Can Not Tell a Lie: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|'''''"[[Large Ham|I CAN'T LIE!]]"'''''|'''[[Jim Carrey|Fletcher Reed]]''', ''[[Liar Liar]]''}}
When a character or group of characters is by nature unable to tell any untruths, whether they be magical beings who are [[Tongue-Tied|bound]] by [[Magically-Binding Contract|that magic]], speakers of a [[Language of Truth|language that makes it impossible]], or simply unable to grasp the concept of lying, that character
How restrictive this inability to lie is varies from character to character. For some, they are unable to deceive, following the letter of the law as well as its underlying meaning. For others, they are able to tell [[Jedi Truth|half-truths]] and [[Zeroth Law Rebellion|omit important information]], allowing for [[False Reassurance]] or even [[Malicious Slander]] and acting as a sort of [[Technical Pacifist]] [[Consummate Liar]].
Children are prone to it, being [[Children Are Innocent|too innocent]] to think of suppressing the
Characters that are temporarily forced to tell the truth, but otherwise can lie are under the effects of [[Truth Serums]]. Characters who are capable of lying, but choose not to [[Will Not Tell a Lie]]. If they're sworn to keep a secret, they will very quickly discover [[Keeping Secrets Sucks]].
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* Yorick (yes, that [[Alas, Poor Yorick|Yorick]]) in ''The Skull of Truth'' from [[Bruce Coville]]'s ''[[Magic Shop]]'' series was "blessed" with the inability to lie. This led him to become a jester, the only position in which one could tell the king the truth and get away with it. It was implied this also led to his painful death, after which he became the title skull.
* Christopher Chant from [[Diana Wynne Jones]]' ''[[Chrestomanci]]'' books has this problem when in contact with [[Achilles' Heel|silver]]. Before he discovered what was causing it so that he could just avoid silver he learned to get by with telling the truth, but letting the hearer draw the wrong conclusion. He's also a traveler across dimensions, and one scene features an exchange with a school friend about getting some books for a girl in one of these dimensions. He says (paraphrased): "'I need to get a girl some books as a present. What kind of books do girls like?' When his friend looked at him strangely, he added, 'I have this cousin called Caroline.' It was perfectly true; he wasn't to know that the last sentence had nothing to do with the previous ones." And ''it works''.
* The Aes Sedai from ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''. They literally ''cannot'' speak a lie, even when that lie would save millions of lives. This was a magically-created prohibition to make people trust them. Unfortunately, because most Aes Sedai have found ways around the oath by not ''directly'' speaking a lie, but instead using careful phrasing to sneak around the Oath, they have such a reputation for bending the truth that people don't believe anything they say on the basis that they must be [[Literal Genie
* In James Morrow's ''City of Truth'', the citizens of Veritas undergo painful conditioning that forces them to always tell the truth, often bluntly; cars have names like the Plymouth Adequate, and the plot is set into motion by something that happens to the protagonist's son at Camp Ditch-the-Kids.
* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld/Equal Rites|Equal Rites]]'', there is a short mention of a tribe of people who don't lie, except for their leader/face to the world, who they, as a testament to their honesty, call the Tribe Liar, which other people find slightly uncomfortable to deal with. Esk meets a Liar who is a kindhearted merchant.
* The protagonist of [[William Sleator]]'s ''Others See Us'' cannot lie, at least until he gains telepathy and realizes everyone around him is lying <s>even</s> ''especially'' to themselves.
* The Houyhnhnms in ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' have no concept of lying, being enlightened beings. This paves the way for yet more satire, of course.
* In the ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' novels, Kyon noted on more than one occasion that Yuki wouldn't lie. Who knows if this is [[Will Not Tell a Lie]] or
** She did lie to Kyon, actually.
{{quote|'''Kyon:''' Nagato, have you seen Asahina-san's contact lens?
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* In James White's ''[[Sector General]]'' novels, the Kelgian species are unable to lie because their fur ripples in such a way that any Kelgian can tell what any other is feeling, which makes lying impossible for them.
* The troll mirror from ''[[Hans Christian Andersen|The Snow Queen]]'' is incapable of lying but it also cannot reflect the good parts of anything.
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40000]] [[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' novel ''Blood Pact'', the witch cannot lie. About anything. And foresees the future. And ''babbles''
* The fey in the [[Wicked Lovely]] series cannot lie, but they more often than not engage in 'creative truth telling', as per being [[The Fair Folk]].
* In Tamora Pierce's [[Tortall]] books, one cannot lie around Griffins. Even their feathers share some of these properties; Kel uses them to see through illusions.
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* [[Sir Mix-a-Lot]] cannot lie (nor can other brothers deny) when it comes to his love of a large posterior.
* Invoked by Arlo Guthrie in "[[Alice's Restaurant|Alices Restaurant]]", when asked if he knows how a huge mound of garbage including an envelope with his name on it ended up somewhere it shouldn't.
{{quote|And I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I
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== Painting ==
* The former trope image, which depicts a scene from the [[English Civil War]], invokes this (though hopefully not playing it straight). A Royalist household (mother with her two daughters and her son) is questioned by Parlamentarian soldiers about the patriarch's whereabouts. The moment presented is the one where the young son of the family is asked "When did you last see your father?" (hence the title). It is in fact [[No Ending|never revealed]] whether he did the most sensible thing (to lie and to save his father's life) or actually
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[SCP Foundation]]'': Victims of [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-1082 SCP-1082] are not only unable (and unwilling) to
== Western Animation ==
* The [[Artificial Human|Polymorphic Clone]] [[Replacement Goldfish|replacing William]] in Season 4 of ''[[Code Lyoko]]'' was never programmed to lie. He'd respond truthfully to any question asked by anybody, including about his true
* Franklyn from ''[[Viva Pinata]]'' cannot lie or keep secrets at all, this is played as a running gag in many episodes
* Dr. Wily ''thinks'' that robots Cannot Tell A Lie in the animated ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'' series. Rock proves him wrong.
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