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{{trope}}
[[File:monologue.jpg|link=The Order of the Stick
{{quote|"''Gentlemen! Since you are about to die anyway, I may as well tell you the entire plot.''"|'''Benedict'''
Villains have an urge to [[Evil Gloating|gloat]]. There's something irresistible about twisting the knife that last little bit before finishing things. Rather than activate the needlessly complicated [[Death Trap]] right away, they will pause to outline their plan to the hero, often including information on how to stop it. [[Bond Villain Stupidity|This can give the hero the time they need to escape]], but just as often the hero will simply sit there and wait. It's rude to [[Talk to
▲{{quote|"''Gentlemen! Since you are about to die anyway, I may as well tell you the entire plot.''"|'''Benedict''', ''[[Last Action Hero]]''}}
▲Villains have an urge to [[Evil Gloating|gloat]]. There's something irresistible about twisting the knife that last little bit before finishing things. Rather than activate the needlessly complicated [[Death Trap]] right away, they will pause to outline their plan to the hero, often including information on how to stop it. [[Bond Villain Stupidity|This can give the hero the time they need to escape]], but just as often the hero will simply sit there and wait. It's rude to [[Talk to The Fist|interrupt someone when they're chat before trying to kill you]].
Even those who plan to [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|simply shoot their enemy]] may stop by to share details of their plans first. It sometimes seems that heroes get more information out of being interrogated than their interrogators do. Thanks to the [[Unspoken Plan Guarantee]], this removes any chance the villain had at success... unless [[You Are Too Late|it already happened]].
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When the villain falsely thinks it's Just Between You And Me, you have an [[Engineered Public Confession]].
When the villain takes advantage of their solitude to tempt [[The Hero]], it's [[What You Are in
[[Board to Death]] is a sub trope, that is normally successful because often the audience (which is not the hero) exists just for the purpose of this trope.
[[Truth in Television]]: As any prankster knows. Though not quite so much in the case of criminal or truly despicable behaviour, as guilt and/or fear of consequence usually overshadows the sadistic joy of mischief, and certainly any urge to reveal it.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'':
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** There's also an example in the manga where Ed shows [[Genre Savvy]]. After Father reveals several of his plans, Ed comments something "since you've told us your plans, I assume you intended to kill us".
** A similar incident in the manga and Brotherhood anime, where Lust shows that her core is actually a Philosopher's Stone, and Mustang points out that the only reason she's telling them this is that she has no intention of letting them live.
* Used intelligently in ''[[
* In ''[[Samurai
* Parodied ''twice'' in ''[[Black Lagoon]]'', when two separate villains get the drop on our [[Anti-Hero|AntiHeroes]], only to spend so much time talking about how they've won that they don't get an actual shot off before Revy guns them down <s> wordlessly</s> while saying "Shut the fuck up!" ''as'' she pulls the trigger. Of course, one of them had the foresight to wear a bulletproof vest...
* ''[[One Piece]]'' often goes a bit crazy with this trope, considering the number of [[Card-Carrying Villain|Card Carrying Villains]] around.
** Particularly notable is that nearly every villain helpfully explains their powers for the heroes' benefit - this is eventually given a [[Lampshade Hanging]] and [[Double Subversion]] when {{spoiler|Calipha}} refuses to disclose her Devil Fruit's name and properties...and Nami guesses them perfectly.
** Crocodile reveals the bomb that is set to go off in Alubarna when facing Vivi in the palace, as a way of mocking her desire to save everyone. While he does try to finish her off, Luffy and Pell manage to save her, and she uses the knowledge about the bomb to find and disable the cannon, {{spoiler|although it takes Pell's near-self-sacrifice to stop it completely}}.
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** Lampshade Hung for laughs with broadaxe wielder Sentoumaru, who refuses to tell anything about himself saying he's the most tight-lipped person, then promptly revealing the exact information he just said he wouldn't reveal... And excusing himself that he wanted to reveal that when called out on his slip.
* The big bad delivers a monologue to the heroes in ''[[S-Cry-ed]]'' via a remote video feed that serves to keep them in place long enough for his [[Kill Sat]] to get in firing position.
* In one episode of ''[[Ghost in
* Used in ''[[Trigun]]'' by [[The Dragon|Legato Bluesummers]]. Not only does he [[Hannibal Lecture|explain his plan]], he forces it to come to fruition as well. His plan? {{spoiler|Force Vash [[Mind Rape|to kill him]].}} However Vash was given the choice to either kill Legato or let his friends die, he obviously went with the lesser of two evils since he had no choice.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' screws around with this idea. {{spoiler|Chao}} was smart enough not to gloat about the completion of her plan until [[You Are Too Late|a week after she already did it]], sending the protagonists [[Time Travel|forward in time]] to when she already won. Unfortunately for her, Negi has his own [[Time Machine]], so he and his squad decide to [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]]...
