Sarcastic Confession: Difference between revisions

* [[Haruhi Suzumiya]] does not believe Kyon because he has already established himself as a [[Deadpan Snarker]].

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]!'', chapter 82:

'''Setsuna:''' WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS!! }}

** It even got [[Lampshade|lampshaded]]:

** Of course the best part is that even the audience doesn't know yet.

** During the Magical World arc, {{spoiler|we find out that the layout of the world they are on is similar to the planet Mars, and that [[Funny Aneurysm Moment|"joke"]] that Chao made earlier really IS a [[Cassandra Truth]]}}.

** [[Alternative Character Interpretation|Not fast enough, huh?]]

* In an early issue, [[Spider-Man]] is injured in battle with the Vulture and spends the rest of the issue with his arm in a sling, telling people he hurt it in P.E. Betty refuses to believe this is the case and asks him for the truth:

'''Betty:''' Oh well. Ask a silly question, get a silly answer. }}

** In another issue, Mary Jane's Aunt Anna confronts her with the evidence that Peter is constantly sneaking off at all hours and meeting with strange people, so obviously he's having an affair. MJ sarcastically explains that the real reason he does that stuff is because he's Spider-Man.

** Subverted when an inquisitor investigating the witchbreed insiders takes his statement at face value to use it as a confession.

* From a ''[[Big Top]]'' story arc, where Dusty has been secretly replaced by a robot duplicate:

'''Dustybot:''' I'm just needy. Hold me, human. }}

* There was a Marvel comic quoted in other Marvel comics with the line: "The best way to keep a good secret is to tell everybody - then nobody believes you."

* This was how the Metans operated in Dikto's version of ''[[Shade the Changing Man]]'': their outpost on Earth was disguised as a conspiracy theory insisting Metans were amongst us.

* [[The Flash|The Trickster]] does this in the prelude to ''[[Blue Devil]]''.

'''Security Guard''': Ha ha! Always with the jokes! }}

 

== Fan Works ==

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|NGE]]'' fanfic ''[[Taking Sights]]'' indicates that you have to be real careful what you tell Rei because she CAN read between lines (despite her emotionless nature)...

'''Asuka:''' It's stupid crap girls gotta do if they wanna [[Unusual Euphemism|get their mack on with the dude they want to bone]] -- like cooking them lunch first or being all fake demure -- because if they don't do it then everyone else thinks she's a slut.<br />

'''Rei:''' Ah, so your behavior towards Mister Kaji is explained by [[Brutal Honesty|your desire to "bone" him but to not appear promiscuous for wanting to do so]].<br />

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', when Kyon's mother asks him if he's stopped being a delinquent, he replies that he's skipped straight to {{spoiler|joining the [[Yakuza]].}}

** Kyon uses Sarcastic Confessions many more times in the same fic, including the following gem (to {{spoiler|Sasaki, the resident [[Agent Scully]]}}):

* In the ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4754499/1/To_See_You_Again To See You Again]'', when Yuriko's parents demand to know what's been going on for the past forty chapters or so, she says, {{spoiler|"[Kenshin] came through a [[Time Travel|time-warp]], and I'm the [[Reincarnation]] [[Reincarnation Romance|of his wife]]."}} plus {{spoiler|"I mean, he's not like a hundred and fifty!"}} Of course, this is exactly what happened. {{spoiler|Yuriko's father actually figured out it was the truth by the epilogue. He was cool with it}}.

* In the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' [[Peggy Sue]] fanfiction ''[[Oh God Not Again (Fanfic)|Oh God, Not Again]]'', Harry constantly tells the truth about how he knows certain things, stating specifically that no one would believe the truth anyway.

* At one point in the ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5491874/7/Ghost_Zone_Experience Ghost Zone Experience]'', Maddie angrily tells Danny (when he's in his [[Secret Identity|ghost form]]) not to swipe their ghost hunting equipment (again). After [[Beat|a moment]], he cheekily replies with "Yes, mother."

