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{{trope}}
[[File:hug.png|link=Earthbound
{{quote|'''[[The Wizard of Oz (
'''[[The Crow]]:''' [[Nietzsche Wannabe|It doesn't matter. Existence is nothing but frustration and pain! Everything you love eventually leaves you. Misery is your only constant friend.]]
'''Winged Monkey:''' ... you're right. <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Driven to Suicide|Hangs himself
'''The Crow:''' [Wipes away a tear at a job well done.]
|''[[Robot Chicken]]'', 4.17}}
{{quote|"Has anyone tried talking to him? [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|Violence may be the best answer, but it's not the only answer!]]"
|''[[Duck Dodgers]]''}}
The hero has cornered the vicious monster. It's taken out everyone who has confronted it thus far, and the hero seems like no exception.
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That's when the hero, rather than drawing a sword, pulls out his cue cards. He begins a [[Character Filibuster|speech]] about the good things in life, the wonders of good, how [[Humans Are Special]] and the monster should respect that, yadda yadda, could someone hit the mute button please?
''[[Villainous BSOD|And it works]]''. This hideous monster surrenders, lets itself die, chooses to [[Ascend to
[[Subverted Trope|More cynically]], it moves the monster [[Holding the Floor|just long enough for the hero's friends to open fire.]]..Or it doesn't work at all and just gives the monster some open spot to attack the hero.
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Done well, this can be a very moving finale. Done badly - which is, sadly, a [[Sturgeon's Tropes|great deal easier]] - it comes across as a giant cop-out. Sometimes spoofed by having the monster giving up just to make the hero shut up.
This is, in a way, using the [[Kirk Summation]] as a weapon. Compare [[Break Them
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Usagi talks down Black Lady, who reverts to ChibiUsa in ''[[Sailor Moon]] R''. Then she does it again with Nehellenia, and finally Galaxia in ''Stars''. The anime also had her talking down lesser villains on a pretty regular basis.
* ''[[Tenchi in Tokyo]]'' (AKA ''Shin Tenchi Muyo!'') ended with Tenchi telling the villain that he accepts and understands her, and she agrees to put herself into suspended animation until she grows up into a better person. His grandfather had earlier remarked that Tenchi had the gift of being able to solve problems without fighting.
* Mocked in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'', where Tea pretty much lobotomises an enemy with what she refers to as '[[The Power of Friendship|the mother of all friendship speeches]]'.▼
{{quote| '''Johnny D''': ([[Creepy Monotone]]) Yes. Friendship is good. Must find friends.<br />▼
'''Tea''': Brainwashing people is fun!<br />▼
'''Yami''': Indeed Tea, it looks like we had more in common than I thought. }}▼
** Also parodied when Tea is dueling Mai Valentine and gives constant friendship speeches during nearly every sentence she says, which causes Mai to give up just to shut her up.▼
* ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'''s [[Mind Rape]]-powered [[Big Bad]] is [[Nigh Invulnerable]] (without the "nigh") and has been kicking our heroes' butts and spreading a sinister black cloud over the world that ''can't'' be good. The ultimate battle to save two worlds ensues... no, wait, it doesn't. Instead, the heroes get the kids whose fear he's using to think about their [[Care Bear Stare|hopes and dreams]], resulting in one of the most humiliating villain deaths ever: Various parts of his body disappear as kids say "I want to be a teacher!" "I want to be an artist!" etc. until nothing remains. Then Malo gets blasted and well whining saves the day. The villain in question, Malo Myotismon, got nicknamed [[Memetic Mutation|"Marsh Malo Myotismon"]] on numerous boards for this.
** The part that made this painful was that the future aspirations of the character seemingly had ''nothing'' to do with what had come before in the series. The guy who's currently in a wildly popular (for a) garage band? Yeah, he wants to be an ''astronaut''.
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** And the thing is, in the previous season, he actually managed to suffer a semi-respectable villain death; surviving some attacks that would one-hit kill later villains.
* Played with in ''[[The Slayers|Slayers]]'': Since mazoku feed on negative emotions, [[Love Freak|Amelia]]'s justice speeches tend to leave Xellos feeling rather queasy.