** Actually, she had knowingly given him the time machine earlier and it was the time machine itself that sent them a week into the future. What she didn't expect, was that he'd be able to fix it and get it working again after it broke itself upon their arrival.
* Done all of the time in ''[[Bleach]]''.
** Among others, Barragan, Shinji, and Shunsui have all completely described their powers to their respective opponents.
** Shunsui {{spoiler|doesn't suffer too badly from doing this.}}
** [[Hoist
** {{spoiler|[[What an Idiot!|Shinji]] is beaten by [[Boring Invincible Villain|Aizen]] [[Villain Sue|Sosuke]].}} Though to be fair, {{spoiler|Aizen figured out most of it himself}}.
** {{spoiler|Aizen}} ''loves'' this trope. He has routinely spent as many pages as he possibly could when given the opportunity to monologue about his plans, intentions, and knowledge. If you consider {{spoiler|Aizen is a Magnificent Bastard whose plans have been going on for, at least, a century, he must have been holding his gloating for one HECK of a long time. Since he has endured Gotei 13 for so much time}}, it's only fair to assume he wants payback and talk their ears out on how weak, immature or otherwise flawed they are. Not to mention his gloatings are supposed to make people enraged and throw them out of focus so they can be defeated, cue to {{spoiler|Hiyori getting cut in half by Gin.}} Case in point: during the original [[The Reveal|reveal]] at the end of the Sould Society arc, Aizen spends nearly two episodes explaining his plan, and even getting interrupted by a giant punch from Komamura can't stop him.
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** In Naruto this is often subverted actually: Madara explains his plan to the Kage because he needs them to know it to be able to make his move. And after Pain explains his intentions to Jiraiya, he does succeed to kill him (he plays this straight with Naruto however). And for both, the major difficulty in defeating them is to find out how their ability works, cause they have the presence of mind ''not'' to explain it in full detail during the fight.
** Also, in the current arc, the resurrected characters have the control of their mind and mouth but not their body (most of them anyway). This leads to weird situations where these characters try to kill their opponents while explaining them how they can be defeated and telling them to dodge their attacks.
** In chapter 578 of the manga, {{spoiler|Itachi}} explains his plan on how to beat {{spoiler|Kabuto}} right to his face. The latter is only amused.
*** {{spoiler|To be fair though, Itachi specializes in genjutsu so it was probably very obvious to Kabuto that he'd use it anyway - in other words Itachi just stated the obvious. It's like Naruto saying he'll use shadow clones.}}
* In the most recent arc of [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]] {{spoiler|Daemon Spade invokes and promptly subverts this trope when confessing to his status as [[The Man Behind the Man]] to a kidnapped and seriously freaked out Chrome Dokuro. The confession is coupled with several requests to pull a [[Face Heel Turn]], and when she refuses to switch allegiances he simply decides to [[Hypnotize the Princess|hypnotize]] her and order that she not leave his side, [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|pretty much guaranteeing that his plans won't be derailed by telling her]].}}
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==
* Subverted and lampshaded in chapter 11 of the graphic novel ''[[Watchmen (
{{quote|
** {{spoiler|Also, the people he's talking to aren't really his enemies but former comrades, and he believes that he can convince them that he's right. He partially succeeds}}.
* In ''[[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Mighty Avengers]] #11'', Doctor Doom monologues in thought bubbles while calmly threatening the heroes, and finishes the thought with "...but I'll be '''damned''' if I'm going to stand here and explain myself to '''you'''!!!"
* Lampshaded in ''[[Normalman]]'', as the Ultra Conservative tells Normalman "I'm going to make you listen to my insidious Master Plan!" (while unrolling a Ko-Ko style "little list".) Because it's in the contract: "On capture by the Party of the First Part, the Party of the Second Part must listen to a) [[Origin Story]] or b) Master Plan." However, before we can find out what it is, Captain Everything and Sergeant Fluffy burst in shouting "You aren't going to bore the audience to death with your insipid Master Plan!"
* Lampshaded in ''[[Y:
* In ''[[Transformers]]: Maximum Dinobots,'' Scorponok keeps Hot Rod alive for the sole purpose of giving one of these to stroke his ego. In fact, when Hot Rod tries to goad Scorponok into giving more information, Scorponok recognizes the attempt and then declares that ''[[Genre Blind|he's going to tell Hot Rod his entire plan in great detail anyway]].''