* [[Yet Again|A quick snippet between Yugito and A.]]

 

 

* ''The Girl Next Door'': "Do those girls go to your school?" "No, actually, they're porn stars."

* In ''[[Grosse Pointe Blank]]'', Martin Blank tells each character the truth that he is an assassin when they ask him his profession. Of course they take it as a joke.

'''Paul:''' Do you have to do postgraduate work for that or can you just jump right in? }}

* In ''[[Hard Candy]]'', Hayley jokingly says early on that "Nine out of ten doctors agree: I'm crazy." Later, she repeats it, [[Ironic Echo|not at all jokingly]].

* ''[[In Bruges]]'': Ray, a hitman whose first job (assassinating a priest) went horribly awry when he accidentally killed a little boy, is asked during a date what he does for a living.

'''Ray:''' There is for priests, there isn't for children. }}

** ''[[In Bruges]]'' applies this trope to other characters too. But since the movie doesn't take place from their perspective, the audience finds themselves on the ''receiving end'' of sarcastic confessions and are not sure whether the character is telling the truth or just being sarcastic.

** It's also worth mentioning that the reason she was forced to do this was because she was under a spell that made her unable to lie.

* In ''[[Red Eye (film)|Red Eye]]'', there was a minor case of this. Jackson Rippner is very unhappy about his [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|meaningful name...]]

'''Jackson:''' No! That's what I told them! Right before [[Self-Made Orphan|I killed them]]. }}

** The dialogue first third of that film is almost entirely composed of [[Sarcastic Confession|Sarcastic Confessions]], until he makes it clear he's not joking.

* Cardinal Richelieu does this in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1993). King Louis tells the Cardinal that he's heard rumors that he is planning to betray him. Richelieu responds:

* In ''[[Night Hawks]]'', the [[Big Bad]] is flirting with a girl when she asks him what he does for a living.

* In ''[[Closer]]'', Larry ask Alice (while she works as his stripper) what her real name is, and spends a good amount of money on it. She tells him it's Jane Jones. That being a rather unusual name, he doesn't believe her of course. At the end of the movie, we see her passport ...

* In ''The Accidental Golfer'', Bruno at one point is asked by his wife who just called him. He says truthfully that it was his lover. "Haha." his wife sarcastically answers.

** Sadly, it would've worked better if he'd just told them 'east' or 'west'.

* In ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'', principal [[Dean Bitterman|Richard Vernon]] tries to publicly shame [[Jerkass|John Bender]] for having pulled a false fire alarm, leading to his detention:

'''Bender:''' Impossible, sir, it's in Johnson's underwear. }}

** Of course, earlier in the film he had indeed tucked his bag of weed into [[Geek|Brian Johnson]]'s pants.

* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''

** Jack Sparrow does this with the two bickering redcoats, then points out that he knew they wouldn't believe him.

'''Jack Sparrow:''' Unless, of course, he knew you wouldn't believe the truth even if he told it to you. }}

** In ''On Stranger Tides'', Angelica tells Jack the truth about her being Blackbeard's daughter, but in such a way that he thinks she tricked Blackbeard into believing a lie.

* [[Show Me Love]]: Elin mixes this with [[Not Listening to Me, Are You?]] and adds in a pile of [[Coming Out Story|"Really needs to say this aloud to another person."]]

[Mom looks bewildered and then mentally shrugs and returns to her show.] }}

* In ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There]]'', Ed's wife is accused of murdering her paramour. Their lawyer is trying to come up with a story -- any story -- that might convince the jury that she didn't do it. Ed then relates the whole, unvarnished truth to his lawyer, telling him ''he'' did it in self defense because the victim saw through Ed's blackmail scheme and tried to strangle him. The lawyer's response? 'Bah! No jury would believe such a ''ridiculous'' story! You can't keep helping each other like this'. The crazy thing is that the lawyer doesn't hear the confession at all. He only hears a possible story to tell the jury, as it is story that won't work, he forgets it. The lawyer cannot even understand 'truth' 'lies' 'what really happened'. 'Reality' has no meaning for him, it is ALL only 'what will the jury believe'.