* Used twice in ''[[Cyborg 009]]'''s 2001 series. {{spoiler|005 uses it against the Spirit of the Earth (in the form of a gigantic jaguar that has been killing people, including the husband of a friend of 005 himself, and both 003 and 009 do that to [[Mailer Daemon|Sphynx]], a super computer who kidnaps 003 [[We Can Rule Together|to make her his puppet girlfriend]] and tries to kill the others, specially 009 and 004.}}
* In ''[[Naruto]]
* Played for laughs in ''[[Naruto the Abridged Series]]'' by the Third Hokage against his fight with Orochimaru. When confronted by reincarnated forms of the previous two Hokages, he performed one of his strongest techniques: "The Old Man Monologue Justu". No, seriously.▼
** This is Naruto's M.O. for practically
▲* In [[Naruto]] itself, this trope was subverted ''and'' played straight at the resolution of the {{spoiler|Pain arc.}}After beating the body the bad guy was controlling(long story) the old fashioned way, he went to the bad guy and basically said "I have this book." (the book in question was dedicated to said bad guy by their dead teacher, who said bad guy had previously killed) and BAM instant [[Heel Face Turn]].
** Played straight {{spoiler|with Naruto's own dark side. Justified, though because it was during a [[Journey to
▲** This is Naruto's M.O. for practically EVERY problem; Except, of course, when he just rams a Rasengan in their chests, usually after the villain's crossed enough [[Moral Event Horizon|Moral Event Horizons]] and [[Kick the Dog|kicked enough dogs]] so Naruto focuses enough on doing something useful. He usually does this trope when it's with people like him(Outcasts, exiled and others usually considered freaks of nature out of fear), which would make him a big [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]] if he wasn't so stupid. Only person who's managed to avert the effects of this trope was {{spoiler|Sasuke and, for some reason, Naruto hasn't restorted to bashing him with a Rasengan.}}
**
▲** Played straight {{spoiler|with Naruto's own dark side. Justified, though because it was during a [[Journey to The Center of The Mind]], and [[Futurama|perfectly symmetrical violence]] had proven to be pointless.}}
* Happened to both of the Big Bads in ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]''. Gakuto ends up, dying in his collapsing castle (voluntary, to "right his wrongs") and Micheal accends to some kind of Angle-plane, along with the spirits of his fallen minions (who helped
▲** More recently, as of Chapter 518, it's one of the few ways of {{spoiler|killing Edo Tensei zombies(and the only way that the heroes have access to), seen when Sai's brother who had been revived decided to die again. And in the next chapter after being captured, Sasori gives up without even trying to escape after Kankuro gives a pretty speech. And there are still at least 22 more zombies to go around, so expect this trope to become much more popular.}}
▲* Happened to both of the Big Bads in [[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]. Gakuto ends up, dying in his collapsing castle (voluntary, to "right his wrongs") and Micheal accends to some kind of Angle-plane, along with the spirits of his fallen minions (who helped [[Talking the Monster To Death]] )
* In ''[[Infinite Ryvius]]'', {{spoiler|the ''Grey Geshpenst'' completely outpowers the ''Ryvius'' and is only stopped when a badly-battered Neya begs Captain Viscuess to stop, and he realizes he can't go through with murdering 500 children.}} Combined with the events occurring on the Lift Ship at the same time, this is part of an [[Aesop]] that words can solve problems that violence can't.
* Played with in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''; after Kotaro [[Defeat Means Friendship|joins Negi's side]], he starts and keeps bothering Negi about the proper way to fight (fighting for the sake of fighting), prompting [[Emotionless Girl|Y]][[The Philosopher|u]][[The Stoic|e]] to flatten him with a speech.
* Altered slightly in ''[[Macross 7]]''. At the end, {{spoiler|with the entire galaxy's spiritua about to be consumed by Lord Geppelnich's monstrously transformed body. Basara's singing finally gets through to another Protodevlin, Sevil, and she begins singing. As a result, she starts to produce spiritua within herself, proof that Protodevlin don't need to steal spiritua from others. Geppelnich hadn't believed the process of consuming the galaxy's spiritua to be reversible, but when he starts singing, it and his transformation reverse. Having no longer need to steal spiritua, they then leave the galaxy.}}
* Played with in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. When {{spoiler|Envy}} makes a desperate last attempt to turn {{spoiler|Ed, Roy, Riza and Scar}} against each other, {{spoiler|Ed tells him he's realized the reason he hates human beings so much is his very envy of their humanity}}. His response is to [[Driven to Suicide|kill himself]]. Not a straight example since he was half-dead already anywayand was completely powerless to defend himself, and it was very clear that he wasn't leaving that room alive anyway. He just took what he saw as a less humiliating exit.
