possible to fall in and die before choosing the difficulty level), with some thrashing people nailed to the walls nearby. And the entrance to Nightmare difficulty is deliberately hidden: First, you have to pass through the Hard hallway to the Episode Select room, go to the Episode 4 room, and jump in the pool of water. If you want to play episode 4, you just drop down, and beneath the water is a non-water place. There is a rail positioned so that if you move in a certain direction while under water, you'll land on the rail instead of on the ground beneath, and the rail leads to the Nightmare difficulty portal.
  • When you mouse over the difficulty levels in Civilization IV, you will usually see a short description of exactly how many bonuses the computer gets... but not on Deity, the hardest level. That simply reads "Mwuhahaha! Good luck, sucker!"
  • Left 4 Dead:
    • The reaction of both the characters and the players in nytime anything happens to draw the Horde, though the ones that fit the trope most are the Hold the Line sections where you have to make a metric asston of noise to advance.
    • Basically the music when a Tank pops up. The term "oh shit" tends to be endlessly repeated in between reloads.
    • Bill has this reaction in Left 4 Dead's intro after a car alarm goes off.

Bill: Ahh this is gonna get bad...

  • Nearly every obstacle in Captain Claw.

"This looks challengiiiing."
"This will take some careful strategy."
"Man, this will be tough!"
"What a death trap!"
"What in the world..?"
"Phew, that was close."

Garrett: Let me see if I got this right. You want me to find Gamall's lair, find out what she wants your treasures for, kill her, and find and destroy this 'Final Glyph'. Anything else?

  • There's always Marcus Fenix's near Catch Phrase in Gears of War: "Ah, shit."
    • Not to mention his response when he gets stuck with a Torque Bow bolt: "Damn." (Though it's his tone of voice that really sells it)
  • In Mushihime-sama and its sequel, Mushihime-sama Futari, selecting the "Ultra" difficulty level will bring up a warning screen asking if you're "ready to be murdered every second." Selecting yes will continue on with the mode (and your doom), while selecting no bumps you back to the difficulty select.
  • Similarly, in Ferrari F355 Challenge, if you select manual transmission (which has no assist features and uses the stick shift and clutch instead of the paddles to shift), the game warns you if you really want to use it. Selecting no not only returns you to the transmission select, but manual transmission becomes unavailable.
  • In God Hand, if you pick Hard Mode when starting a new file, Gene quips "Wow, you've got quite a pair to pick that."
  • In Jedi Knight, there's a bit where you need to go across an extremely wide and deep chasm. The only way to do it is to ride a periodic air current that has been annoying you for the last ten minutes of the level. Cue a "you've got to be kidding me" reaction from Kyle.
  • Sam's reaction to a wave of about a bazillion explosive kamikaze zombies rushing towards him. "Uh-oh."
  • Anyone who looks at the Japanese Box art of the game Demon's Souls will know exactly what to expect from the game, as it shows a player character after having been killed. There are only two states for a player in this game: dead and one second away from something killing you. Direct quote from a preview presented by Atlus: "We get off on your tears."
    • Players are able to leave messages to other players in this game so that they will not be taken completely by surprise by whatever it is that will kill them in the next thirty seconds. Whenever you see a message that says "Beware the Strong Demon ahead", you know that the next few minutes are really gonna suck.
    • The Tutorial Level...
    • And there's also level 5-2, a level so difficult that even the level designer has difficulty beating it. One gaming magazine actually named the level designer for 5-2 one of the ten most evil video game villains of all time.
  • World of Warcraft gives us this at the end of the Lich King fight (for reference, Frostmourne has just been shattered, leaving the Lich King pretty much helpless to do anything but stand there and get the shit kicked out of him by the players that he had so effortlessly trounced and gloated to only moments ago):

Lich King: Now I stand, the lion before the lambs... and they do not fear. They cannot fear.