* Happens a few times in Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' books.

** In ''[[Discworld/The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents|The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents]]'', Malicia (the mayor's daughter) is an avid "storyteller" with a flair for the dramatic, insisting that every ordinary aspect of life in general has some sort of fairytale-themed supernatural basis. Of course, by this point nobody in town ever believes anything she says, so when the adults of the town finally stop carrying the [[Idiot Ball]] and go looking for the bad guys (for the wrong reason, of course) and question her and Keith, it leads to this little gem:

** In ''[[Discworld/Going Postal|Going Postal]]'', Moist Von Lipwig often states the truth of what he is as a criminal, and what he does, but in such a way that everyone takes it as him being heroic... and the only one who believes him (and who didn't know beforehand) not only forgives him for what he did that hurt her personally, but also enjoys watching him when he's in the midst of his latest scheme. Oh, and is his fiancée.

*** In Making Money, when this same phenomenon suddenly becomes tremendously inconvenient, he laments that he must have some dual superpower, to allow little old ladies to see right through him, but like what they see.

** In ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]'', Twyla's parents asked her governess Susan why she's going into the basement with a poker. Susan answered that Twyla thought she heard a monster in the basement. The parents then assumed that Susan was going to pretend to beat up a monster to assure Twyla that it was safe. They thought the bent poker was a nice touch...

* At the end of Patricia Briggs' ''[[Mercy Thompson|Mooncalled]]'', when asked about a large bruise, Jesse explains that her father had killed the one who gave it to her and it's laughed off, the questioner unaware that her father is the alpha of the local werewolf pack and really did kill the guy. Later, Mercy is asked about her broken arm.

"Ha-ha," he said in the exact same tone as I'd given his joke. "Must have been something stupid if you won't tell the truth." }}

* Subverted in [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s short story "The Worst Crime in the World", in which [[Father Brown]] accompanies a lawyer to visit the father of Captain Musgrave. The priest's niece is considering marriage with the captain, while the lawyer's firm is considering lending him money, so they're interested in his character (and whether his father is on good enough terms with him to leave him money). The father says that while he will leave his son the estate, he will never speak to him again, because his son committed "the worst crime in the world". {{spoiler|In fact, the captain had murdered his father just before they arrived, and was passing himself off as his father during the conversation.}}

* In [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''The Murder at the Vicarage'' (the first [[Miss Marple]] novel), {{spoiler|two characters give implausible confessions shortly after the murder, apparently in mutual attempts to shield each other}}. In fact, they are telling the truth but are not believed.

* Another [[Agatha Christie]] example: In ''Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'', the heroine, with the help of a doctor, decides to fake a car wreck in order to gain entrance to what she believes is the murderer's house. The results in the following exchange:

'''Doctor:''' No, the lady ran her car into the wall on purpose. }}

* At the end of [[Sherlock Holmes|"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"]], [[Inspector Lestrade|Lestrade]] comes and gives Holmes a description of one of the men seen fleeing Milverton's residence the night he was murdered. Holmes laughs at the vagueness of the description and declines to take the case. "Why, that might even be a description of Watson..." {{spoiler|They witnessed his murder by a noblewoman of high standing, having broken in for information in the first place.}}

*** Sansa's catching on, [[Evil Mentor|but only with Littlefinger helping her]].

*** In that vein, Tyrion gets a sort of Sarcastic Confession of his own, when he is on trial for {{spoiler|the murder of King Joffrey, his nephew.}} After he loses his trial by combat, he confesses to the only accusation he's actually guilty of--being born a dwarf and disappointing his lord father, complete with [[Ironic Echo]] to the first book.

