I Like Those Odds: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{quote|'''Advert Voice''': ...No purchase necessary, [[No Except Yes|unless you want to enter the contest]]. Odds of winning mathematically insignificant.<br />
'''Fry''': I like those odds!|''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]''}}
 
Sometimes in [[Sarcasm Mode]], other times a [[Badass Boast]]. This is when the chances of survival, or the level of opposition, are presented to a character and he is apparently at a disadvantage. He responds that he wouldn't have it any other way or that it is actually in his favor. Often, they'll remark that they've beaten worse odds without breaking a sweat. For an added bonus, he might boast about giving himself [[Willfully Weak|a handicap just for fun]].
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== Anime and Manga ==
* As part of the big flashback in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima (Manga)|Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', The [[Redheaded Hero]] is saving the princess; meanwhile, the rest of [[Badass Crew|Ala Rubra]] has to hold off the forces overseeing the execution, leading to this exchange:
{{quote| '''Head Mook:''' Do I have the necessary forces? [[You Fool!]]. The guards for this event are more numerous than those you see here. There are two entire fleets stationed over a surrounding area of tens of kilometers, not to mention [[Elite Mooks|elite troops]] numbering around 3,000. You may be powerful, but even you cannot...<br />
'''[[World's Strongest Man|Jack Rakan]]:''' Like I said. Are you seriously telling me you think that's gonna be enough?! }}
* The very first sequence of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (Anime)|Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''.
* From ''[[One Piece (Manga)|One Piece]]'', we have this little gem from the Enies Lobby arc.
{{quote| '''Marines''': Hey, Straw Hat Luffy... how many dozens of your cohorts did you bring? Ha ha ha. There are 10,000 soldiers on Enies Lobby!<br />
'''Luffy''': Yeah... I'm by myself. Get out of my way! }}
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== Comic Books ==
* As a student, [[Largo Winch]] once got in a fight with a bunch of upper-class douchebags, and when asked what he had to say for himself, he admitted to using an unfair advantage like a true coward by outnumbering them: "They were only three."
* [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (Comic Book)|The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck]]'', because young Scrooge is just that [[Badass]].
{{quote| '''Guy #1:''' "Let's see--are there enough of us to handle him?"<br />
'''Guy #2:''' "For Pete's sake, there's ''two dozen'' of us!"<br />
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== Fanfiction ==
* A strange blend of ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]'' and ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' fic called Ron Man the Barbarian has this trope as his default [[Badass Boast]]. Also the boast of his people, the [[Proud Warrior Race|Actuarians (bonus to those who know what the name means IRL)]] who are NOT kidding when they say this.
 
 
== Film ==
* The ending dialogue of ''[[300 (Film)|Three Hundred]]''. "The enemy outnumbers us a paltry three-to-one: good odds for any Greek!"
** Considering the abuse the Persians took when they outnumbered the Greeks hundreds or even thousands-to-one for the bulk of the movie, without the contex of differing tactics, it would be surprising to the viewer that they didn't just kill their commanders and ''run''.
* This happens in ''[[Star Trek Generations]]'', which is certainly a common attitude Kirk has since he enjoys bluffing his way out of the unwinnable scenarios.
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'''Picard:''' You could say that.<br />
'''Kirk:''' If Spock were here he would call me an illogical, irrational human being for taking on a mission like that... Sounds like fun. }}
** The 2009 ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'' movie:
{{quote| '''Cadet:''' There's four of us and one of you.<br />
'''Kirk:''' Well, get some extra guys and then it'll be a fair fight. }}
* The film of ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Filmfilm)|Return of the King]]'' has Gimli do this when it's announced that Gondor's army will attack the Black Gate to provide a distraction for Frodo and Sam.
{{quote| '''Gimli:''' Certainty of death, small chance of success... what are we waiting for?}}
* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga (Film)|Batman Begins]]'', Ras al Ghul motions for two of his henchmen to fight Batman as he makes his getaway. Batman says, "I can't beat two of your pawns?", to which Ras says, "As you wish", and motions for two more henchmen to join the fight.
* In the [[Kurt Russell]] movie ''[[Soldier]]'', Russell's superior is having his Soldier in a fight with one more "evolved". The evolved soldier's superior says they're not fair odds and asks the other (general?) to bring two more.
