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{{quote|''Talking might make you feel a lot better... and less homicidal...''|'''Rhea Snaketail''', ''[[Slightly Damned]]''}}
One of the heroes has been captured by a group of villains, usually a group with distinct personalities and [[Backstory|backstories]], like a [[Legion of Doom]] or a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]], who operate on more or less equal terms with each other (as opposed to a singular [[Big Bad]] and a collection of [[Mooks]]).
The hero is well-known to the villains. They are careful not to give him any obvious
How will he escape?
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* ... [[Show Some Leg|sex appeal]] - "You know what I really like? A man in a cage."
* ... and [[Divided We Fall|mutual distrust]] - "You realize he's just going to off the rest of you once he gets what he wants, right?"
... of each individual member.
The villains never stop to think that they're being played for chumps, or wonder if the hero has anything to gain by starting a power struggle. [[Enemy Civil War|The resulting dissension and infighting]] allows the hero to escape in the confusion. Truly, [[The Guards Must Be Crazy]].
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== [[Fan Fiction]] ==
* At one point in the ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' AU fic ''[[Luminosity]]'', sensible!Bella, still human, has been kidnapped by [[Starter Villain|the evil vampire James]], who's probably going to kill her because he wants to make Edward suffer. Bella's only chance to survive is to talk James into doing something stupid, and it works: she lies to him, saying that no, Edward doesn't care about her and was going to give her over to [[Big Bad|The Volturi]] because they give out rewards in exchange for humans with special powers. James believes her, and takes her to the Volturi. [[Summon Bigger Fish|They're not too happy with James...]]
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** What makes this a truly interesting case is that the detective was warned beforehand that the Joker would use exactly this tactic on him, and not to fall for it. The problem is that the Joker is just ''that good'' at manipulating people.
** At the beginning of the film, one of the bank robbers realises that their boss has given each of them orders to kill one of the others once [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|their part of the plan is complete]], and tries to talk the last of his fellows around by pointing out that their boss will do the same to him. Unfortunately, the last robber ''is'' [[The Joker|that boss]].
* In ''[[Cars 2]]'', when Mater is surrounded by a pack of [[Mook
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* Played extremely solemly at the end of ''[[Harry Potter|The Half-Blood Prince]]'', when Dumbledore engineers a [[Just Between You and Me]] moment with the (presently much stronger) {{spoiler|Malfoy}}, convincing him in the process that he isn't capable of murder. It works... to a given value of working.
* In [[Poul Anderson]]'s [[Technic History]], Dominic Flandry is an Agent for the Terran Empire. Kidnapped by an alien race, who just assumes he is a decadent worthless low level agent, he soon has the entire leadership of the planet backstabbing each other.
* [[Roger Zelazny]]'s ''Creatures of Light and Darkness'': Set the Destroyer has been taken captive, immobilized, and disarmed by his enemies. Set's gift is the ability to find the weaknesses in his opponents. One of his
* Mercilessly lampshaded in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', in which the villain is too ''stupid'' to fall for it.
* ''Next of Kin'' by Eric Frank Russell is the very pinnacle of this trope. John Leeming is the only human being on alien planet (inhabited by stocky reptiles and is a part of union, which is in war with Earth), imprisoned, stripped of all weapons and gadgets, he does not know their language (initially)... and he manages to talk his way out. Moreover - {{spoiler|he manages to make all the government of this planet believe that humans have distinct spiritual companions, he is given a spaceship, he is given the means to change it for a more advanced one and reach Earth... and the planet prepares to leave the anti-Earth union and encourage other planets to do it}}. Such is the power of diplomacy.
* Eli Monpress of [[The Spirit Thief]] basically has this as his
* [[Miles Vorkosigan]] runs on this. Unfortunately, some of his adversaries have grown somewhat Miles savvy. From ''The Vor Game:''
{{quote|
'''Miles''': Aren't you even going to have me chemically interrogated?
'''Oser''': And contaminate my interrogators? The last thing I want is to give you rein to talk, to anyone. ... Whatever your planned speech, removing your air will neutralize it. You nearly convinced ''me.'' }}
* While most of the Aes Sedai are not her enemies, Egwene's capture and imprisonment in the White Tower in ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' is otherwise this trope. By the time she is made true Amyrlin of the re-unified Tower, she has not only subverted and won over all the novices and most of the Accepted, she has earned the admiration of her disciplinarian, the Mistress of Novices Silviana (who then becomes willing to stand up to Elaida and the Hall on her behalf, facing birching, death, or [[Fate Worse Than Death|stilling]]); proven to the Aes Sedai she truly is the leader, thinker, and rallying point she claims to be until each Ajah Head wistfully wishes (or outright offers) that she had joined or would join ''their'' Ajah; gotten them to admit they had unlawfully raised Elaida (since some of their number had been Black); and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|out-debated and completely undermined]] [[It's All About Me|Elaida herself]]. And while she doesn't turn the Ajahs against each other (in fact her main thrust is trying to ''undo'' such division as Elaida and the Black had done, bringing the Ajahs together again), she does turn a large number of them against Elaida. If she hadn't been {{spoiler|taken by the Seanchan}}, she would very likely have been pulled down, tried, perhaps even executed.