*** Also a very funny one when he is on trial for throwing Bran off the roof of the Starks' castle.

* In [[Ellery Queen]]'s ''Inspector Queen's Own Case: November Song'', when the adopted baby is smothered, his mother breaks down in hysterics, blaming herself; her husband ends up sending her to a very discreet private hospital to try to recover. {{spoiler|In fact, she had learned that the baby was her husband's illegitimate son, and had snapped and killed the boy.}}

* Subverted in ''Into the Thinking Kingdom'', where Simna when captured mentions something about his captors. When they ask how he knows he sarcastically says "A little bird told me" which is just a saying. His captors freak out, as it turns out they actually have birds that are basically thought reading parrots, and they start to think that Simna is actually an extremely perceptive and dangerous person.

* In ''[[Night World]]'', Quinn talks to some girls at a death-themed club he frequents that he might be from another world, or that maybe he isn't human. When [[Action Girl|Rashel]] says that she came to the club to find darkness while [[Dressing as the Enemy|flirting with him]], he laughs, "And you found it!" Lampshaded:

* In ''[[The Alchemist]]'', when guards ask the eponymous Alchemist what the egg and bottle of liquid in his possession are, he replies that they're actually the fabled Philosopher's Stone and Elixir of Life, and they share a good laugh. He later explains to the young protagonist that he could tell them the truth because only wise men can recognize truth in front of them.

* [[Stanislaw Lem]]'s ''Peace on the Earth'' contains "history" of weapon design in the beginning of the third millenium. It was published separately with preface claiming that the text is secret document in future, and the author found no better way to hide the document than to publish it as Sci-Fi.

* Bit of an inversion in ''[[Dangerous Liaisons]]'': Valmont was having an affair with a woman whose bedroom was placed between her husband's and her lover's rooms. When she tried to go back to her room the door was locked. Valmont convinced her to scream loudly, then he broke down the door, letting her run into bed while pretending to the husband and lover that she had been screaming for some minutes before they heard her pretending that she woke up and thought there was an intruder. She was able to truthfully claim that she had never been so terrified.

* Alden Nowlan's poem "Fair Warning", where the author is detailing his imprisonment of his brother, explains why the poem exists:

that would convict me'' }}

* At the start of ''[[Night Watch|The Day Watch]]'' Alisa gets a lift to work, and tells the driver she's a witch who wants to turn people to darkness. He thinks she's joking and plays along. She later uses the same trick on a group of little girls she ends up looking after.

* Done in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Star Wars EU]] novel ''Rogue Planet'', when Anakin tells a guard that he's talking to {{spoiler|the planet himself, who is getting ready to blast the invaders out of the sky.}}

* In ''[[The Time Traveler's Wife]]'', Clare pulls this when Alicia tells her she could swear she once saw a naked 40-year-old Henry in her house.

'''Clare:''' [[Involuntary Time Travel|Time travel]].<br />

'''Alicia:''' Oh, yeah, right. God, how bizarre. }}

* In the world of [[Robin Hobb]]'s [[Realm of the Elderlings]], "the Wit", a magic allowing for communication with animals, is considered by many to be a vile sort of magic, justly punishable by death. In one scene in Fool's Errand, Fitz uses it to help him track a missing prince, his companion doesn't believe his lies as to how he managed it, and before thinking, he admits (sarcastically) that he could have used the Wit. Of course, Laurel didn't believe that, either.

* From ''[[The Shadowof the Lion]]'':

'''Father Lopez:''' I did. When I see him again, I will tell him you're looking for him. }}

 

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]''. House was taken away by the CIA, and when he called Dr. Wilson, Wilson (at least initially) [[Cassandra Truth|didn't believe him]]. Dr. Cuddy (their boss) asks Wilson where House is, and she [[Cassandra Truth|doesn't believe Wilson, either]]. At the end of the episode, Cuddy asks House where he's been, and tells him he better not say it was the CIA or she'll give House and Wilson extra clinic hours. House then had to come up with an alternative explanation Cuddy will actually believe. Unfortunately, Cuddy wouldn't believe that House would be willing to be hired for a day by a rich guy with a sick child, stating that it's actually ''more'' plausible that House was with the CIA (and they get the extra clinic hours).

