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{{trope}}
[[File:schlock20071207.png|link=Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|frame| [[Puppy Dog Eyes]] aren't going to get you a cake, Schlock.]]
 
{{quote|''"[[Blatant Lies|The Enrichment Center is committed to the well being of all participants]]. [[Trope Namer|Cake]] and grief counseling will be available at the conclusion of the test."''|'''GLaDOS''', '''''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'''''. {{spoiler|As it turns out, [[Subverted Trope|she wasn't lying about the cake.]]}}}}
 
{{quote|''" ...the virtue of [[Rags to Riches|the cake]] was that [[Blatant Lies|it was never to be consumed,]] [[Failure Is the Only Option|neither by you nor by your children after you."]]''|'''John Maynard Keynes''', [[World War One|calling out]] [[Upperclass Twit|the cake]] [[Older Than They Think|back in 1919]]}}
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Often a crucial part of many a [[MacGuffin Delivery Service]]. May make use of [[False Reassurance]]. Sometimes employed by a [[Mission Control]] that is [[Mission Control Is Off Its Meds|off its meds]].
 
When the other character isn't necessarily evil, doesn't plan on hurting the hero, and simply raises his or her standards whenever the other character comes near to completion, this becomes [[Moving the Goalposts]]. Compare [[Deal Withwith the Devil]], [[Rewarded Asas a Traitor Deserves]], [[You Said You Would Let Them Go]], [[Released to Elsewhere]]. Contrast [[Villains Never Lie]].
 
Only overlaps with [[I Was Told There Would Be Cake]] when the reward the villain promises is actually cake.
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* In [[Liar Game]], during the Contraband game, [[Complete Monster|Yokoya]] enforced a point-based loyalty scheme to guarantee loyalty from the members of his team that they would spy on the other members and report any dishonesty to him, where he would give more money to the snitch. Fukunaga suspects that Yokoya didn't even keep count; he just wanted the members to feed him as much information of the others as possible.
* This occurs to Lina Inverse in the first Slayers movie. The character in question isn't evil and doesn't plan on hurting Lina per se, but it's definitely not a case of Moving The Goalposts. Needing Lina to risk her life by going back in time hundreds of years in order to save a much younger version of himself, his love, and a group of elves from a mazoku, the elderly ghost of an adventurer promises Lina to show her the location of "the fountain of growth", which she interprets, and is lead on to believe, will finally make her tall, curvy, and stacked. In reality, the ghost has lied, and the fountain in question is the reverse of the fountain of youth, aging things that touch its waters to death, making Lina's trials and tribulations completely meaningless (in her eyes). However, since Lina was particularly dumb for believing him, and since he's really the ancestor of her (not-yet-encountered-yet-at-the-time) love and life-long partner Gourry, it worked out in her favor anyways.
* There was a slight instance of this in the Battle City arc of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''; Arcana, one of Marik's servant's, is promised a reunion with his lost love upon fulfillment of a mission; Marik even put a mannequin shrouded by curtains in the room to persuade him. He fails his mission, and the last thing he sees before Marik kills him is that he never intended to keep his end of the deal.
 
 
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* The obscure French comic book ''"38e parallèle"'' features the story of the French expeditionary force in [[The Korean War]]. An officer promises his commando a treasure behind the enemy lines; it was actually an undercover operation seeking a Vietcong agent.
* Subverted in one Marvel comic. A skrull promises a human 'the most beautiful woman in the galaxy' to betray his species. He accepts, but then turns back when somebody points out to him 'Even if the Skrull was going to keep his promise, what's beautiful to a reptilian alien?' - then we see a beautiful Skrull woman waiting to be given away to some lowly human (out of love for the invading skrull). The Fridge Logic is, Skrulls are shapeshifters. He could send the ugliest woman, and she could change into the most beautiful.
* Subverted in an early issue of ''[[The Batman Adventures]]'', the [[Batman: theThe Animated Series|animated Batman spin-off comic]] from the 1990s. [[The Joker]] hijacks a cable television outlet and uses it to broadcast himself onto a closed-circuit TV set delivered to Selina Kyle's apartment. After revealing that [[Paranoia Fuel|he knows Selina is Catwoman]], Joker tells her that he has concocted a foolproof plan for stealing the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, and asks her if she'd like to attempt the feat. Selina, who relishes this ultimate test of her burglary skills, still feels suspicious, even asking Joker, "What's the catch?" Turns out, Joker also wants her to snatch something ''else'' for him while she's in London (we're never told exactly what this is, but it's apparently microcircuitry or something similarly electronic). Once Selina has heard all the details, she goes through with Joker's plan - but Batman outsmarts her and manages to prevent her from swiping the jewels, and Catwoman barely escapes capture. She does, however, manage to acquire the technology Joker requested, and sends it to him at the end of the comic. (In the next issue, it's finally revealed that whatever Joker had Catwoman steal for him allows him to override every other TV station in Gotham City, so that he can broadcast his sadistic variety show on every channel.) But even though Catwoman didn't get what she wanted, Joker didn't care: she managed to get him on TV, and whether or not she also got the Crown Jewels was irrelevant.
 
