Only the Knowledgable May Pass: Difference between revisions

 

Compare [[Trust Password]], [[Only the Worthy May Pass]], [[Only the Pure of Heart]].

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Winter War]]'', while meeting in an occupied city, Soi Fong and one of her Onmitsukidou use lines from a Tang Chinese poem as a password, switching off in the middle of lines and then skipping to the end. While someone sufficiently learned might know the poem, they probably wouldn't know when to switch off, or recognize what was going on based on the first phrase.

{{quote|Kage: After battle...

Kage: ...worries and grieves. (''Pause'') To many places, communication is lost. I sit straight at my desk but cannot read my books for grief. }}

 

* In ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', there was a bridge nobody could pass without correctly answering the guardian's questions. Those who failed were thrown down the abyss. King Arthur broke the curse when he was asked a question about sparrows and asked which kind of sparrows. Not knowing the answer, the guardian was [[Hoist by His Own Petard]].

* In ''Frankenstein: The College Years'', Doctor Lipzigger's computer security demands, in addition to a keycard he bequeathed to the protagonists, the answers to two questions: One about chemistry, the other about ''[[Star Trek]]''. It was meant so that only the protagonists may unlock it.

 

* ''[[Dune]]'': Lady Jessica is able to gain acceptance among the Fremen by using phrases planted in their culture by the Missionaria Protectiva (which manipulates religious beliefs to benefit the Bene Gesserit).

* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'', students in Hogwarts need a password to enter their dormitories. (With the exception of the students in Ravenclaw, who use a riddle -- [[Only Smart People May Pass]].)

** [[Fridge Logic]]: What's stopping a Gryffindor or Slytherin who can figure the riddle out from getting into Ravenclaw dorms when they shouldn't?

* Doubly subverted in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'', since while the DoorKeeper of the House of Foryx doesn't allow Jenna and Beetle to enter even after they have resolved the puzzle that is The Right of The Riddle, they eventually get into the house with violence.

 

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', when the Doctor meets up with the amnesiac Brigadier, teaching at a boys' school, the Brigadier's attitude undergoes an abrupt change when the Doctor mentions UNIT—he still doesn't know him, but anyone with sufficient secret clearance to mention it ought to know better than to talk like that.

* On ''[[No Ordinary Family]]'' JJ proves he belongs in the Smart People's Club by citing its latitude & longitudinal coordinates.

* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]''. In several published adventures, using your [[Cthulhu Mythos]] knowledge when speaking to cultists allows you to pass yourself off as one of them, which can considerably increase your life expectancy.

 

* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', Dara uses it twice:

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080917 Violetta inverts it], thinking that Moloch's ability to get into the rafters shows he must have been trained or have some secret knowledge. He assures her that he knows he doesn't want to get munched on by the thing below them.

* In ''[[Erstwhile]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20131004063334/http://www.erstwhiletales.com/maidmaleen-26/#.T298lNm6SuI the prince questions the bride about things during the ceremony and says if she doesn't know them, she's not his true bride.]

 

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[[Category:Narrative Devices]]

[[Category:Information Desk]]