** Used straight in the episode "Top Secret", where Foreman almost catches Chase and Cameron having sex at the workplace while they should be watching over a patient. When he later inquires what they were doing, Chase comes with a quick and shady excuse that just seems to make the exposing of their naughty deed inevitable. At this point Cameron tells the truth, which Foreman just grimaces over and drops the subject.

** Used again in the season finale of season 4, when Wilson asks House what he didn't say aloud about Amber while he was under hypnosis. House responds honestly, "I wanted to see her naked," but Wilson doesn't believe him originally.

** Also in the recent season. While not actually spoken, the detective guy gives Cuddy a picture of House as a college cheerleader to earn her trust. She admits she knew the picture was falsified. Turns out it wasn't.

** Yet again, season 5 episode 7, when his employees ask House why Cuddy went to talk to him, he just blurts it out. No one believes him, except Wilson, later on.

'''House:''' Huh. Everyone else thought I was kidding. }}

** Some House/Wilson shippers like to think House does this in the episode "The Mistake".

'''House:''' I'm gay. ''(Stacy looks unimpressed)'' Oh, that's not what you meant! It does explain a lot, though. No girlfriend... always with Wilson... obsession with sneakers... }}

* ''[[Psych]]'': When a criminal makes Shawn prove his [[Psychic Powers]] by telling how many fingers he's holding up behind his back, Shawn can see the fingers using an overly-elaborate series of reflections including a TV, mirror, and glass of water. When he tells the criminal that's what's going on, he, naturally, doesn't believe him.

** It helped immensely that Parker, the main character, prefaced his statement with, paraphrasing, "They took me out of this insane asylum..."

* ''[[New Amsterdam]]'' is shaping up to be this way (paraphrase):

'''Main Character:''' Was for a while. Back in Normandy. A shell exploded too close for comfort. }}

** He does that a LOT. He tells anyone who asks that he's an immortal 400-year-old.

** One example, IIRC: "You show people a diploma and they assume you're some kind of expert."

* From ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'':

'''Chuck:''' I died. [[First-Episode Resurrection|He brought me back to life.]] Cahoots enough for you?<br />

'''Olive:''' If you don't want to tell me, just say so. }}

* In ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' after Blair {{spoiler|loses her virginity to Chuck}}, her on-again-off-again boyfriend Nate has the following conversation with Chuck, who is also Nate's best friend:

'''Chuck:''' Who better indeed. }}

* In a ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'' episode where Sally, Tommy and Harry broke into Mary's house and decided to stay even after Officer Don showed up:

'''Sally:''' Uh... yeah. Otherwise I'd be this strange person that broke in and was hanging around even though the police told me to leave. }}

* ''[[Dexter]]'' often uses such to put people at their ease. Regarding a therapist he's investigating:

'''Dexter:''' He's all right. But I'm a sociopath, so there's not much he can do for me. }}

** And in a flashback to his first date with Rita, she says his sister has been telling her all about him, and he jokes, "You mean she admitted the fact that I'm an ax murderer?"

*** Actually, that's not ''exactly'' a confession. He uses a big knife.

* In ''[[Primeval]]'', after a mammoth has ravaged the M25 Motorway, this exchange occurs between [[Butterfly of Doom|Jenny]] and an [[Intrepid Reporter]]:

'''Reporter:''' I could do without the wind up. }}

* Clark Kent has used the same tactic as in the animated series on ''[[Smallville]]'', such as when he and Pete discover Rose Grier's dead body stuffed in a cupboard:

'''Pete:''' Very funny, Sherlock. }}

* When the title character of ''Nurse Jackie'' urges doctor Coop to oppose the introduction of a pharmacy robot that'll put the pharmacist, Eddie, out of a job, he jokingly accuses her of having a "little crush on Eddie", to which she replies:

''(cut to the clock in Eddie's pharmacy, where he and Jackie are fucking... at noon)'' }}

* In ''[[Veronica Mars]]'', Veronica uses this every so often on her dad.