 
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== Film ==
* In ''[[Dangerous Liaisons (Literature)|Dangerous Liaisons]]'', when Valmont breaks off his relationship with Madame de Tourvel and comes to collect his "reward" from Merteuil, she simply tells him "no," and [[Reason You Suck Speech|mocks him to his face]].
** Therefore, also seen in ''[[Cruel Intentions]]''.
{{quote| "You're just a toy, Sebastian. A little toy I like to play with."}}
* The Collector does this in ''[[Demon Knight]]'', enticing one of the heroes to the evil side with promises that include a bunch of hot dancing women. The Collector congratulates him on his wise choice, and...
{{quote| "One more thing: I lied". (Women revert to demon form, and lunge)}}
** The Collector does this to everyone who listens to him. Another character agrees to betray the others and removes the barrier keeping the demons at bay in exchange for his own freedom. As he is about to leave, the Collector admits he lied, and [[Rewarded Asas a Traitor Deserves|the demons tear the guy apart]].
* In ''[[Parts the Clonus Horror]]'', the clones are told that they are preparing for a trip to America, which is portrayed like paradise.
** ''[[The Island]]'' is based on "The Clonus Horror" and has a similar lie. The clones are told that they are preparing for a trip to "The Island," the only haven from a "virus outbreak."
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== Literature ==
* This is also sometimes known as [[wikipedia:Jam tomorrow|"jam tomorrow"]] for the White Queen's promise in ''[[Alice in Wonderland|Through The Looking Glass]]'' to provide "jam every other day" -- which [[Exact Words|turns out to mean]] jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today.
** Explicitly referenced by Terry Pratchett in [[Discworld]]'s ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Hogfather|Hogfather]]''.
* The White Witch in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia|The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe]]'' promises Edmund more [[Evil Tastes Good|Turkish Delight]] for playing along with her.
* Played with in the [[Buffy]] spin-off novel ''Pretty Maids All In A Row'': The novel focuses on Spike and Dru, who are hired by a demon to do a job for him, with the promised reward being a powerful magical artifact Dru has decided she wants. A third of the way through, there's a flashback revealing that this artifact was stolen off the demon sixty years ago -- but then two-thirds of the way through, there's another flashback revealing that thirty years ago the demon took it back. {{spoiler|Finally, when Spike and Dru come to claim the reward, he admits that when he hired them he'd already given it away to somebody else he wanted a favour from. Final score: [[Double Subversion]].}}
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* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] on ''[[Boy Meets World]]''. When Mr. Feeney has trouble getting Shawn to attend his SAT preparation class, he makes up lie on the spot about there being delicious cake at the class. But later we see Shawn at the class, and he is in fact eating a big piece of cake.
* On ''[[Twilight Zone]]'', a talkative man bets another member of his exclusive club a fortune that he can't remain silent for a full year. He succeeds {{spoiler|by having his vocal cords severed in secret}}, but the man he made the bet with admits that he's flat broke and could never have paid the agreed-upon sum.
* The crew on ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' once visited an agricultural world where tomorrow was ''always'' a rest day, but it never came because the workers' memories kept getting re-written as to what day it was.
 