* ''[[The Three Musketeers (1993 (Filmfilm)|The Three Musketeers 1993]]''. The Musketeers comment amongst themselves that five soldiers against the three of them is hardly fair. D'Artagnan, missing the point, tries to point out that there's four of them.
{{quote| '''Porthos''': Five of them and three of us, hardly seems fair.<br />
'''Aramis''': Perhaps we should offer them a chance to surrender. }}
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* The entire House of the Dzur in the ''[[Dragaera]]'' novels. Tazendra gets most of them on the page, but that's just because she's the most prominent Dzur character.
** [[Light Bulb Joke|How many Dzur does it take to sharpen a sword? Four. One to sharpen the sword, three to put up enough of a fight to make it worthwhile.]]
* In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Colour of Magic|The Colour of Magic]]'', Hrun the Barbarian declares he'll fight both dragonlords at once:
{{quote| '''Liartes:''' That's pretty uneven odds, isn't it?<br />
'''Hrun:''' Yah. I outnumber you one to two. }}
** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Science of Discworld|The Science of Discworld]]'' the wizards are informed that the chances of the new thaumic reactor (they're planning on using to heat the building) from going critical and blowing up the entirety of creation is 50-to-1. They think that this is entirely reasonable since "I wouldn't bet on a horse at those odds". Apparently an inch of ice on the ''inside'' of your bedroom window gives you a very personal perspective of risk.
** Moist Von Lipwig of ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Going Postal|Going Postal]]'' and ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Making Money|Making Money]]'' likes to invoke this trope for the purposes of entertaining the crowds that invariably appear around him. For instance, a stable owner who took offense to something Moist said about his horses decided to get back at him by bringing him the most evil-minded, vicious horse he owns. Moist's response? He asks the grooms to take off the horse's saddle, because it'd just slow him down.
** Also, in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'', Twoflower points out that there's only one possible outcome when seven old men take on the thousands-strong army that's surrounding them: They'll win. Otherwise, the world's just not working properly.
* In ''[[The VicomteThree De BragelonneMusketeers (Literaturenovel)|The Vicomte De Bragelonne]]'', d'Artagnan proposes to raise his own army of forty men and restore Charles II to the English throne (for profit!). Planchet, who is putting up half the money, protests: "Forty against forty thousand! That is not enough. I know very well that you, M. d'Artagnan, alone, are equal to a thousand men; but where are we to find thirty-nine men equal to you?"
* In ''[[X Wing Series|Starfighters of Adumar]]'':
{{quote| '''Wedge''': Tycho, what are we facing?<br />
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* In ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]'', when Mike tells the main characters that the chances of having a successful revolution are of 1 to 7, they immediately cheer. This is because a Loonie (a Moon inhabitant) will always accept a bet if the odds are greater than 1 to 10.
* In ''[[The Fall of Reach]]'': “Four of us,” Blue-Two whispered over the link. “And a thousand of them? Piss-poor odds for the little guys.”
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time (Literature)|Towers of Midnight]]'' Birgitte tells Mat that the odds of getting back from the Tower of Ghenjei are one in a thousand. Mat responds by taking out "two dozen" coins and predicting that when he throws them every single one will land heads up (1/16777216 chance if there were exactly 24). They do, and Mat remarks that "One in a thousand is good odds, for me."
 
 
== Live Action TV ==
* Done twice in ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'', the second time in the finale.
{{quote| '''Gunn:''' I'll take the 20,000 on the left....}}
* A [[Running Gag]] in the 1960s ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' series, as the Dynamic Duo faces hordes of [[Mooks]]. In one episode it got inverted: Either the Riddler or the Joker said to Batman, "There's six of us and only two of you. But we're not afraid!"
* Inverted in a ''[[Burn Notice]]'' episode. Russian Black Ops, when discussing if they should surrender note that [[Fun Withwith Subtitles|<]]He's [[Memetic Badass|Michael Westen]], there are only four of us[[Translation Tropes|>]].
** And again in "Where There's Smoke":
{{quote| '''Michael:''' It's one of you against four of them!<br />
'''Fiona:''' Don't feel bad for them, Michael. }}
* In ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' this comes up when the Daleks declare war on the Cybermen.