** One example:

'''Veronica:''' I'll be meeting two hookers at my boyfriend's place. }}

** And in a later episode, when she answers the phone.

*** She has a tendency to give him this kind of answer even when she isn't actually doing anything shady (e.g., answering "How was your date?" with "Lousy conversation, but the sex was fantastic!" when the most that happened was a peck on the cheek), which makes it work better.

* On the ''[[Taxi]]'' episode "Crime and Punishment", Louie has been embezzling money from the company, and when this money is discovered to be missing, he attempts to frame Jeff in hopes that the whole thing will blow over without incident. Alex, who all along suspected that Louie was covering his own crime, threatened to turn him in if he didn't himself. Louie confesses in private with their manager, who immediately breaks down laughing in disbelief, and even drops charges against Jeff because of how ridiculous he find the idea of Louie committing this theft. When Alex arrives to ensure that Louie confessed, they both partake in hilarity over his "alleged" dishonesty, with Louie even pretending to steal a piece of office equipment on the way out.

* ''[[Dollhouse]]'': Paul Ballard, who's been in the role of [[Agent Mulder]] all season with regard to the Dollhouse, invokes it deliberately when he tells the perfect truth to FBI agents summoned by a fake report of a terrorist threat: there is no threat, but they're standing in front of the Dollhouse and he can show them everything. As he expected, they leave in disgust.

* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'': While visiting a film studio with Tobias, Maeby ducks into an empty office to use the phone. She's found by an employee:

'''Maeby:''' No, I'm just sitting behind someone else's desk, pretending these are my kids. }}

* Played straight in ''[[Stingray]]'' when Agent X-2-Zero, upon being questioned by a security, tells him that he has kidnapped Troy Tempest and locked him in his car boot.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Underworld". The Doctor goes back to the planet to get rid of the fake race banks, which are actually bombs. He travels all the way back to where he can get captured again (rather than just leaving them on the surface) so it's obvious that he planned to have them taken from him, yet when forced to give them up, he explains that they are really bombs. "You can do better than that..." replies a villain and confiscates them. The bombs blow up the planet, of course.

* In ''[[The Office]]'', a series of suspicious mouse-clicks and taps leads Dwight to believe that Jim and Pam are talking about him behind his back in Morse code. Jim says, sarcastically, that yes, new parents Jim and Pam used their very limited time and money to learn Morse code specifically to mess with Dwight.

* In the ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' episode "The Beginning of the End," King Uther orders the execution of a young druid boy, Mordred. Merlin and Morgana notice he's been injured, and hide him in Morgana's room. When Prince Arthur comes into the room to look for the kid (he's doing a city-wide search), he and Morgana share this little gem of an exchange:

'''Morgana:''' In my experience you don't need any help looking like a fool. }}

** In "The Darkest Hour", Merlin tells Arthur "You have no idea how many times I've saved your life". Arthur's response is that when he's king, Merlin can be his court jester.

* Happens on ''[[Wings (TV series)|Wings]]'' when Brian is trying to figure out if Joe slept with Alex (whom both the brothers have been pursuing).

'''Brian:''' Liar. }}

** Just for the record, Joe {{spoiler|didn't sleep with her}}.

* In the ''[[Due South]]'' episode "Hawk and a Handsaw", Fraser manages to get himself committed to a psych ward (intentionally--he's going undercover) simply by showing up in full dress uniform and telling the precise truth about his past.