* Mr. Satan (Hercule in the dub) does this to Majin Buu in ''[[Dragonball Z]]''. Unfortunately two hunters cause Buu to transform into a more evil form.
* ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'' has the final confrontation between humanity and Providence pivot on a conversation between a woman and a teenage girl. Of course, it also depends on a battle between angels and dragons {{
* The [[Subverted Trope]] version is used in the [[Climax Boss|Climactic mid-way]] [[Boss Battle]] of the [[OVA]] of ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'' (which also happens to be the final battle in the first manga, where this trope is also used, since the OVA [[Compressed Adaptation|condensed]] the story dramatically. {{spoiler|Ghim insists that Leylia still exists within her possessed body, and shows a comb he made for her, which allows Leylia a foothold, distracting Karla long enough for the [[Player Party|Party]] to defeat her. Too bad the [[Sixth Ranger]] Woodchuck was possessed next.}}
* In ''[[
*
** In general, this is usually Nanoha's first course of action when faced with a new villain. They never listen: cue [[Beam Spam]], [[Out of the Inferno]], etc.
* Subverted in ''[[Souten Kouro]]''. Cao Cao has a whole debate with Li Lie and defeats him with rhetoric... which buys Xu Chu enough time to come and blow his brains out.
* Subverted in ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'': {{spoiler|Mrs. Ikari sits Li'l Slugger down, discusses her life up to this point, and proceeds to divine his true nature and weaknesses... but unfortunately, she's not the one who has to come to terms with him. All her speech does is freak him out and start the destruction of Tokyo.}}
* Subverted in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. In episode 9 {{spoiler|after Sayaka became a witch, Oktavia, due to her corrupted Soul Gem, Kyoko desperately looked for ways to revert Sayaka back to being a human. QB told her that to his knowledge no one has ever been able to turn back once they became a witch. He gave Kyoko a [[Hope Spot]] by saying that there is no precedent to such thing, and there might be a way which he does not know of. Kyoko then proceeded to befriend and team up with Sayaka's best friend Madoka in an attempt to [["I Know You
== Comic Books ==
* In an issue of ''[[The Authority]]'', the villain gets talked into working for the heroes instead of destroying the world. (The heroes give him a run-down country to build up again in an "If you're so smart..." ploy). Note that this is ''after'' they've already killed all the soldiers he's deployed.
{{quote|
'''Swift:''' And this is how we'll deal with you. }}
** Done again with one of the Doc's soldiers, Tank Man. Midnighter realized his adversary had a similar origin story to him and talked him into giving up and going away. They exchanged letters afterwards.
* This is a favored tactic of [[
* One issue of ''[[Justice League of America|JLA]]'' features a rogue general putting his mind into an indestructible monster body. Batman realizes that his brain can no longer process a lot of information, so he begins talking and attempting to hypnotize him into falling asleep. Then Superman messes it all up by punching him.
** Prometheus from the Justice League comic also practices this skill. Backed up by technological gimcrackery.
* ''[[Wild CATS]]'' fought TAO, who had a whole range of mysterious powers. Anyone simply talking to him risked going catatonic.
* ''[[Fables]]''. Playing off '1001 Arabian Nights', Snow White manages to talk her way out of a murder-happy rape-marriage with tales of her friends.
* ''Angel'', the canonical comics. Angel tries {{spoiler|telepathic spams of Happy Fred Memories to calm down Illyria, who had become depressed over trying to be like Fred and was squashing people. Doesn't quite work and things get much worse}}.
* ''[[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]'', of all people, does this: he manages to talk ''his own
* In ''The Thessaliad'', Thessaly talks her way past a Sphinx and an axe-murderer, distracting the former long enough to escape on a train and distracting the latter long enough to cast a shrinking spell on him and then cleave his head in two.
* In ''[[Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers]]'', it's [[Played for Laughs]] when Kup tells a story about how Prowl once spent two and a half straight days lecturing to a captured Decepticon every single chapter and verse of the Tyrest Accord that the 'Con had violated, until the 'Con finally committed suicide out of sheer intolerable boredom.