    • Another World of Warcraft example: You're exploring somewhere, and you didn't check out the map in Thottbot or a guide first. You're not at level cap or anywhere near it. You've been questing or just came out of a dungeon, your equipment's all red, and if you're especially unlucky, maybe you're running from overleveled mobs or trying to sneak around camping players. And what's this ahead, a town? You pop on stealth or your mount and run for it - only to realize it belongs to the opposite faction and You Are Already Dead. Southshore is especially good for this for low-level (20-35) Horde players.
      • This used to be a frequent occurrence for alliance players exploring Redridge, a level 15-20 area, as they followed that path leading to the area north of it... and were greeted by a pack of level 50 imps in the Burning Steppes.
  • Kingdom of Loathing:

Rather unexpectedly, dark stormclouds roll in from the north, blotting out the sun. There is a sudden crash of thunder, and you hear, somewhere close by, a bestial howling that sends shivers down your spine. Adrenaline pumping, you try to pinpoint the source of the noise. You hear it again, closer this time, and this time... in stereo? Your stomach turns to ice -- could it be...?

Lightning strikes, momentarily blinding you, and then... there he is, towering over you, the ravenous, two-headed monstrosity Argarggagarg, the Dire Hellseal! If murderous beasts like Gorgolok can be said to have lieutenants, then Argarggagarg is it; they say he was the only seal ever to challenge Gorgolok's authority as alpha male and survive the ensuing battle.

His black hide is scarred from the dozens -- hundreds! -- of attempts made to destroy him by your northern kinsmen, none of whom came back alive. Here and there an ancient broken spear juts out of Argargaggarg's hide as testament to his indomitability. Two pairs of hellishly glowing red eyes glare at you; two horribly-fanged maws drool.

This is probably gonna suck bigtime.

  • In the City Elf origin in Dragon Age, two guards think that "Hey, she's got no weapon, and he's just a pansy elf.", then said pansy elf tosses you a sword. The guards go Oh Crap, because you're about to kick their asses.
  • Final Fantasy IX has one of the best non-vocal This Is Gonna Suck moments ever. Just two (glowing) eyes conveys Black Waltz's realisation that lightning magic+wooden airship=loss of control+mid-air explosion. You get a single shot of his eyes just as he works this out. It's BRILLIANT.
  • The boss fight with Chaos at the end of Dissidia Final Fantasy has the player epitomizing this trope. Particularly once you get a load of his stats, equipment augmenting said stats, and then realizing that you fight him more than once. And, if you thought Chaos was bad, wait 'til you get a load of Feral Chaos in the prequel. Go ahead; tell that moogle from the tutorial that you've mastered the game.
  • Online play against a skillful Iron Tager player. Especially when the Meteor Move comes...
  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Raiden's reaction to being trapped in a room with one exit by an invincible madwoman with a Wave Motion Tuning Fork that can blast through solid steel who has just vowed to kill him - "Oh, crap."
  • In the Team Fortress 2 short "Meet the Sandvich", the Soldier's reaction to The Heavy getting the sandvich.

"Ohhh hell".

  • In StarCraft II, during the mission 'The Dig', Jimmy reacts like this when he realizes the Tal'darim are sending Phase Prisms at him.

Raynor: Air units nothing - those're transports! Quick, get the laser drill to knock them out of the sky!

  • Gus the Gremlin from Epic Mickey, when He, Mickey, and Oswald take the Moonliner to attack the Shadow Blot.

Oswald: When we get close to the blot, we hit the self destruct!
Gus:That's going to hurt! Just speaking personally!

  • In Dead Space 2 when going through the Ishumura this happens

Ellie: There looks like a huge necromorph infestation in the Medical Bay. Luckly you won't have to travel through it.
PA: Unexpected Obstruction ahead. Emergency stop initiated. Welcome to: The Medical Bay.
Isaac: Crap.

  • In Prototype, if Alex Mercer charges an attack near a Marine, there's a whole catalogue of sound bites for that Marine to say – every one a variation on This Is Gonna Suck.
  • StarCraft II has a warning from the Adjutant during the final mission that only counts as this if you have ample personnel and security to deal with it. If you don't, it's the other trope.

Warning: seismic disturbance detected. Nydus worm inbound.
"Class 12 Psionic Life-form detected. The Queen of Blades has returned"

  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon's Campaign mode. When the mission parameters include the phrase "re-launch in standby MS", you know that even under the best circumstances the suit you start off in is going to be destroyed. Missions labeled "Very Hard" garner a similar reaction, as that difficulty level is usually reserved for meeting up with named characters from the anime, who you simply cannot defeat unless the plot calls for it.
  • This trope is actually name-dropped in Ghost Recon: Future Soldier as a sandstorm hits during a mission in Africa by one of the Ghosts.
  • Final Fantasy XIII-2: During the introductory, Lightning manages to stop Caius from summoning the "husk of the wondering comet" once. Then, after two battles, he does it again (albeit successfully because Lightning was busy talking to Noel). Her facial expression when she summons Odin to stop Caius once again basically is this trope;

Lightning: Not this again...