 
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'': [[Trope Namer]] ("THE CAKE IS A LIE" being written on walls in various places by Doug Rattmann, an employee turned test subject). Note that there ''was'' cake, it just wasn't for you. {{spoiler|YOU ARE GOING TO BE THE CAKE!}}<br /><br />Moreover, note the wording by GlaDOS: "There will be cake" (and similar vague statements, like "cake will be served" and "cake... will be available"). It's not until later (when her lies become more transparent) does GLaDOS suggest that Chell will be the one to eat it ("Okay, the test is over now. You win! Go back to the recovery annex for your cake.")
** This is later spoofed in ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]] Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood'', {{spoiler|when Judge Grindstump asks Guybrush on what grounds the latter is not guilty of spreading the [[Hate Plague|Pox of LeChuck]], after which one of the four reasons listed is "The Pox is a lie!"}}
** Likewise referenced in the game adaptation of ''[[X-Men (Filmfilm)|X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'': in one level, the player can use a portal device to access a hidden room which contains a cake; doing so unlocks the Achievement "The Truth".
** The iPod game "Highborn" references this by promising that there will be cake at the end of the tutorial. There is none.
** Referenced in ''[[Minecraft]]''--one of the Achievements is to bake a cake, and its name is "The Lie".
*** Which in an odd coincidence, [[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Portal 2]] was released at almost the same time of Beta 1.6 (which introduced said achievement, weather and other things). Portal 2 atleast ''tried'' to not use the gag except ''twice'' in the game.
** Also referenced in ''[[Bookworm Adventures]]'': one of the loading screen messages reads "Lying about cake...".
** Averted in the fan prequel ''Portal: Prelude''. {{spoiler|1=At this time, Aperture Science was staffed by real people, and when you complete the test, you really are about to be given cake... But then the scientists put a hold on the party until after they turn GLaDOS on. ''[[Hoist Byby His Own Petard|Without the Morality Core ready to be installed]].''}} It should be obvious what the player has to do after this...
** Also averted in ''Portal: The Flash Version''. However, based on the context of ''that'' game, [[G La DOS]] likely wasn't even finished (perhaps even ''created'') at that point.
** ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has an achievement called "The Cake Is Not a Lie," earned by learning the [[Luck-Based Mission|very hard-to-get]] chocolate cake recipe and baking said cake.
* [[Word of God|Erik Wolpaw]], Portal's writer, had announced that there will be absolutely NO cake anywhere in the sequel, not even in the dialogue, because [[Discredited Meme|he is tired of cake jokes]]. However, with the binary code in the following comic translating to "the cake is a lie," and Doug Rattmann's drawing of the cake in the Portal 2 preview, that turned out to be a lie of its own. He even stated [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8359173/Portal-2-developer-interview-Chet-Falisek-and-Erik-Wolpaw.html they couldn't resist putting one joke]--on a door claiming to lead to [[G La DOS]]' emergency shutdown and cake dispensary. [[The Cake Is a Lie|Take a guess as to the door's authenticity]]. Other than that, the [[Arc Words|Arc Word]] has turned into [[It Makes Sense in Context|"potato"]].
* In the ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' mod Tales of Arterra, if you complete the obstacle course in Vannik the Red's hideout you find a large chest containing a sheet of paper: "Congratulations! Your reward is knowledge! Word: bamboozled. Synonyms: hoodwinked, befuddled. Definition: to be deceived. Example: The foolish adventurer was bamboozled into thinking there was loot at the end of the obstacle course!"
* In ''[[Bully (Videovideo Gamegame)|Bully]]'', Gary prompts you to follow him through the school's [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer|basement]], promising nothing [[Cryptic Conversation|specific]], just having something to ''show you''.
* In ''[[Morrowind]]'', a woman's ring landed in a pond. She wants it back, and she'll nookie you for it. Except that she just wanted you down at the bottom of a hill so she could rob you from the high ground.
** Similarly, in ''[[The Elder Scrolls Four|Oblivion]]'', a mage offers to recommend you for membership to the Arcane University if you retrieve his magical Ring of Burden from the bottom of a well. Turns out he was just hoping you'd drown while down there.
*** Which is absolutely ''hilarious'', in an [[Idiot Ball]]/[[Fridge Logic]] manner if you're an Argonian. Argonians can breath underwater.
* In ''[[BaldursBaldur's Gate]] 2'', the player is offered a quest with a 10,000 gp reward - big money [[Money for Nothing|at that point in the game]] - by {{spoiler|Jierdan Firkragg}}. Once you reach the quest area, however, you're manipulated into {{spoiler|killing several knights, and you find out that Firkragg is A) a dragon in disguise, and B) trying to destroy your reputation as payback for some half-explained slight}}.
** Several other characters do this as well, {{spoiler|Kangaxx the Demi-Lich}} and {{spoiler|the Chromatic Demon from Watcher's Keep}} come to mind.
*** By the time of {{spoiler|the Chromatic Demon}}, [[Hello, Insert Name Here|CHARNAME]] has apparently become [[Genre Savvy]] to this, as (s)he observes in the diary: "As I expected, {{spoiler|the Chromatic Demon}} attacked me as soon as I released it from its prison..."
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*** And valuable loot that's probably more useful than the money.
* [[Love Freak|Flonne]] in ''[[Disgaea]]'' tells [[Noble Demon|Laharl]] that she will give him something good if he helps find her pendant. The something good is {{spoiler|a chance to do a good deed, and her heartfelt thanks. Laharl thinks this is a horrible copout, of course, but [[Love Freak|Flonne]] genuinely thinks that it's a good reward}}.
* In ''[[Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga (Video Game)|Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' Prince Peasly says he will give you something of around 99,999,999 Mushroom coins for defeating the [[Big Bad]]. In the end, {{spoiler|he gives you only 99 by the exchange rate between Beanbean coins and Mushroom coins.}}
** Worse, prior to that you run into the same problem, but even though the exchange rate is ''bad'' the first time, it's still good enough that Peasley's bet is a fantastic deal. Meaning that either A) someone is lying, or B) the Mushroom Kingdom's economy crashes every time she gets kidnapped.
*** So, about every two weeks then? There goes that triple-A credit rating...
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== Web Original ==
* From ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'':
{{quote| '''Marik''': Shut up! What we came here to do is defeat Yugi Muto, once and for all!<br />
'''Bonz''': Brains. [I came here for the free tacos.]<br />
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'''Bonz''': Brains... [It figures.] }}
** From later in the same series: Kaiba is in training, because he ''actually has to learn how to play Duel Monsters. (Dun, dun, DUN~!)''
*** {{spoiler|Which in turn is a shout-out to [[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]}}
{{quote| '''Duel Robot''': Welcome to the Aperture Science Duel Monsters Training Programme. If you win this children's card game, [[There Will Be Cake|there will be cake]].<br />
''(Some time later, after Kaiba trounces the Duel Robot with Obelisk)''<br />
'''Kaiba''': [[The Cake Is a Lie|The cake is a lie,]] [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|bitch.]] }}
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'''Ran''': ''[beat]'' I made ''funnel cake''.<br />
'''Yukari''': ...''[[I Was Told There Would Be Cake|funnel cake]]?!'' }}
* In ''[[Suburban Knights]]'', [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] lured everyone to Chicago under the promise of a free car.
 