▲* Mocked in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!:
▲'''Yami''': Indeed Tea, it looks like we had more in common than I thought. }}
▲** Also parodied when Tea is dueling Mai Valentine and gives constant friendship speeches during nearly every sentence she says, which causes Mai to give up just to shut her up.
▲* Played for laughs in ''[[Naruto the Abridged Series]]'' by the Third Hokage against his fight with Orochimaru. When confronted by reincarnated forms of the previous two Hokages, he performed one of his strongest techniques: "The Old Man Monologue Justu". No, seriously.
== Film ==
* ''[[Men in Black (
* In the 2004 ''[[Peter Pan]]'' film, Captain Hook {{spoiler|gains the ability to fly using Tinker Bell's pixie dust. Since it operates on happy thoughts, the Lost Boys manage to cause him to sink by convincing him that he is old and alone.}}
* In ''[[Star Trek]]: The Motion Picture'', VGER destroys several ships and kills hundreds of people, but Kirk and company discover VGER's secret, and tell it the truth, Decker tells Kirk that he wants to take over VGER (so he can have Ilia as his [[Love Interest]].) VGER merges with Decker and [[Ascends to A Higher Plane of Existence|crosses over into another universe and disappears]].
** Kirk's actually pretty good at doing this to evil computers: it happened four times. In one instance, though, it almost comes back to bite him: deciding it should die, the computer that's taken over the Enterprise shuts down the ship's defenses to allow the fleet to kill it. Fortunately, the commander of the fleet decided to investigate its apparent surrender instead of coming in phasers blazing.
*** To the point where an adventure for the [[Doctor Who]] [[Role
* The animated movie ''[[Flight of Dragons]]'' ends its epic fantasy quest with {{spoiler|an ''epic debate'' between twentieth-century writer Peter and evil wizard Omadon. Just when it seems like all is lost and nobody's left to oppose Omadon, Peter discovers he can cancel magic by contemplating the logical rules it breaks. As Omadon boasts, threatens, and finally attacks, Peter counters by explaining in detail how Omadon's magic is literally impossible... rendering Omadon helpless and in agony, and eventually withering away into nothingness. In denying magic, however, Peter ends up banishing himself back to the twentieth century.}} It's [[Better Than It Sounds
* Subverted in ''[[The Muppet Movie]].'' Kermit the Frog tries to do this to Doc Hopper, appealing to Doc's better nature, but it turns out Doc doesn't have one.
* Subverted in Tim Burton's ''[[Mars Attacks
* In the [[Film of the Book|film adaptation]] of ''[[The
* Subject of a throw-away joke in the ''[[Jaws (
{{quote|
* Six
* In the film version of ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight: Breaking Dawn]]'' (see Literature below), unlike the book, there ''is'' a final battle scene. But it is presented as a psychic vision of a ''possible'' future. Which is then avoided, because the Big Bad prefers to leave the situation as a stalemate since he won't win the battle.
== Game Books ==
* The ''[[
== Literature ==
* In ''Breaking Dawn'' of the ''[[Twilight (
** Unlike the above ''[[Men in Black (
{{quote|
* Any ''[[Discworld]]'' book aimed at younger readers (marked "A Tale of Discworld") will likely end like this. ''A Hat Full of Sky'' contains a particularly notable example, as Tiffany ''literally'' talks the Hiver through to the death it wants.
** In ''[[
** Played with in ''[[
** Let's not forget pig boring. Doesn't really count since pigs aren't monsters, but literally talking it to death has to be mentioned.
* In Robert Lynn Asprin's ''[[Myth Adventures|Myth-Ing Persons]]'', Aahz is being held in a prison which is a magically-animated monster-head. Skeeve frees him by prompting him to tell a string of his old drinking stories, which are so infamously boring the prison-head yawns, allowing Aahz to jump to freedom.
* [[Ayn Rand]] has a knack for these in her novels, where the climax tends to involve a [[Author Filibuster|lengthy philosophical rant]] against a corrupt society delivered by the protagonist. Howard Roark's comparatively short speech at his trial for the dynamiting of a housing project in ''[[The Fountainhead]]'' (around 8 pages) simply manages to nab him a verdict of not guilty. By contrast, John Galt's ''56 page'' radio address in ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' ultimately leads to the collapse of human civilization.