Webcomics

"Oh you suck so very much."

    • And earlier, when Bun-bun challenges him into a supposed duel but simply uses it as an excuse to set him a trap wherein he's knocked down off the edge of the ship to what might be assumed would be certain death.

"Should have seen that coming."

  • Earthsong: In order for Tristram to get Willow out safely, he has made a plan that involves him fighting the first hero who comes out, or misleading the first villain who does. Then comes Nanashi. This is inches away from an Oh Crap, but Tristram is actually more confident than he's been in a while.

Tristram: Anyone but her.

  • One Something*Positive strip discusses the apparent bad luck with which Davan's family seems to be plagued. The account of one ancestor who died while working in a lumber mill when one of the saw blades slipped its moorings and went hurtling towards him simply shows the ancestor noticing his impending demise and thinking, "I do believe this will sting."
  • The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob—When Bob and Jerry notice that the world-destroying bomb they've been fighting over has just started ticking:

Bob: (in tiny little letters) Oh gosh... That's not good...
Jerry Smithson, you know any good mineshafts?

  • When Ansem Retort finds itself suddenly competing with another, more viewer-friendly reality show, Zexion delivers the line that just about sums it up:

Zexion: What is so important that-oh. Oh. Fuck.

  • Megaman, in Bob and George, is taken over by an evil virus, beaten up, nearly trampled to death, his blaster arm explodes, is forced to shove what's left of his arm into another robots intake tubes, catches on fire, suffers full-body 6th degree burns, has his three remaining limbs turned completely to ash, and finally glances his behind him and realizes "*sigh* This is gonna hurt."
    • Then after his miraculous survival, was cornered by Dr. Wily and mentions how if he "still had a lower body I'd be pissing himself about now."
  • In The Adventures of Shan Shan, when learning Shan Shan is being recruited to help save the universal balance, Backpack's reaction is "We're all gonna die!"
  • In Erstwhile's "All Fur", the king wishes to marry his daughter. Everyone else is appropriately horrified, but he's the king. So the princess sets him to several Impossible Tasks...but he then performs. This trope is her face in the last panel.

The wedding shall be tomorrow!

Web Originals

  • This is a common reaction from PPC agents, whether on getting a particularly tough/irritating mission, witnessing Really Bad Stuff happening, or watching events in the fics they tackle.
  • In Tasakeru Book II, Faun is trapped in a high tower with a very angry would-be suitor whom she has just rejected. The suitor states his intent to have her be his mate anyway. So Faun digs into her "boom belt" and tosses a couple grenades at him... When the smoke clears from the explosion, not only is he not hurt, but his clothing isn't even singed. It's likely the trope name went through Faun's mind shortly afterward.
  • Agent Washington has this reaction in the Reconstruction arc of Red vs. Blue when Caboose, rather than throwing a grenade over a wall that they're using for cover, throws the grenade into it. (And it attaches). There's a beat as he stares at it, then says "That... was the worst throw ever. Of all time".
    • Church gets the ultimate one in Season 3 of Blood Gulch Chronicles right before the bomb he's carrying blows up him, most of the other characters, and a chunk of Halo.

Church: What? Oh, son of a-

    • And earlier there is this exchange between Wyoming and some no name character (AKA Phil (sp?)):

Wyoming: Looks like today is your lucky day.
Guard: Really? Great.
Wyoming: Yes, I don't have time to torture you, so I'm just going to kill you instead.
Guard: What?! Aw this sucks! *BANG*

    • Reconstruction also has this gem towards the end, when Grif is asked what the situation is:

Grif: Fucked up, we're all about to die, Simmons is a nerd, you know, the usual.

    • Revelation gets its turn in the penultimate episode when the Reds, Tucker and Caboose come flying in to aid Church using a Pelican.

Sarge: You do know how to land this vehicle, don't you?
Grif: Sure, that just means stop flying, right?
Sarge: Brace for impact!
Tucker: Oh shit! This is gonna suck!