 
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* [[The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog|The tip is, 'Always buy new shoes in the afternoon, after your feet have expanded'.]]
** An episode of the ''[[Where's Waldo|Where's Waldo?]]'' animated series did the same joke.
* In an episode of ''[[He -Man and Thethe Masters of Thethe Universe (Animation)|He Man and The Masters of The Universe]]'', Mech-a-neck is [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|tired of just having an extendo-neck as a special ability]], and a wizened little man says he can give him better powers if he retrieves a [[MacGuffin]] for him. Once he gets the [[MacGuffin]] he just runs off and uses it to transform back into a handsome and powerful mage, after being turned into an old man by the Sorceress.
* In ''[[The Emperor's New School (Animation)|The Emperors New School]]'', Kuzco, Malina and Kronk go on a quest to capture a Shuaka, which is supposed to give them a pot of gold. The Shuaka tells them that in order to get the pot of gold, they'd have to perform a series of tasks. It turned out there was no gold, and he was just getting them to do his chores for him.
* In ''[[South Park]]: [[The Movie|Bigger Longer and Uncut]]'', Cartman suggests bringing in potential members to [[La Résistance]] by promising punch and pie. When the meeting starts ...
{{quote| '''Kid:''' Uh, we were to understand there'd be pie and punch?<br />
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:: So the kids leave.
** Again invoked with the kids trying to start a group for protecting films of America with "Free Hat." ... Which [[Comically Missing the Point|gets misconstrued]] to be a criminal called Hat McLoughley.
* Subverted in the [[MAD (Animation)|MAD]] bit "The Buzz Identity":
{{quote| '''Buzz''': So the cake is a lie?<br />
'''Penguin''': No, the cake is real, and extremely rich. But you're not really a space ranger at all! You're a toy! [[Continuity Nod|Andy's toy!]] }}
* In one episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Homer intentionally gained weight until he became at least 300 lbs. heavy. When Marge decided to tell Homer to stop and Lisa went to tell him Marge was calling, she said Marge baked a cake. After Marge's failed attempt to dissuade Homer, he still asked about the cake.
** In another episode, Springfield Police Department started a fake boat giveaway to lure lawbreakers. When it was Homer's turn, he was forced to pay fines and ''still'' had to be told the boat was a lie.
* In ''[[Dave the Barbarian (Animation)|Dave the Barbarian]]'', Fang tricks Dave into entering a Mongrel Hordes Boot Camp, by saying they were going to a hat show.
 