{{quote| '''Cyberman:''' We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?<br />
'''Dalek:''' FOUR!<br />
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** And then promptly gets turned around:
{{quote| '''Rose:''' Five million Cybermen, easy. One Doctor? ''Now'' you're scared.}}
* In ''[[Friends (TV)|Friends]]'', in the chapter where the guys buy many lottery tickets as there is a lot of money on the jackpot, Ross says he won't join, because it is "42 times more likely" that they will be struck by lightning. Chandler answers that, as they are six, it would be only 7 times more likely. Joey says the trope verbatim.
* ''[[Power Rangers RPM (TV)|Power Rangers RPM]]'': Faced with a small army of [[Mecha Mook|Mecha Mooks]], all [[Hollywood Cyborg|Dillon]] has to say is "Venjix should've sent more."
* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'': While John isn't exactly happy about it, he does believe they can beat the bad odds since they have before.
{{quote| '''Crichton''':This Eidelon education program... What are the odds it'll work?<br />
'''Aeryn''': Not good.<br />
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The quote for the Killer archetype in ''[[Feng Shui (Tabletop Game)|Feng Shui]]'': "Forty of them, one of me. Looks like the odds are about even." Of course, ''Feng Shui'' was the first RPG to incorporate rules for [[Mooks]]...
 
== Toys ==
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== Video Games ==
* Play a video game. It's one 'you' against a million enemies or so. You take the job and you invariably win.
* In the ship level of ''[[Command and Conquer (Video Game)|Command and Conquer]]: [[First-Person Shooter|Renegade]]'', a prisoner [[One-Man Army|Havoc]] just freed asks him if he intends to take on the ship's crew alone.
{{quote| '''Havoc:''' Don't seem fair, does it? Maybe I'll shoot with my left hand.}}
** Itself a reference to the famed commando line from the original game:
{{quote| That was left handed.}}
* ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'', during Grunt's recruitment mission:
{{quote| '''Jedore''': There are three of them! ''Three!'' [[Tempting Fate|Anything can be killed if you'd just do your damn jobs!]]}}
* Later, in ''[[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]'', during Shepard's [[Recurring Boss|first]] confrontation with Kai Leng:
{{quote| '''Shepard''': Three against one, pal. It's over.<br />
'''Kai Leng''': No. Now it's ''fun''. }}
* ''[[Guild Wars (Video Game)|Guild Wars]]: Nightfall'' has this in the first mission, when you get a good look at the opposing forces:
{{quote| '''[[Player Character]]:''' There sure are a lot of them.<br />
'''[[Boisterous Bruiser|Koss]]:''' No, there are '''three''' of us <ref>the PC, Kormir ([[The Obi-Wan]]) and himself</ref>, and only '''two''' corsair ships. We outnumber them! }}
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts II]]'', Leon and Cloud do this during their [[Back-to-Back Badasses]] moment while surrounded and vastly outnumbered by Heartless.
{{quote| '''Leon:''' Think you can handle this many?<br />
'''Cloud:''' Well, might be tough if one more shows up.<br />
'''Leon:''' Then that'll be the one I take care of.<br />
'''Cloud:''' What, you're fighting, too? }}
* From ''[[Halo 3 (Video Game)|Halo 3]]'':
{{quote| '''Elite:''' "Shipmaster, Brute Ships. Staggered Line. They outnumber us three to one!"<br />
'''Half-Jaw:''' "Then it is an even fight." }}
* In ''[[Jagged Alliance]] 2'', every mercenary has a special line when they can see 3 enemies simultaneously, usually suggesting retreat, or something like, "I'm fighting a losing battle here!" Magic takes the opposite stance, exclaiming, "This is when I'm at my ''best''!"
* ''[[Super Robot Wars Compact 2 (Video Game)|Super Robot Wars Compact 2]]'': It doesn't matter how long the odds are... Kyosuke Nanbu doesn't mind betting on them.
* From ''[[Sly Cooper (Video Game)|Sly Cooper]]'':
{{quote| '''[[Boisterous Bruiser|Murray:]]''' Outnumbered...fighting impossible odds...it's perfect!}}
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2 (Video Game)|Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', you arrive at an inn just as a fight is about to break out between Khelgar, a lone dwarf, and four thugs. When you point out that four against one isn't fair odds, Khelgar agrees... and asks the thugs if they've got any friends who might like to join in.