* During his second meeting with [[People Puppets|Miasma]], ''Magog'' is captured and comments on how much he hates this trope. He tunes out the villain and the text is replaced with scribbles and gibberish until he starts listening again.
* Senator Roark gives one to John Hartigan in ''[[Sin City]]''. Unlike most versions of this trope, the Senator is getting away with it and they both know it.
* In ''[[
== Fan Works ==
* Subverted in ''[[
== Film ==
* The page quote is spoken with just a sprinkling of sarcasm. It's a [[Genre Savvy]] nod to the trope, which has been lampshaded in the film twice by then as a 'Classic Movie Mistake'; the second in an [[Ironic Echo]].
* Despite popular belief, rarely played straight in ''[[James Bond (
** [[Justified]] in ''[[
** [[Lampshade
** Subversion in ''[[
** Averted in ''[[
** Both [[Subverted]] and played straight in ''[[
*** You think Blofeld is going to explain his plan, but...
{{quote|
'''Blofeld:''' An excellent question. And one which will be hanging on the lips of the world quite soon. If I were to break the news to anyone, it would be to you first. You know that. But it's late, I'm tired, and there's so much left to do. Good night, Mr Bond. }}
*** Later on when Bond arrives at the oil rig base Blofeld gives him the grand tour and explains his plans fully. Justified since the plan is to hold the world hostage with a [[Kill Sat]] for money- and he's already made his demands and threat known, and is only telling Bond what targets he might choose. Bond has already figured out how to stop it as well.
** Mild inversion in ''[[
* [[Lampshade Hanging]] in the film ''[[The Incredibles]]'', where the
{{quote|
* In ''[[Dogma]]'', the villain taunts the heroes in this way, but then [[Defied Trope|defies it]].
{{quote|
* Possible first subversion was in the film ''[[The Good, the Bad
* A slightly over-wordy homage to this moment appears in ''[[Van Helsing]]'':
{{quote|
'''Anna Valerious:''' ''(Drives a stake through her chest)'' I think if you're going to kill somebody, kill them! Don't stand around talking about it! }}
* Subverted in ''[[Star Trek VI:
{{quote|
'''Chekov:''' ''You want to go back?''
'''McCoy:''' ''Absolutely not!'' }}
* In ''[[Iron Man (
** Well, gloating longer would probably have resulted in Tony's death, but then SHIELD agents would already have been at the factory waiting for him.
* Happens between Lewis and the Bowler Hat Guy in ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]'' in {{spoiler|the orphanage}}: Lewis demands "What did I ever do to you?", at which point BHG tells him the story of his long and ridiculously pathetic life, and also that {{spoiler|Lewis is Cornelius Robinson}}.
* In the movie ''[[
* [[Justified Trope]] and/or [[Playing
* ''[[Star Wars]]'':
** In ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', Palpatine gleefully explains his trap to Luke... But there ''isn't'' anything Luke can do and the Rebels fall into it. And not only that, Palpatine's gloating is not just for fun, he needs to get Luke angry, upset, and hating him for the Dark Side to kick in.
** In ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'', Dooku has Obi-Wan imprisoned and tells him the truth. Darth Sidious is in control of the Republic. Not only does this ''not'' backfire, it actually ''helps''. By telling the Jedi this, they start investigating Republic senators and Sidious latches on to this to create tension between the Jedi and Republic, ultimately allowing him to declare them traitors. [[Xanatos Gambit|If they did nothing, Sidious continues his plan unbothered so he wins wither way.]]
* Spoofed in ''[[
* Spoofed in ''[[Sky High]]''. {{spoiler|Gwen, after outlining her [[Evil Plan]] to turn all of the superheroes into infants and then raise them again as villains, then tells The Commander (who has been turned into an infant, and who she is cradling in her arms) that this is the best villainous speech she's ever given, and it's too bad that he can't understand a word she's saying.}}
* Subverted in ''[[Damnatus]]'' in that G'guor {{spoiler|''does'' kill Nira half way through his [[Evil Gloating]]. Not to be put off, he continues monologuing to the [[Soul Jar|spirit stone]] she was carrying.}}
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* Inverted in the 1994 ''[[Street Fighter]]'' film where it's the heroes who scupper their plans by revealing it to the villains. Chun Li, Honda and Balrog have M Bison and Sagat in a tent together which they plan to blow up with a lorry loaded with dynamite. However, they leave a video behind to gloat to the villains which of course gives Bison and Sagat time to escape.