  • Atop the Fourth Wall: When reviewing Extreme Super Christmas Special #1 Linkara says that a character named Troll is a member of Youngblood and silently raises his gun to his head.
    • He also had this reaction with Bimbos in Time, after getting a taste of the book's "comedy":

"I'm only on page four. This comic is forty-eight pages long. Expect a lot of crying in this episode."

  • This was pretty much The Nostalgia Critic's reaction to the first ten minutes of Batman and Robin.
    • And he used the words themselves on realizing Masters of the Universe mostly takes place in New Jersey.

"So He-Man is going to use his awesome cosmic powers and medieval-style fighting moves...in the suburbs of New Jersey?" *sob* "This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

"This is gonna be painful."

Doctor Horrible: "That's not a good sound..."

Pat: Okay, let's do this, let's get this over with. Come on.
Matt: This is gonna be fun, right?
Pat: Okay, yeah yeah, the game is awesome. But you're...an idiot.

Jan: ... Well that's just not fair at all.
Integra: I'm sorry, we don't give a fuck.


Western Animation

  • The Amazing World of Gumball does this in 'The Dress' when Anais hears Gumball's idiotic plan and remarks; "This plan wreaks of failure."
  • The Simpsons: Chief Wiggum, upon realizing his tie is caught in Apu's hot dog roller, simply comments "Oh boy, this is going to get worse before it gets better."
  • Used various times in Pinky and The Brain, usually by Brain, since Pinky is too oblivious to note the impending suck.
  • Said verbatim in the "Super Fun Time" episode of South Park. Of course, this was in response to what was actually looking to be a boring and stupid field trip.
    • Also, in "Scott Tenorman Must Die", the boys are going to see Men in Black II. Cartman says "This movie better not suck ass." Kyle responds "It will."
    • In "Butt Out", which mocks Anti-Smoking groups. During the Butt-Out assembly, Kyle eventually turns to Stan and says exactly what the tropes says.
  • In this Supernews clip, President George W. Bush has to announce the latest plan for the Iraq War after a succession of failed plans... and he whines during the practice run about just how much This Is Gonna Suck.
  • Carl, where he opens his front door and finds himself staring down an army of Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future robots. The last intelligible thing he says is, "You have got to be freaking kidding me."
  • In the second Sinister Six episode, our freaking Spectacular, Amazing, or sometimes adjectiveless hero jumps on a frozen part of the sea luring his enemy, Rhino after him. Rhino jumps on the ice.. And realizes what he's just done, as the ice breaks beneath him he looks at Spidey and says: ".. I hate you. So much." and he sinks straight through it.
  • In Jackie Chan Adventures, Jackie basically has this as a Catch Phrase.

Jackie: Bad day bad day BAD DAY.

  • When Gazpacho looks up to see a city-sized ball of bubblegum, buildings and people falling out of the sky to crush him in Chowder, along with the trapped title character cheerfully shouting "hi Gazpacho", his surprised expression only lasts for a fraction of a second. After that, he reacts with a simple "I regret nothing" right before he gets hit.
  • In The Venture Brothers episode "The Incredible Mr. Brisby", Doctor Venture, tied up in a sack, hears Brock Sampson, who's just been drugged, hit the floor, and responds by calmly saying, "Tttthhhat doesn't sound good."
    • In another episode: "Oh crap, Myra's back."
  • Futurama, "Fry and the Slurm Factory":

Bender: I can't see what's happening, are we boned?
Leela: Yeah, we're boned.

    • That's pretty much what Bender says anytime something unpleasant is about to happen.
      • Let's get looting.
    • Inverted in "Parasites Lost":

Professor Farnsworth: Anyhoo, your net-suits will allow you to experience Fry's worm infested bowels as if you were actually wriggling through them.
Dr. Zoidberg (cheerfully): There's no part of that sentence I didn't like!

Pacha: Uh-oh.
Kuzco: Don't tell me -- we're about to go over a huge waterfall.
Pacha: Yep.
Kuzco: Sharp rocks at the bottom?
Pacha: Most likely.
Kuzco: ...Bring it on. BOOYAAAAHAHAHAHA!