'''Fraser''': Well, you see I used to live in the Yukon but I uncovered a plot that involved drowning caribou and then some men who were dressed in white came after me with homicidal intentions. It's a rather long story and [[Medium Awareness|it takes exactly two hours to tell]] but the upshot of it is I was sent here. I think I embarrassed some people in the government. <br />

'''Psychologist''': Do you have anyone who can vouch for you here? <br />

* Played with in the original pilot of ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'': The crew's certain a new inmate is a spy and are trying to figure out what to do about him. Hogan decides to actually SHOW HIM their underground hideout. They blindfold him, walk him around the camp to the trap door and use a fake [[You Just Told Me]] to convince him they're under the water tower. [[Hilarity Ensues]] when the agent runs to his superiors, rambling about a counterfeit money press, a tailor forging Nazi uniforms, and a small factory that makes gun-shaped cigarette lighters - his "lighter" was swapped for an actual gun, and his attempts to trigger the trapdoor lead to him being doused in gallons of water. The other Germans think he's nuts.

* Jenna sees through one of these on ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]''.

'''Jenna:''' That would have been very disarming, if I didn't know that you meant it. }}

* Used sometimes by [[Buffy]], on her mother, before she learned the truth about what was going on:

'''Joyce''': I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes on in your head. }}

* Minor example in the final episode (of the main story arc) of ''[[Babylon 5]]''. {{spoiler|500 years in the future, Earth has been [[After the End|bombed back to the Dark Ages]] by a high-tech war. An old monk is asked by a younger one why the Rangers <ref>an organization from the main story who are now worshiped as angels</ref> don't return to help humanity. The elder suggests that perhaps humanity is not ready for them, but even now they have agents among them, slowly returning technology and helping where they can. The younger laughs and leaves...then the elder turns to the camera and begins his report back to the Rangers.}}

* ''[[NCIS]]'' borrowed from the above-mentioned scene from ''[[True Lies]]'' (DiNozzo even cited the movie) when Tony and Ziva were being held captive by Somali terrorists who had doped up Tony on truth serum. Tony blithely announced that the lead terrorist was about to die. When the terrorist scoffed that Tony was lying, Tony told him, "I can't lie. And I didn't say I was the one who was going to kill you. Remember when I told you my boss was a sniper?" Cue the [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] (and one very dead terrorist).

* [[The Wire|Bunny Colvin]] on how he plans to lower the crime rate in his district.

* ''[[Hustle]]'': Ash temporarily [[Can Not Tell a Lie]], so when the mark asks if there's any reason he shouldn't transfer the money, Ash admits to being a con man and tells him that if he transfers the money he'll never see it again. Then he starts laughing and passes it off as a joke, Emma joins in, and the mark laughs with them and transfers the money.

* ''[[Life On Mars]]'' has a couple of examples:

* In ''[[Revenge (TV series)|Revenge]]'', Emily's friend Ashley warns her that Emily is suspected in a prank that resulted in all of the Hamptonite women having their secrets revealed in public. Emily points out that she was a victim too, then confesses, "That's exactly what I wanted. All my most embarrassing confessions [about my boyfriend] broadcast for all the world to see."

* ''[[White Collar]]'':

'''Neal:''' I [[Continuity Nod|snuck up to the penthouse, pulled the swap, then base jumped off the building and landed on Wall Street.]]<br />

'''Peter:''' Fine. Don't tell me. }}

** This is implied to be genuine. He holds a deep hatred towards his father for making him what he is today; his initial hostility towards Kyo stems from the their clan rivalry, and Iori figured that killing Kyo (his father's intention apparently) would end his suffering.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'': The player can use this to get through customs at the starport on Onderon.

'''Customs official:''' You could have just said "no". Answers like that mean more paperwork for me. }}

** If you choose this route, a group of bounty hunters (who would have ambushed you regardless of how you answered the official's questions) says your unusual comments helped them track you down.

* [http://www.crfh.net/d/20090215.html This strip] of ''[[College Roomies from Hell]]!!!''

* Invoked in ''[[Erfworld]]'', Summer Update 22:

'''LordHamster:''' In both senses. }}

* Aggressively invoked in [http://shortpacked.com/comic/book-1-brings-back-the-80s/04-roomies/a-49/ this] ''[[Shortpacked]]'' strip.

