Rock Bottom: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

All kinds of tribulations have been visited upon Character A. Either Character A or his friend, Character B, tries to cheer things up by remarking on how, at least, things can't possibly get any worse. Right on cue, things get worse. In some extreme cases, they'll even say ''how'' things could be worse, right before it actually happens.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

'''America''': But at least it can't get any worse. Being stuck with you is pretty much the worst thing imaginable. }}

* Ukitake's Story Mode in ''[[Bleach]]: The Blade of Fate'' is based off this trope. His [[Incurable Cough of Death]] causes him to cough up blood... onto Byakuya Kuchiki's robes. He manages to escape, but then coughs up more blood... onto Ishida Uryu's robes. Escaping ''again'', he then coughs up ''more'' blood... onto ''[[Mad Scientist|Mayuri Kurotsuchi's]]'' robes. Thankfully for us, the players, the storyline ends after that.

 

 

* ''[[Look Who's Talking]]'', with the mother complaining about the chores of motherhood, and then being visited by her mother.

* Played with in ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]'', when a Jewish Official is about to have a man named Matthias stoned to death for saying "Jehovah" (saying the name of God was a blasphemy).

'''Matthias:''' Making it worse? How can it be worse? '''[Begins dancing]''' Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah! }}

* A classic version in ''[[Star Wars]] IV: [[A New Hope]]'' where the heroes are in the trash compactor and Han complains about the situation. Leia retorts that it could be worse, only for all to hear a sound ominous enough for Han to go, "It's worse." Shortly afterward, Luke gets attacked by a dionaga. And then [[The Walls Are Closing In|the walls start closing in]].

* ''The Wizard of Speed and Time'' has some fun with this trope in a sequence where the main character is attempting to film a stop-motion animation sequence in his garage. With wind. And bats. And a monsoon. And an earthquake. Eventually the main character says "or it could be quiet..." at which point the earthquake, monsoon and wind all stop (presumably the bats leave, too, but they're inside by this point).

* The classic example in [[Mel Brooks]]' ''[[Young Frankenstein]]'', where Frederick Frankenstein and Igor are digging up a grave:

* ''[[D.E.B.S.]]'' When Janet, Max, and Dominique are trapped in the bank vault, Janet says "This could not get any worse!". Cue [[Spikes of Doom|spikes]] extending from the ceiling and the [[Descending Ceiling|ceiling starting to lower]] toward our heroines.

* Played absolutely dead straight in the movie of ''[[The Borrowers]]''.

'''Father''': They just got worse. }}

* Played straight in Disney's ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]''.

'''Jane''': Obviously it can. }}

* Repeatedly used in a particularly dark fashion in ''[[Schindler's List]]''. As the persecuted Jews are forced to live under increasingly more inhuman and nightmarish conditions by the Nazis, they try to cheer themselves up because their situation couldn't get even ''worse'' than it already is. That is before they discover what the Holocaust [[Final Solution|entailed]].

* In ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]'' our heroes Tulio and Miguel end up stranded in a rowboat with a horse, hundreds of miles from land, with limited supplies.

'''Tulio''': Excuse me, were you about to say WORSE? }}

** They then talk about how at least they're in a rowboat, and the screen fades out [[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks|with black fins approaching them]].

 

== Literature ==

* Arthur Dent pre-empts it in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/And Another Thing|And Another Thing]]...''; as [[Lotus Eater Machine|his perfect life proves to be an illusion]], just ''imagining'' Ford saying things could be worse is enough for him to predict "Things ''will'' be worse". [[It Got Worse|He's right]].

* Shakespeare's ''[[King Lear]]'' plays this straight. Edgar is betrayed and slandered by his half-brother and disowned by his father. He's now a starving beggar. He consoles himself with the thought that now the worst has happened to him, and he doesn't have anything more to be afraid of. Immediately his blinded father is led onstage.

* ''[[Sad Cypress]]'': Peter Lord asks [[Hercule Poirot]] to investigate a case against Elinor Carlisle (the girl he's in love with. Possible double murderess.) "Investigate" is [[Lemony Snicket|a word which here means]] that he wants Poirot to [[Clear Their Name|help acquit her]]. Poirot tells him that he intends to reveal any evidence he finds, even if it makes Elinor's case worse, whereupon Lord informs him that the case against Elinor [[Tempting Fate|can't possibly get any worse]].

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'':

'''Buffy''': You know this is your fault for saying that, right? }}

* In ''[[Greek]]'', after living with super-annoying by-the-book consultant Lizzie for a month, Casey comments that "We've hit rock bottom, and there's nowhere to go but up." On cue, Lizzie announces she's arranged a mixer...with the geekiest frat on campus.

* ''[[That's So Raven]]'': Raven got stuck in a limo's moon roof when going to prom. Then it started raining on her. "Well at least it can't get any worse"...cue the gale force winds.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'':

'''Vala:''' I knew it was a mistake the moment I said it. The ''moment''. }}

* Occurs on ''[[The Wire]]''. Most prominently at the end of season 4 when {{spoiler|Bubbles's accidentally kills Sherrod, leading him to finally enter rehab and get sober.}} Also at the end of season 5, McNulty seems to realize just how much he's screwed up and how much it is costing those around him. It's strongly suggested that he'll finally clean up his act.