  • Looney Tunes characters display this trope right before being pummeled. Wile E. Coyote, being mute, often holds up a sign saying "YIPE!" or something similar (like writing his will during a long drop) just as he's about to get hammered or take one of his very long falls. Daffy Duck usually lets out a feeble cry of "Mother".
    • Affectionately parodied in the ReBoot episode "Between a Raccoon and a Hard Place." Just before getting steamrolled, Rocky the Rabid Raccoon says "This is gonna hurt!" As his squashed self rolls back into view on the steamroller wheel, it holds a sign reading "Told Ya!"
  • In the Justice League episode "Hereafter", Batman is standing toe-to-toe with Kalibak, who taunts Batman by saying there's no way Batman can beat him. Bats simply replies "I'm not trying to beat you. I'm trying to stall you." When Kalibak asks what for, that's when Superman hovers in down behind him. Kalibak manages to say "Aww-" before getting smashed halfway down a city block and into a building.
    • A similar thing happens when Gorilla Grodd realises his mental attacks have little to no effect on Superman... right before Supes flicks him into the air.
    • In "Date Night" Black Canary is chasing Huntress and The Question on a motorcycle. When Question leaps his car off a giant ramp, Canary moves to follow; Green Arrow looks away and mutters, pained, "This is so unnecessary."
  • In Anastasia, before the final confrontation between Anastasia and Rasputin, Rasputin's pet bat Bartok abandons his master, saying, "This will only end in tears."
  • In the Legion of Super Heroes cartoon, where they're in their spaceship:

Brainiac 5: This is going to hurt.
[The whole ship explodes]

Batman: [deadpan] Oh, no. {{[spoiler|turns into a griffin.}}]

Joker: [laughing] Okay, so... what's the plan? Slumber party? Charades? A little truth or dare? Yes! I start with dare! (The Red Hood pulls out a crowbar in a very menacing way.)
Joker: [quite obviously alarmed and in a worried voice] Well, maybe I'll just go with truth... -It Gets Worse

    • Also, when Black Mask sees Red Hood training a rocket launcher on him.

Black Mask [deadpan]: Oh, hell.

  • Freakazoid!: The Lobe, surrounded by a vast arsenal of his own weapons on the verge of exploding, turns to the camera and deadpans: "It's the waiting around that kills me."
    • Freakazoid had one of his own upon realizing he'd just accidentally reactivated a nuclear bomb.

Freakazoid: Allow me to be the first to say 'ouch.'

Carl: This won't end well.

  • Family Guy: After Peter gets booted off the Patriots Football time and transferred to the London Silly Nannies. After he see what kind of team they are his expression as follows

Peter: Aw, Crap.

  • In one Darkwing Duck episode, Megavolt gets a particularly whiny "Aww, this is gonna hurt," after being thrown off a roof.
  • Titan Maximum: Has it in the first episode when the caretaker of the Aviation Disaster Museum was about to be killed by a destroyed plane:

Caretaker: (looks up) Oh this is ironic as hell!!!

  • One "Treehouse of Horror" special of The Simpsons has Homer repeatedly bouncing from his current time to the prehistoric era, and was told about the butterfly effect and its dangerous effects on the timeline. Even minor infractions such as accidentally killing one insect or animal lead to disaster...but when Homer sneezes and inadvertently causes the extinction of the dinosaurs, all Homer can forlornly get out is, "Thiiiiiiis is gonna cost me..." At another point in the same episode, Homer is trying desperately to avoid touching anything, seemingly succeeds and sits down in relief... on top of a starfish. "Oh I wish, I wish, I hadn't killed that fish!"
  • In Megas XLR, this is pretty much Jamie's catch phrase.
  • Simba in The Lion King after he gets busted (and rescued) by his dad in the elephant graveyard. However, it soon turns into a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming between the two.
  • In the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episode "Lesson Zero", as Twilight Sparkle trots off to find some friend she can help in order to be able to send a letter to Princess Celestia about it, Spike predicts, "This won't end well."
  • Gary the Rat manages to summarize his predicament in the opening to every episode with a single word: "... Shit."
  • In Ben 10 episode Negative 10 Part 2, when Acid Breath was tricked into attacking a hologram of the kids and realized it was a bomb, he simply says with a blank face before it explodes. '"I really hate those guys".
  • One Robot Chicken sketch deals with Thelma and Louise, who are Not Quite Dead after they drive off the cliff. After talking themselves into a Hope Spot, they look up and spot a pack of wolves surrounding them.

Louise: ...oh, hell.

  1. ↑ identified in a later novel as Baen's Designated Victim, Joe Buckley
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