* Played straight and subverted in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]''. The main villain Gallaxhar does decide to exposit why he essentially committed genocide against his own people and at the same time wanted to repopulate the Earth with clones of him, but he was telling her while he was hooked up to the cloning machine, which had him being sporadically muted when the machine lowers down, causing a lot of his speech to be skipped over and thus his full reasons being unknown. When the machine stops and says that he'll kill her since he told her all she needs to know, she gives a blank confused stare.
* Lampshaded in ''[[
* In ''[[Back to
* In ''[[True Lies]]'' Harry does this while bound to a chair, and under the effect of truth serum, just as Samir prepares to inject him with him poison. So they don't take him seriously until he demonstrates his abillity to do what he promised.
== Literature ==
* During the climaxes to the first 6 books, ''[[Harry Potter]]'''s main strategy was to make the villains talk, as a way to buy some time and think of a way to get the hell out. In the final book, his plan is to keep talking himself, to both try and get the big bad to step down after realising he is well and truly screwed either way, and to tell everyone why the big bad is screwed, and if he is killed they can just mass kill him.
** Dumbledore gets
* ''[[
** In ''[[
** First [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]], then [[Inverted Trope]] in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Vimes:''' Well, it'd be a help.
'''Wolfgang:''' You ''are'' going to die anyway. Why don't ''you'' tell ''me''? }}
* Used slightly oddly in the novel ''[[
* In ''[[Soon I Will Be Invincible]]'', Doctor Impossible repeatedly struggles against this urge, remembering his last defeat:
{{quote|
* Subverted in James P. Hogan's story ''The Assassin''. The title character is sent to liquidate a scientist who had defected from his side, succeeds, but is then captured. {{spoiler|His interrogators then introduce him to his "deceased" target, who has developed technology to duplicate people. Since they can duplicate the prisoner as many times as necessary, they can simply try ''every'' interrogation strategy... including honest explanation and persuasion.}}
* Played straight and lampshaded in the ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''' novel ''Duty Calls'', where Cain meets with the Inquistor that's been trying to kill him through the whole book. The Inquisitor waits until he thinks Cain is on his side before revealing the whole plan. The [[Lampshade Hanging]] comes from the villain's name, Ernst Savros Killian, which bears a striking resemblance to a certain [[James Bond]] villain.
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* During the fifth ''[[Dresden Files]]'' book, Harry tries to bait Nicodemus into doing this, [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|to no avail]]. Later, he remarks to Susan that he must've read the [[Evil Overlord List]].
* Completely inverted in ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' novel ''Silverfall'', when one [[Affably Evil]] foe inadvertently convinced [[Lady of War|Storm Silverhand]] to spare his life ''after'' his [[Graceful Loser|surrender]] was answered [[The Slow Walk|only by one raised eyebrow]]. By asking one right question. Well, by asking and then clarifying it:
{{quote|
Know about ''what''? }}
* ''[[
* ''The Berlin Memorandum'' by [[Adam Hall]]. The neo-Nazi [[Big Bad]] not only explains his master plan to British spy [[Quiller]], he is so confident in its success that he ''lets Quiller go''. Subverted however in that a) the master plan is bogus anyway, and b) it's actually a [[Nice Job Guiding Us Hero]]
* The villains in the ''[[
** Lampshaded by Alex when he says that one of the downsides of being a criminal is that you can't tell people about your crimes
* Lampshaded near the end of Emma Bull's ''[[Border Town|Finder]]'':
{{quote|
* Lampshaded in [[The First Law|Best Served Cold]] where Cosca asks Victus why men with a crossbow tend to gloat instead of simply firing.
* In [[Aaron Allston]]'s ''[[Galatea in 2
* Spoofed in ''[[The Laundry Series|The Jennifer Morgue]]'' by [[Charles Stross]], in which the [[Big Bad]] (who's deliberately following supervillain tropes) explains his evil plan to the hero via PowerPoint! The Horror!
* In [[Artemis Fowl
* [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]: Subverted because Nemo never shares the evil part of his [[Evil Plan]] with Aronnax, [[Anti-Villain|just because he is ashamed of it]]. However, Nemo is constantly sharing all the information about the Nautilus and his scientific investigations about the Sea with [[The Professor]] Aronnax, not because he will kill him, but because Nemo pretends that [[Gilded Cage|Aronnax will never abandon the Nautilus]].
{{quote|
''"Sir," the captain answered me, "there can be no secrets between men who will never leave each other."''
''I ignored this innuendo and waited for Captain Nemo's explanation.'' }}
* Partially averted in [[L Neil Smith]]'s THE VENUS BELT, where the protagonist notes "I had already had the cliche interview with the head villain, and I still didn't know what was going on."