 

== Music ==

* I've seen better days/Then the bottom drops out

* [[Insane Clown Posse|I hit rock bottom/Then I fell in a hole/Then I fell through the floor of that hole some more]]

* UFO's aptly named song "Rock Bottom".

* Just when you think you're as low as you can get, someone hands you a shovel.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

* The obscure musical ''Fade Out Fade In'' has the song "You Mustn't Feel Discouraged," which ''[[Lyrical Dissonance|sounds]]'' congenially cheerful, especially when it accompanies a playful tap-dance routine, but here's how the lyrics go:

There's always one step further down you can go." }}

** A video of it can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxa4e-P5g5s here]

 

* ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'' gives us the backstory of one Joe Darke, an executed multiple murderer whose interrogation is at the heart of the first game's fifth case. Apparently, he hit someone with his car. Panicking, he tried to hide the body, only to be encountered by a jogger. He killed the jogger to conceal his vehicular homicide, only to be encountered by a ''second'' witness. He killed that one, too, only to be encountered by a ''third'' witness while hiding the first three bodies! After all this, after being arrested for the four murders, {{spoiler|he gets framed for a '''''fifth''''' murder!}}

 

* This is a [[Running Gag]] in ''[[Bob and George]]''. George even went so far as stop himself and shout "I didn't say it! It doesn't count if I didn't say it!" For the record, [http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/050714 it counted].

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'': Gilgamesh Wulfenbach does it ''in retrospect'' [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030711 here].

** But falls for it [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040305 here].

** In one of the ''[[Girl Genius]]'' 'radio plays', ''The Sleepy Clank'', Agatha finds that they have just led the murderous clank (robot) to the just arrived gathering of the town.

'''Agatha''' <long delay> ...um... yeah... Weirder maybe. }}

** And [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060726 here], a straight "weirder" example.

* Directly quoted and lampshaded in ''[[Ansem Retort]]''. After hearing that Aerith and Namine are being attacked by a werepire and Axel isn't helping, Zexion says "well, at least it can't get any worse". Immediately more werepires show up and Namine yells "Oh, you dickhead!".

* Annabel in ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' after Glon [http://yafgc.net/?id=332 abducted] her as a vengeance for mocking him before he became important.

 

* In ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'', Vegeta got his ass kicked by the heroes, he failed to get the Dragon Balls, and lost his tail, but said that it couldn't get any worse than that. {{spoiler|Then he discovers that Nappa's ghost is haunting him.}}

* Used in [[Human Centipede the Musical]].

<small>'''Narrator:''' Or could it!?</small> }}

 

== Western Animation ==

* Subverted in ''[[Archer]]'' episode 2-4:

* Subverted in the forty-first episode of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': The group is on the losing side of a fierce naval battle. When Sokka exclaims things couldn't get much worse, a giant sea serpent promptly pops out right behind him.

'''Sokka''': Thank you, the universe! }}

* Subverted (or at least lampshaded) in ''[[The Brave Little Toaster]]'':

'''Radio''': They couldn't; I lied. }}

* The ''[[Clone High]]'' election episode had a subversion and [[Lampshade Hanging]]. The Gandhi clone says, "At least things can't get any worse." Abe replies, "How many times have I told you not to say that? Now something worse is going to happen. I've seen it on ''[[Happy Days]]''. 3, 2, 1..." Cleopatra (who Abe has a crush on) comes in to say that she wants to spend time alone with JFK. Gandhi then says "Things can't get any '''better'''." Abe says "It doesn't work that way," and leaves. A butterfly flies by Gandhi and gives him a dollar.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] {{spoiler|and subverted}} in ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'', "The Incredibly Stupid Swamp Monster": Orson, Booker, and Sheldon run into the weasel, who ties them to a tree and leaves them for the barnyard to nab the chickens. Orson delivers the "Things can't possibly..." version, but Sheldon tells him not to say that, because when people say things like that in cartoon shows, things always get worse. Orson compounds the error by delivering the "How could...?" variation, and Sheldon points in the direction of some rumbling. Cue the titular Incredibly Stupid Swamp Monster (really a robot that keeps spouting random incorrect phrases and which has been covered in swamp stuff from submerging itself in it). {{spoiler|This turns out to be a good thing, however, as the monster undoes the rope (to play jump rope) and stops the weasel (in a scene reminiscent of [[Bugs Bunny]]'s [[And Call Him George|Abominable Snowman]]).}}

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]], in ''[[The Simpsons]]'': after a run of bad luck, Homer laments to Lenny and Carl that "Things can't get any worse". All three look around expectantly, then when nothing happens Homer says with more emphasis, "Yep, things ''definitely can't get any worse''". Immediately after that, Smithers comes on the PA and orders Homer to report for "much worse duty".

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] and subverted in a later episode, where The Simpsons lose their house. Tossed out unto the street, Homer says, "well, it could be worse. At least it's not raining." Just then....nothing happens. "See?" says Homer, "told you it could be worse."

** "Best Night Ever" provides another example, from when Twilight Sparkle and Celestia walked into the big room in the grand galloping gala, finding a huge mess with the debris from several shattered pillars scattered all over the floor. Twilight said "at least it can't get any worse"; {{spoiler|cue Fluttershy barging in, and screaming [[Memetic Mutation|"YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME"]] at the animals that were running away from her.}}

* In ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' episode "The Halloween Door," after the Containment Unit explodes:

'''Egon:''' Not a one. }}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Narrative Devices]]