** Dostoevsky is a tad more forgiving. The finale of ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'' has two speeches, one by the prosecutor and the other by the defense attorney, which combined last only 54 pages. The author even [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]] on the length of the prosecutor's speech (31 of the 54 pages) by saying he was feeling particularly energetic that day.
* In ''[[The
** Marvin the Paranoid Android is an expert at talking the monster to death by communicating his own depression so powerfully it makes his enemy commit suicide.
*** On Magrathea (in the books) he kills two policemen by talking in this way to the ship controlling their life support system.
*** Later, he defeats a sentient armoured tank by asking it to guess what weapon he has been given with which to defend Zaphod against it. When he reveals that the answer is "Nothing", the tank gets so angry that it blasts out the floor, causing it to plummet to its destruction.
** God gets unmade by virtue of the existence of the babel fish.
{{quote|
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," say Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't though of that" and promptly vanishes in a [[Puff of Logic
*** However, this causes the Man in question to start following [[Insane Troll Logic]]. Case in point: his encore was to prove that black is white. He got himself killed on the next zebra crossing.
* In the climax of the <s>Objectivist recruiting tool</s> children's novel ''[[The Girl Who Owned a City]]'', the title character literally scolds the leader of the opposing group into surrendering and joining her. Keep in mind that this kid is the gun-toting leader of a street gang in a adult-free world, had several cronies around, and was the one who basically acted like a giant [[Jerkass]] for the other parts of the book.
* In ''[[The Hobbit]]'', Gandalf achieves a variant of this by keeping the trolls who had taken Thorin and his companions prisoner talking until the sun came up (turning the trolls to stone).
** Bilbo attempts this to defuse the tension between the elves and men and the dwarves. It doesn't turn out so well. Also, in a milder example, Bilbo learns Smaug's weakness and avoids being caught and eatten by flattering and speaking cleverly with the dragon.
* The ''[[The Golden Oecumene
** Similarly, the robots of [[Isaac Asimov]] can be coerced into shutting down, the method of which depends on how advanced they are. The early robots in 'I, Robot' could be shut down simply by giving them a decision whose end results, including those caused by inaction, would result in some sort of harm to humans(mental included), a violation of the first law of robotics. Later robots were programmed to choose the lesser harm and could avoid destruction this way, though a sufficiently advanced roboticist could still cause their destruction through a very deliberate and specific conversation. Lastly, (most) robots of all time periods could theoretically be ordered directly to destroy themselves, as the 2nd law, which dictates that robots must obey the commands of humans, supersedes the 3rd, which dictates that robots must enforce self-preservation. However, the robot would need to understand the reasons for its destruction as the difference between the two laws is not terribly considerable.
** The best example is "Liar!". US Robots accidentally makes a robot that can read minds, and no one knows how they did it. The three main characters (Susan Calvin, Pete Bogert and Alfred Lanning) are amazed by this. Susan Calvin gets told that a man she likes also likes her back, and Pete Bogert gets told that Alfred Lanning has resigned and left his position for Pete. However, soon they discover it was a lie (the man Susan liked is going to marry to other woman he had brought to work a few days before, and Lanning hasn't resigned), and Susan makes the connection: the robot is still bound by the Three Laws, and thus it lied to them so that it didn't hurt them. Susan confronts the robot and provokes a [[Logic Bomb]] to it, making it realise that both doing something and not doing something will hurt some people.
* A form of this in the ''[[X Wing Series]]'' book
* Eddie literally does this to Blaine the Mono in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Dark Tower|Wizard And Glass]]''.
** More accurately, Eddie kills Blaine with an unstoppable barrage of really bad jokes. And it is awesome.
* In ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (
** Well, Harry ''tries'' to talk Voldemort into not throwing the curse and repenting his crimes. Instead, Voldemort refuses to listen and casts the Killing Curse at Harry {{spoiler|not knowing that Harry had become the master of the Elder Wand, which caused said curse to backfire and kill Voldemort instead.}}
* In [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[
* In the novel ''Far Away From Us''' by Michael Uspensky. King Solomon convinces some brigands that "life is futile and is full of sorrows and is pointless to carry on", whereupon they (the brigands, that is) wholeheartedly agree and stab each other. The Hero then inquires if the trick could be repeated with a whole army. The king is uncertain.