* In [[Juliet Marillier]] 's Daughter of the Forest, the villain has the heroine in his power and planning to burn her as a witch. He takes to visiting her in her cell to gloat. As he is convinced she really cannot talk, he lets slip some things he might otherwise not have divulged. Of course, when she does regain her voice, she tells his nephew (and his enemy) all about it.
* {{spoiler|The Sphinx}} does this in the final book in ''[[Fablehaven]],'' after having Seth in his clutches, he actually tells him that his victory is so assured, he'd like to have one honest conversation with one of his respected nemeses. He then goes on to explain in detail his origins, his source of power (and weaknesses thereof) and all the other things that usually pertain to this trope. He then has Seth sent to his dungeon, and, for the most part, doesn't really suffer any consequences from this particular discussion.
* Becomes a plot point in the third book of ''[[Mistborn]]'', when the [[Big Bad]], a certified [[Eldritch Abomination]], manifests to the heroine for no other reason than to gloat, but she can't figure out what he's getting out of it. {{spoiler|She then realizes that it's just to satisfy his ego- leading her to the correct conclusion that he's on some level human and fallible}}.
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[
** Nicely Lampshaded the episode "Utopia", where {{spoiler|the newly regenerated Master}} says to The Doctor: "Why don't we stop and have a nice little chat while I tell you all my plans and you can work out a way to stop me, ''I don't think''!"
** He goes and does exactly that with {{spoiler|the Time Lords}} in "The End of Time Part 2". He definitely knew by that point that it's a bad idea to tell your {{spoiler|nemesis}} your plan, and yet he tells it to {{spoiler|the President of the Time Lords}}, a man with near godlike technology at his disposal.
** This of course happens in a great deal of Doctor Who serials, both Classic & Nu-Who, but a notable subversion is in ''City of Death'':
{{quote|
'''The Doctor''': May I ask where you got these?
'''Count Scarlioni''': No.
'''The Doctor''': Or how you knew they were here?
'''Count Scarlioni''': No.
'''The Doctor''': They've been walled up a long time?
'''Count Scarlioni''': Yes.
'''The Doctor''': I like concise answers!
'''Count Scarlioni''': Good. }}
** This gets brought up again in ''The Robots of Death'':
{{quote|
'''Taren Capel''': Oh no Doctor. I’m going to burn out your brain. Very very slowly. }}
::: Of course he spills the beans about his plan a few minutes later, but it's still a good line.
** The Doctor tries to deliberately - not to mention directly - invoke this in "The Vampires of Venice" when surrounded by said vampires:
{{quote|
''[The vampires simply hiss at him]''
'''Eleventh Doctor''': ''One'' day that'll work... }}
** Parodied in "The Lodger" when Craig, the ordinary guy the Doctor is lodging with, begins to tell the Doctor all his fairly modest ideas for how the call centre he works at can streamline effectively and what he wants to do with his life out of the blue, before realizing out loud that he's telling all of this to a complete stranger. Obviously referring to the countless maniacs who like to monologue at him, the Doctor assures him that he's not the first.
{{quote|
* The demons in ''[[Supernatural]]'' have a bad habit of doing this. Meg, Tammi, even Azazel have given up easy victories this way. Other monsters' modus operandi tend to be exposited in other ways, from arcane research.
** [[Lampshaded]] by Dean in "Devil's Trap" with, "Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? Cause I really can't stand the monologuing." This turns out to be a slight mistake {{spoiler|when his organs start to, y'know, liquefy}}.
** Surprisingly averted when new [[Big Bad]] Lilith has both heroes helpless. Sam tries to bargain with her; she points out he has nothing she wants, and Dean tries to prompt a bit of monologuing. "So, is this your big plan, huh? Drag me to hell. Kill Sam. And then what? Become queen bitch?" Lilith simply replies "I don't have to answer to puppy chow," and {{spoiler|sets the hellhounds on him, killing him}} before immediately {{spoiler|attempting to kill Sam. It didn't work, but not for want of trying at least, and it wasn't until the next season we actually found out what her plan is}}
** [[Not So Different|The angels, especially Zachariah, enjoy monologuing as well,]] which is how Dean discovers the identity of the [[Load-Bearing Boss|final seal]] before [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Sam breaks it.]]
* [[Lampshade Hanging]] in ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]'': when an assassin has Sledge tied to a [[Death Trap]], he tells him how he intends to kill the captain. Sledge responds by saying, "I'll never understand why you guys explain your whole plan before you kill somebody."
* Subverted in the ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'' episode "Dummy." The murderer makes a full confession while the heroes are wrapped in body bags and locked inside a car, so they can't actually hear a word of what he's saying.