 
 
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'':
{{quote| ''"Upon reflection, Redglare showed the foresight of a true seer in thieving my arm before the trial. [http://mspaintadventures.com/?s{{=}}6&p{{=}}005653 It permitted a fair fight.]"''}}
* ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space (Webcomic)|Arthur King of Time and Space]]'':
{{quote| '''Cador''': The Roman vessels ournumber us three-to-one.<br />
'''Lancelot''': '''Only''' three-to-one?<br />
'''Cador''': Don't they '''learn'''? }}
* ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' shows us Jägergenerals in action:
{{quote| '''General Goomblast:''' Feh. Diz hardly seems '''fair'''.<br />
'''Soldier:''' ''[[Gratuitous French|C'est]] [[Pronoun Trouble|le]] [[Gratuitous French|guerre]]'', general.<br />
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* ''[[Mighty Max]]'' has Norman say "Six against one, hardly fair. I'll fight with my eyes closed."
* In the first episode of ''[[Megas XLR]]'', a large number of Glorft surround Megas and Kiva's mech. Coop's response is to agree that the fight isn't fair... and smash Kiva's mech. "Now it's fair."
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'':
** In "Lisa's First Word," Krusty the Clown vows (on TV) to "spit in every fiftieth burger" and Homer replies, "I like those odds!" Actually a subversion, in that [[What an Idiot!|Homer really]] ''[[What an Idiot!|does]]'' [[What an Idiot!|think those odds are pretty good]], or maybe he just isn't very grossed out at the prospect of eating Krusty's spit.
** Also, Chief Wiggum uttered the exact phrase "I like those odds" when he asked if he had a chance of taking the bait out of a dangerous trap, and his smarter sidekick Lou warned him "It's a million to one, chief." Wiggum's tone also seemed more like naive confidence than devil-may-care boasting, and in that case, one possible interpretation is that Wiggum misunderstood Lou's remark and thought he meant that the odds were a million to one ''in favor of success.''
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{{quote| '''Bart:''' Grampa, I think this guy's a little nuts.<br />
'''Grampa:''' Oh, yeah? Well, General George S. Patton was a little nuts. And this guy's ''completely out of his mind!'' [[Insane Troll Logic|We can't fail!]] }}
* ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar (Animation)|The Penguins of Madagascar]]''
** "Roger Dodger" has:
{{quote| '''Private:''' So, after Rico trounces the rats inside Roger's body, we switch them back?<br />
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{{quote| '''C-3PO/Quagmire:''' Sir, the odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field are 2-1!<br />
'''Han/Peter:''' [[Never Tell Me the Odds|Never tell me the o...]] well that's not bad. }}
* ''[[Justice League (Animationanimation)|Justice League]]'', "Starcrossed, Part 3": Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are heading straight for the Thanagarian mothership (and the dozens of smaller ships around it).
{{quote| '''Wonder Woman:''' Pretty bad odds.<br />
'''Superman:''' Yeah, they don't stand a chance. }}
* ''[[Jonny Quest (Animation)|Jonny Quest]]'' episode "Monster in the Monastery". After Jonny and Hadji tell Dr. Quest and Race that there are nine enemies left in the monastery, Race says to Dr. Quest "That makes the odds about right, sir". Two men, two kids and the Raj Guru (who's basically a non-combatant) against 9 armed men, and the odds are "just about right"?
** Sure, [[Badass|Race]] takes out eight of the guys while Benton and the boys take the last one. Or they would have if {{spoiler|the yeti hadn't beat them to it}}.
* ''[[G.I. Joe Extreme]]'' featured this a ''lot''. "The odds are a million to one. Just the way we like it."
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{{quote| '''Donatello''' ''(watching through a window):'' This doesn't seem fair.<br />
'''Michelangelo:''' Well yeah there's only 12 of them. }}
* In the ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode "How Long Is Forever?", Starfire tells Nightwing that the time travelling thief they are up against believes in [[You Already Changed the Past]] and that history cannot be changed.
{{quote| '''Nightwing:''' So it's impossible? ... Good our records show we've done the impossible before.}}