 
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* Jack Thompson promised 10,000 dollars to a charity of [[Take Two Interactive]] chairman Paul Eibeler's choice if anyone would make a certain video game, then failed to deliver when the game wasn't made once, but multiple times even. Read more on the page about him. [[Penny Arcade]] made the donation when he revealed he wouldn't, with the check note saying "Because Jack Thompson wouldn't." Jack Thompson tried to force them to rescind the check, making him try to keep the cake a lie, even if he wasn't the one baking it. That's right, not only did Jack Thompson lie about donating to charity, he ''tried to stop other people from donating to charity to make up for his dumb ass.'' You can read all about that story [[wikipedia:A Modest Video Game Proposal|here]].
* In a 1996 ad campaign to promote ''Pepsi Stuff'', commercials for the film ''True Lies'' claimed that if anyone collected 7,000,000 points, Pepsi would give that person a Harrier jet (featured in the movie). A man by the name of John Leonard redeemed a check equivalent to the amount of the 7,000,000 points, but Pepsi refused on the grounds that the jet was not really being offered. After a lawsuit was filed, a federal judge sided with Pepsi.
** [http://www.snopes.com/business/market/mars.asp Seems Pepsi could have used a lesson from] [[Burma Shave (Advertising)|Burma Shave]].
* Burrell Smith (who designed the hardware for the original [[Apple Macintosh|Macintosh]]) would often promise to [http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=I%27ll_Be_Your_Best_Friend.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium be your best friend] in order to get you to do something. This relationship, however, only lasts a few milliseconds.
* Happens all too often when you're a toddler. Your parent will promise you a reward if you do something or go through something, and once that's over with they take back their word. This even happens to kids, teenagers, and even adults, and it encourages kids to engage in rebellious behavior--and they wonder why there's so many rebellious teenagers around.
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* Jodee Berry, a former Hooters waitress in Panama City, Florida, won a contest for most beer sales held by her boss, who announced that the grand prize was a new Toyota. On the day of the presentation, she was blindfolded and led to the restaurant's parking lot to receive her prize...which turned out to be a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Toy]] [[Star Wars|Yoda]]! She quit immediately and won an undisclosed settlement against Gulf Coast Wings, Hooters parent company, a year later. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/05/09/toy-yoda.htm Part of the settlement included a Toyota car of her choice.]
* Swedish-Finnish journalist, writer and talk-show host Mark Levengood once said this happened to him. His mother told him that if he did not start smoking before his 18th birthday, she would pay for his drivers license. When he turned 18 and asked for his reward, his mother [[Hypocritical Humor|lit another of her cigarettes]] and told him she had never planned to pay his driving lessons. "The important thing was that you did not start smoking, and it did succeed, didn't it?"
* A literal, if subverted, example: Twinkies. [[Squick|Read the ingredients list]]; very little of it sounds even remotely like cake, more like industrial sludge...and yet, like the disgusting ingredients of the infamous [[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]] cake, it all comes together to form...yup. Cake.
* Atheists tend to view religious claims of [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven|an afterlife]] as examples of this trope, with heaven as "the cake" (or more precisely "[http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/282700.html Pie in the Sky]" or "[http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/jam-tomorrow.html Jam Tomorrow]"). There is no evidence that the cake exists, and you can't ask anyone who has finished the test. You only have [[G La DOS]]'s promise, combined with your own desire for cake.
 
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