* Lampshaded in a ''[[Dollhouse]]'' episode.
{{quote|
'''Cindy''': Because it's funny. And because you won't remember it. }}
* In both the miniseries and novel ''[[Neverwhere]]'' the villain {{spoiler|Islington}} explains his plan to the heroes. This partly justified, as he believes his plan cannot be stopped, and he genuinely wants to convince the heroes to join him. The page quote is from the DVD commentary.
* "[[Chuck]] Versus the Ring Part II:"
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Little Green Men", ''[[Plucky Middie|Nog]]'' of all people unleashes a
* In ''Loyalty'', one of the later [[Horatio Hornblower]] TV films, Hornblower and his men taken prisoner after a [[The Mole|traitor]] on their ship hands them over to the French. Hornblower is invited to [[No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine|dinner]], where the traitor reveals that he is neither the only traitor nor even the biggest traitor in Admiral Pellew's squadron. Hornblower notes that it would be cruel to send him to his death without even telling him who the traitor is. Of course, {{spoiler|[[The Mole]] is [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]], and simply agrees that it would be cruel, before [[Subverted Trope|sending Hornblower back to his cell.]]}}
* In the ''[[
* In Heroes, Sylar tells Alejandro that he plans on using Maya as a toy after he gets her to harness her plague power. It's justified in this case, as he is perfectly aware that Alejandro won't understand a thing he says anyways, as Alejandro does not speak nor understand English.
== Radio ==
* Parodied in ''[[Nebulous]]'', when the eponymous professor is captured by the evil Klench.
{{quote|
'''Dr. Klench:''' Why should I? The information's no use to you.
'''Nebulous:''' To... satisfy my curiosity?
'''Dr. Klench:''' It's irrelevant. Any minute now you're going to be a dead body. }}
* And in ''[[
{{quote|
'''Pip Bin''': Just give me a hint?
'''Mr Gently Benevolent''': Oh, all right. }}
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[
* In the ''Marvel Super-Heroes'' RPG, the section on villains actually outlines this in game terms: villains get a karma bonus for telling the heroes their plans.
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', an [[Dark Messiah|Infernal Exalt]] who has offended his or her demonic masters can atone by behaving like a [[Card-Carrying Villain]]. One method is called "Infernal Genius Declaration," and involves showing off to a captured and helpless enemy by delivering a monologue describing his or her evil plan in great detail. The Infernal will receive this atonement, incidentally, whether this monologue leads to their plans being thwarted or not.
* ''[[Car Wars]]''. ''Autoduel Quarterly'' magazine Volume 7 #2, adventure "Mutant Zone". If the [[PC
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Portal 2]]''{{context}}
* Lampshaded in ''[[Paper Mario:
** A very similar moment occurs in ''[[Advance Wars]]: Dual Strike'' (which was made by Intelligent Systems, the same people who made ''Thousand Year Door''). When questioned about Black Hole's recovery, [[Teen Genius]] Lash responds: "Duh! Like I'd tell you that!"
* Subverted and lampshaded in ''[[
** One of the Big Bad's hirelings even muses, "No doubt he feels a villain is always undone in the exposition. [[Genre Savvy|I cannot say I blame him.]] I have many a dead friend that boasted when silence would have served."
* Parodied several times in the ''[[Monkey Island]]'' series. In ''[[Monkey Island 2:
* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series
** Subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', where the heroes, while sneaking through the Magitek Factory, overhear Kefka rambling about his desire to awaken the Warring Triad statues, but Kefka still seems to succeed in that plan, even though the heroes overheard him.
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*** The book In the Darkness of Shadow Moses implies that the above part about Liquid was actually a subversion, as they were actually fully aware that they were being listened in on, but deliberately continued talking about their "plans" in order to keep the mission control fooled.
** In Portable Ops, Lt. Cunningham, after Snake boarded the elevator, explained that he was actually working for the Department of Defense and not for either Gene or for the CIA, and explained that the DOD planned on having Gene launch a nuke at the Soviet Union in order to tarnish the CIA's reputation as an efficient intelligence group, and later nuke the San Hieronymo Peninsula to eliminate any involvement from America, even using a Soviet-made Davy Crockett just for good measure, and exposits the fact that Snake was also being used by the DOD. Justified in that he did actually think Snake would side with Cunningham (hence why he told him), which Snake proved him wrong by attacking him.