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** He tries it again on the Master in ''The End of Time Part 2'' by giving him a speech on how "stone-cold brilliant" he is. His description soon switches to "bone-dead stupid" because the Master doesn't realise {{spoiler|his right hand man is really a Vinvocchi}}.
* In a very rare instance of a villain using this instead of a [[Hannibal Lecture]], Scorpius talking down Captain Crais' bodyguards in ''[[Farscape]]'':
{{quote|
* This was Gabrielle's schtick on [[Xena: Warrior Princess]], at least until [[Executive Meddling|someone in charge]] decided she needed to [[Take a Level In Badass]].
* Ditto for Daniel Jackson on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. He even managed to talk himself out of actually ''being dead'' a few times, but hey, that's Daniel for you. In later seasons, he comes to rely on this much less, although still proves capable of giving a great [[Rousing Speech|monologue]] every now and then.
* Reid on ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' tries for one of these at least three or four times a season. They don't always work out, but when they do, the results can be quite spectacular. Perhaps the best example (and a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] to boot) comes in Season Three, when a serial killer on death row invites Reid and Hotch to interview him just before he's executed. He plans to lull them into a false sense of security and then kill them both in order to derail his trial and buy himself some more time alive. Through careful manipulation of the agents, the timing and the situation, he very nearly succeeds. Somehow, Hotch and Reid wind up alone in a locked room, unarmed, with a serial killer whose bare hands were his preferred weapon, who wants them dead, and who isn't wearing handcuffs. It never becomes important. Reid keeps the serial killer talking until the guards return from shift change. Fifteen minutes later. Not that Hotch's plan to kick the guy's ass manually wouldn't have been fun to watch, but...
** It's awesome when it works, but the times when it fails are more interesting, and also generally awful and depressing, because you often really think he's going to pull it off this time...right before someone dies.
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* ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'': "Social" boss fights are all about this. You can talk NPCs into giving you codes, standing down from a hostage situation, or letting you into restricted areas.
* ''[[2027]]'': If you are stopped by the Human Horizon agent in Paris, you can lie to him about your identity, saving your life. Meeting him however, causes {{spoiler|an ambush to be set up for you later after the Paris Lab mission.}}
* ''[[Fallout]]'' is one of the few video games where you can use this against the [[Big Bad]]. In fact, it's possible to talk your way into his stronghold, talk your way up to the boss, convince him of the error in his plan, get him to commit suicide, and [[Load-Bearing Boss|leg it as the base collapses around you]]. Ta da! Saved the world [[Pacifist Run|without firing a shot]].
** ''[[Fallout 2]]'' also lets you foil the Enclave through the gift of gab, though [[The Dragon]] will try to block your [[Load-Bearing Boss|hasty retreat from the base]] no matter how slick you are, forcing a confrontation. You can convince the Enclave [[Mooks]] to fight him for you, though; after all, he's not letting ''them'' leave either.
** In ''[[Fallout 3]]'' you can convince both the [[Big Bad]] and [[The Dragon]] into giving up. {{spoiler|The former by using self-destruct code or by proving that he is not doing the right thing, and the latter after a heated debate where you convince him that his government has no authority to do what it is doing.}}
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* ''[[Geneforge]]'' lets you be a real [[Manipulative Bastard]] about this. Join the [[Big Bad]]'s faction, stroll into his base, convince him that you have repaired the damaged safety equipment that will let him use the [[Applied Phlebotinum|Geneforge]], bluff him into thinking that he needs to send his bodyguards away, laugh as he fries himself. Bonus bastard points if you then use the real safety equipment to successfully use the Geneforge yourself, and even more if you find the item that lets you break the Geneforge so that nobody else can use it.
** Variations on what's described (breaking it after using it, or breaking it without using it) are the only two very good endings in the entire series.
* [[Jade Empire]] The [[Final Boss]] actually tries to use this on YOU. If it works, you let yourself be killed, AND doom the world to a horrible, blighted excistance under a heartlessly brutal, immortal dictator who view people as mere things to use at whim. So DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!!
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' allows you to put points into Charm and Intimidate skills which allow you to talk (or threaten) your way out of some situations that would otherwise end in bloodshed. Towards the end of the game, sufficient points in these skills will even allow you to {{spoiler|talk down the villain, Saren,}} on two separate occasions, the second resulting in {{spoiler|Saren killing himself}}. It doesn't get you out of a final boss fight, though.