* Done accidentally in ''[[The Wotch]]'', in [http://www.thewotch.com/?epDate=2003-06-02 this comic]. Jason is trying to keep Ivan off the trail and outright lies to him. When Ivan calls his bluff, Jason tells the truth. Then Ivan decides that Jason was lying the ''second'' time, and goes along with what Jason said the ''first'' time, when he was outright lying.

* Pulled twice in ''[[Captain SNES]]''. Both comics have "The Best Lie" in the title (with the first following with "is the Truth".) [http://www.captainsnes.com/2005/05/28/485-the-best-lie-is-the-truth/ The first time], Alex convinces [[Lufia|Daos]] that he put up a powerful mental shield so that Daos could not see his greatest fear, when, actually, his greatest fear (Evil Otto from ''Berzerk'') looked like something that Daos didn't consider remotely terrifying (a blinking smiley face.) [http://www.captainsnes.com/2008/09/16/569-the-best-lie/ The second], [[Mega Man (video game)|Bass]], after having already bluffed Amon into believing that he could achieve great power in the desert, admits (in a nervous tone) that he lied previously and was trying to trick Amon.

* ''[[Last Res0rt]]'' has Jigsaw Forte [http://www.lastres0rt.com/2009/03/ask-a-stupid-question/ pulling this one off:]

'''Jigsaw:''' Sure, because we all know I'm a mind reader. After this we're planning a magic act. Think you'd look good in sequins? }}

* ''[[The Awakened]]''

* In ''[[Sinfest]]'' [http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2005 Slick evades the question about whether a song is about Monique] by phrasing it as an accusation of [[It's All About Me]].

 

== Web Original ==

* ''[[Skippy's List|Skippys List]]'' has examples:

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfAvN6rXdkM From] ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'', "[[Lobo|The Main Man]]":

'''Clark:''' You asked... }}

** Made even funnier by the fact that Clark ''[[Paper-Thin Disguise|lowers his glasses]]'' before telling her.

* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Homer once went to great lengths with this when he had to tell Marge that a chimp had kidnapped Bart. Comes complete with [[Lampshade Hanging]] as Homer goes on to explicitly describe the trope and sarcastically inform Marge that he's making full use of it. When Marge finds out and gets mad that it was hidden from her, Homer complains that he did tell her, in great detail.

** In that same scene, Lisa asks why he's confessing sarcastically, pointing out that Marge will still be angry when she finds out; Homer responds by giving us this little gem:

** Parodied when Homer dresses up as an airline pilot to drink at the pilots-only bar of the Springfield airport:

'''Pilot:''' And I keep tellling ''you'', ''"you fly boys crack me up!"'' }}

* ''[[Code Lyoko]]'':

'''Yumi:''' To save the world... }}

* Tuddrussel from ''[[Time Squad]]'' used this in "Ivan The Untrainable, when Larry asked him about strange events from last few days.'''Tuddrussel''': Are you accusing me of smuggling Ivan The Terrible on board the satellite? Cause that's just crazy! Oh what, do you think I smuggled him under my shirt before we zapped back, and then locked him in the storage and fed him on table scraps? I mean come on!". He did it.

* In [[Pinky and The Brain]], this was how the Brain got out of being asked too many uncomfortable questions by nosy humans

* Parodied in the movie of ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' when Doofenshmirtz-2 lies to our dimensions' Doofenshmirtz, only for him to pick up on it...

'''Doofenshmirtz-1:''' "I'm pretty sure that's what I sound like when I'm being sarcastic!" }}

 

** Additionally, he relates the story of how he got into a drunken brawl in night club with a black eye to prove it. When he truthfully explained where he got it, nobody believed him.

** And he did a similar act along with [[Mathematician's Answer]] to get out of the military on his psych evaluation with lines like

'''Feynman:''' Yeah. I can hear a few right now. }}

* Allegedly, famed Prohibition agent [[wikipedia:Izzy Einstein|Izzy Einstein]] was fond of using this trope to gain entrance to speakeasies, beseeching the guy on the door to let him in, as he was 'A very thirsty Prohibition Agent'.