** Double subverted in [[Metal Gear Solid]] with Ocelot (albeit retroactively): After the second torture session with Snake, he exposits that his "true" plan was to restore Mother Russia to former glory. However, in [[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]], he makes it clear that he actually has no interest in resurrecting Russia to its former glory, and in fact, for all he cares, it could rot, even demonstrating it by betraying and gunning down Gurlukovich. However, the third torture session has him admitting that he actually plans on reigniting conflict, feeling that the lack of it is causing people's true feelings to be surpressed, was played completely straight, especially when you take into account his actions as Liquid Ocelot in [[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]].
*** Ocelot's loyalty was actually subverted in the first game's [[The Stinger|post-credits dialogue]], when it's revealed he was reporting to {{spoiler|the President of the United States}}.
* Parodied in one of the bonus scenes from ''[[
* ''[[Resident Evil]] 4'' had a particularly bad example. Saddler's plan revolves around kidnapping The [[Presidents Daughter]], infecting her with the Virus, having her rescued, and then have her take control of the United States from within. And he goes and tells her rescuer the entire plan as she's being rescued. Smart move, villain.
** [[Let's Play|The Dark Id]] had a field day with that one.
* Used in several games of the ''[[Tales
* At the end of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]] III: Tribunal'', {{spoiler|the [[Physical God]] Almalexia explains to the [[Player Character]] how she convinced him/her that another god, Sotha Sil had gone insane and tried to attack the capital city of Mournhold, while it was all in fact orchestrated by her so that she could kill the other two gods of the Tribunal, turn the player into an unwilling martyr, and rule as the sole remaining god herself.}}
** {{spoiler|Her}} reasons for doing so seems to be twofold: one, {{spoiler|she used to be the possibly loyal, possibly not wife of Nerevar, and is convinced you are his reincarnation}}, and two, {{spoiler|her grip on reality is not the best anymore}}.
* An interesting one in ''[[
* Can happen in ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'' near the end of the Omerta quest line, with one of the mob bosses. On the other hand, it takes a pretty high Speech skill to get him to talk, so it might be a subversion.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]'', new villain Ghirahim is very chatty every time you meet him. He [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade on it]] by saying he has an urge to vent, and even goes as far as [[He Knows About Timed Hits|giving you pointers on sword fighting]] in your first battle with him.
== [[Web Animation]] ==
* Almost a description of the trope itself in the ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' [[Machinima]] movie ''[[Tales of the Past]] 3'', when {{spoiler|Arthas}} and {{spoiler|Blazer}} speak on top of dragon sculptures :
{{quote|
{{spoiler|'''Blazer:'''}} (pauses) ''Why should I believe you?''
{{spoiler|'''Arthas:'''}} ''I [[Villains Never Lie|never lie]]. I'm simply telling you because there is no way you can defeat me... And I would love watching you die in agony, realizing that you failed them all... again.'' }}
* At the end of ''[[Broken Saints]]'', [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|Lear Dunham}} spells out, in detail, his motives and the origins of his big plan to the heroes. {{spoiler|The whole point of him telling them (and of their involvement in the plot at all) was so they would be inspired by his vision and join him as his chief apostles.}}
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Hilariously subverted in ''[[
* Once more, ''[[Basic Instructions]]'' gives us simple step by step guidelines to this practice, including how to deal with the rude assassin when he's already escaped your trap and has a gun pointed at Kitty.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131108001158/http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=10227 Parodied] in ''[[Narbonic]]'', when [[Mad Scientist]] Helen gets another scientist's henchman to explain ''her own plan'' to her as a stalling tactic.
{{quote|
* Nale from ''[[
{{quote|
** [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0420.html Roy tells Belkar] how they plan to cheat the system by negotiating the latter's crime down from murder to manslaughter, then accepting a deal with would knock 5 years off the four year minimum sentence... right next to Hinjo (who's a nice guy, but also [[Lawful Good]]) who promptly hands down a stiffer sentence so Belkar can't weasel out of his punishment.
{{quote|
'''Belkar''': What!?
'''Hinjo''': Yeah, well you probably shouldn't have discussed how you plan to beat the system in front of the guy charged with upholding the system. }}
** The black dragon mother [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0628.html explains her plan for revenge upon Vaarsuvius]. Explaining the plan is, in fact, part of the plan.
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** Elan's father later gives one to Elan, explaining every detail of how his plan is going to go, including his death. And explaining the plan actually gives him the better result.
** Redcloak gives it a shot {{spoiler|when Tsukiko figures out part of his plan. Then he takes control of her undead servants and has them kill and eat her, then each other. And that's why you don't mess with Redcloak.}}
{{quote|
'''Redcloak:''' [[I Lied|Yes, I know. That's why I've kept it from him for more than 30 years.]] }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081211000051/http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0205.html In this strip] of ''[[Adventurers
* General Gray in the ''[[Jump Leads]]'' issue ''Who Wants to Rule the World?'' averts this, despite being an otherwise textbook case of [[Contractual Genre Blindness]]. After all, "before I kill you, let me tell you my plan" only works if you have any actual intention of killing the person you're talking to.
* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' Torg [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=991001 plays on Dr. Steve's] [[Contractual Genre Blindness]] to invoke this trope.
{{quote|
'''Torg:''' But wait, don't you want to reveal your master plan to me?
'''Dr. Steve:''' No.
'''Torg:''' If you were a ''real'' villain, you'd tell me your master plan before killing me.
'''Dr. Steve:''' Hmmmm .
'''Torg:''' After you tell me your master plan, you can strap me to a table and cut me in half with a laser.
'''Dr. Steve:''' How about I tie you to a chair and blind you with a pen light?
'''Torg:''' Deal!
'''Dr. Steve:''' Let's do it! }}
* Used and [[Lampshaded]] in [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0329.html this] ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' strip.
* ''[[Golden Age of Adventurers]]'' [http://goldenage.comicgenesis.com/d/20051218.html explains] why it's done, as well as possible drawbacks (mostly, awkward moments).
== Web Original ==
* Item #7 on the [[Evil Overlord List]] advises to act as a [[No-Nonsense Nemesis]] and [[Why Don't
* [[
** Not to mention that Captain Hammer gloated to Horrible an act earlier that he was going to sleep with Penny just to piss Horrible off.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jao77MSC1ck This] review of [[Genetos]] ends with a subversion, or rather, [[The Reveal|reveals]] that the entire review was a subversion. One review actually reviews the game while the other [[Cloudcuckoolander|spouts nonsense]] the entire time, at the end it's discovered that his nonsense dialogue was being scrambled, and that actually he was revealing a master plan.
** [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|And no, he won't be repeating it now that the scrambler's off.]]
* The villain in [[Greek Ninja]] does this with Sasha (he also hits on her, but that's unrelated).
== Western Animation ==
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** Kim's high school rival Bonnie is [[Chained Heat|attached to her]] in "Bonding" and interrupts Professor Dementor's ranting to ask why he doesn't just get on with his plan. Annoyed, both Dementor and Kim tell her that that's the way these things are done.
* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' has this happening between ''two villains''. Starscream has Megatron cornered and helpless, but being something of a [[Large Ham]], he of course takes time to gloat. Bumblebee then bursts in, scoring a direct hit on Starscream with his stingers... which does nothing. He then goes berserk, mostly concerned that, as he put it:
{{quote|
* ''[[
* From an episode of ''[[Duckman]]'': "They never just kill ya. There's always a lecture."
* ''[[
* Parodied in the ''[[Invader Zim]]'' episode "Tak: The Hideous New Girl," where Tak explains part one of her plan to cause [[The End of the World
* ''[[Barbie and
* Dr. Zin to Dr. Quest in ''[[Jonny Quest]]'' TOS episodes "The Robot Spy" and "The Fraudulent Volcano". Justified in the former when Dr. Zin notes that he thinks showing off his robot does no harm considering that his enemies will not be able to stop it leaving. When the Robot makes a break for it, Quest, Race Bannon and staff of the military base learn that their enemy wasn't bluffing as they are stymied for a way to bring the machine down.
* Constantly parodied [[Subverted Trope]], [[Inverted Trope]] and [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] [[Once an Episode]] in ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' when Perry the Platypus is captured by Dr. Doofenshmirtz in his lair. Sometimes Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz act as good friends, though Perry never fails to thwart the villain anyway. The whole [[Evil Gloating]] thing seems to be part of the Secret Agent/Evil Scientist contract. Doofensmirtz even says that since Perry's his nemesis, he has to tell him everything. Sometimes with visual presentations, pop-up books or musical numbers [[Summon Backup Dancers|complete with backing dancers]].
* Actually [[Justified Trope]] in the ''[[Justice League]]'' crossover episode of ''[[Static Shock]]'', where Braniac explains his plans to Static and Gear to distract them until he can attack.
* Used
{{quote|
* ''[[The New Adventures of Superman]]'' episode "The Saboteurs". The [[Villain]] "The Chief" tells Lois Lane and Clark Kent his plan after he captures them.
* In one episode of ''[[
* ''[[Star Trek:
== Real Life ==
* [[Adolf Hitler]] wrote [[Mein Kampf|a book]], while in prison, detailing ''exactly'' what he intended to do, '''before''' he was elected chancellor. Perhaps the most brutal subversion of this trope. Even more, his fellow inmates suggested he write the book because they were sick of listening to him talk about it.
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