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' does this one almost all the time. Every plot-significant fight bar one can be bypassed, usually through talking; every other fight can be avoided through stealth or running away. This includes the [[Big Bad]], who you can {{spoiler|literally talk out of existence.}}
* You can do this in ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', but usually it falls under Force Persuade.
* In [[Metal Gear Solid|MGS3]] you can talk the prison guard, {{spoiler|Johnny into showing you a picture of his family. The picture he wrote the cell door code on the back of, lest he forget. }}
* In [[Kingdom of Loathing]] 's 2009 [[You Mean "Xmas"|Crimbo]] ended with your character avoiding death by explaining to the [[The Mafia|Penguin who bought the holiday for completely legitimate purposes]] that his plans to use the magic of Crimbo to steal everyone's money couldn't possibly work: because no matter how much meat they stole, the magic of Crimbo would cause all the money to be [[True Meaning of Christmas|"left on the front step of an orphanage, or some equally sentimental crap"]]. To make matters worse, whoever runs Crimbo [[Blessed with Suck|can't keep anything. Everything he makes must be given to others.]]
* It's possible to do this in [[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]], if you play your cards right (Or seduce/dominate/dement) you can feasably do a [[Pacifist Run]] for the biggest part of the game. [[Disappointing Last Level|Sadly, the last few parts of the main campaign has you fighting, no ifs ands or buts about it.]]
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'', {{spoiler|Caprice}} [http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html demonstrates the technique.]
== [[Web Original]] ==
* This is how President Baugh (as his alter ego, Baron Fritz von Baugh) undermines [[That Guy With The Glasses]] in ''[[Kickassia]]''.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Batman uses this method to escape the Injustice Gang in the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "Injustice For All". Features a ''very'' rare instance of the Joker being the voice of reason, as he anticipates Bats's strategy but [[Bond Villain Stupidity|is unable to convince Luthor to let him kill Batman]]. Even more interesting: Batman actually plays several cards ''at the same time'', playing on Solomon Grundy's insecurities, playing the sympathy and sex appeal cards with Cheetah, and eventually delivering a massive bribe to {{spoiler|the Ultra-Humanite (which Humanite donates to PBS)}}. And then, because he's Batman, he reveals at the end that he could have escaped ''any time he wanted to''.
** Batman also used this in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'', when Harley Quinn singlehandedly captured him and put him in a [[Death Trap]] ''he actually couldn't escape from''. He played off her infatuation with the Joker and convinced her to call him so that he could "witness" his death, knowing that his ego [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You|wouldn't allow anyone else to off the Batman]].
** And when caught and held defenseless by Scarface's gang, Batman convinces Scarface that the one who sold them out was Arnold Whesker, aka The Ventriloquist. Scarface angrily orders his men to kill Whesker, and when they hesitate think they are traitors as well. Batman escapes in the chaos and bring the gangsters down. The twist? Scarface ''is'' Arnold Whesker - he is just a [[Demonic Dummy|ventriloquist's doll]] that Whesker uses to manifest his psychotic [[Split Personality]].
* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'': Batman apparently passed this skill onto his protegé, as Robin spends an entire second-season episode convincing Atlas' sidekick, Spike, to turn on his master, who treats him like dirt. He succeeds, helping Cyborg save the day when Spike refuses to give Atlas an unfair advantage in their final battle.
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': The [[Genre Savvy]] Sokka manages to pull this off when the gaang is captured by pirates and [[Anti-Villain|Zuko]], convincing the pirates that they'd get a better deal personally handing [[The Chosen One|the Avatar]] over to the [[Big Bad|Fire Lord]] instead of trading him to Zuko for their valuable scroll. Zuko sees right through it, but the pirates take the bait, a fight breaks out, and the gaang escapes during the chaos.
** Perhaps this inspired [[The Hero|Aang]] to try this on Zhao four episodes later... but it didn't work.
* ''[[
* ''[[My Little Pony:
== [[Real Life]] ==
* When large groups of citizens were protesting the electoral fraud in the 2000 elections in Serbia, clever protesters who were jailed used this to spread their message on a personal level to the security forces. As a result, they were more lenient in future incidents than [[Big Bad]] Milosevic wanted them to be, and this eventually led to his overthrow.
* A computer programmer named [[Eliezer Yudkowsky]] (writer of ''[[Three Worlds Collide]]'' and ''[[Harry Potter and
* [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] managed to talk his way out of [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2085527/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Sherlock-star-talked-way-kidnap-attempt-South-Africa.html a kidnapping] while in South Africa.
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