* In [[
* In ''[[Narnia|The Silver Chair]]'', Puddleglum manages to break the Green Witch's spell by a combination of burnt-marshwiggle odor and this trope. Ironically, he does so by ''conceding to everything she's said'' in her own [[Hannibal Lecture]], then declaring that even so, he'd rather go on living ''as if'' her accusations are baseless than embrace her overly-bleak perspective.
* Orson Scott Card's '[[Ender's Game]]' books. The titular hero's siblings change society by... online blog posts. Yeah.
** Parodied hilariously by ''[[
* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] would, in a perfect world, talk all his enemies down to a negotiation table and hammer out a ceasefire and trade agreement over tea and cookies. But if that fails, he has this.
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] would, in a perfect world, talk all his enemies down to a negotiation table and hammer out a ceasefire and trade agreement over tea and cookies. But if that fails, he has this.
** The [[Actual Pacifist]] Seventh Doctor especially made use of this, notably talking down a Black Dalek this way in "Remembrance of the Daleks"; bear in mind that he has already taken out Skaro and the whole Dalek fleet- he went after the survivor for ''completeness' sake.'''
*** In a far more impressive manner, he talks the god-like "Light" into committing suicide in ''Ghost Light.''
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*** Fifth series also ''also'' offers a massive subversion in "The Pandorica Opens". Facing an army of everything that's ever hated him, the Doctor talks them all into not attacking. However, {{spoiler|it turns out that they don't need to attack, since not only are the Roman soldiers with the Doctor really Auton spies, but the thing he's trying to keep them away from is a prison designed for the Doctor himself.}}
** The Eighth Doctor comments on the implications at the end of the [[Eighth Doctor Adventures|Expanded Universe]] novel ''Dreamstone Moon''.
{{quote|
It wasn't a very pleasant thought. }}
* [[Angel]] tries a "we humans are noble creatures who can forgive our enemies" variant during a standoff with the newly reawakened elder god Illyria, but he is interrupted midway though by Wesley, who calmly fires his gun and murders the man who caused Illyria's rebirth. Angel is rather understandably annoyed: "Weren't you listening??"
** Played straight with Faith.
* The Shadows and the Vorlons were convinced to leave the galaxy after being told off by Sheridan, Delenn, and Lorien in ''[[Babylon
** It is a little more complicated than that, but not by much.
** Another ''[[Babylon
** In the episode ''Severed Dreams'', a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] consists of Delenn arriving, with the prototype 'White Star' and three Minbari cruisers, declaring the newly independent Babylon 5 to be under their protection, and telling a Clark-loyal Earth Force fleet that "Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else." They flee.
** In the first season, Sinclair talked one [[Monster of the Week]] into committing suicide (more or less).
* In one episode of ''[[Star Trek:
** Kirk and Picard are both good at talking monsters to death (AKA fast talking their way out of a jam). Since both characters routinely run into [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] who cannot be defeated with firepower, it's an important skill. Kirk tends to be generally less [[Humans Are Special|smug]] when he does it than Picard, though.
** Subverted ''and'' played straight by the Borg ''before'' [[Villain Decay]] set in, as in their first appearance Q made it explicitly plain that they could ''not'' be reasoned with. Played straight in a later episode when Data hacked them through Locutus and electronically told them to "sleep" (at Picard's suggestion of course).
** An episode of ''[[Honey I Shrunk the Kids (TV series)|Honey I Shrunk the Kids]]'' parodied this, when Wayne attempts to talk a home-security computer to death. It appears to work, but then he realizes "that only works in cheesy sci-fi shows!" and the computer springs back to life.
* Professor [[Quatermass]] saved the Earth this way back in 1953. An alien life force had [[Body Horror|absorbed the consciousnesses]] of three astronauts, and Quatermass convinced them to commit suicide to keep the creature from reproducing via thousands of infectious spores.
* Xander Harris saves the world from Season Six's Big Bad on ''[[
{{quote|
* One episode of ''[[Goosebumps]]'' had a mud monster chasing two boys. They run into the girl that tagged along earlier. Girl goes on a tangent. Mud monster dries up in the sun.
* [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Hilariously played with]] in ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]''. One [[Monster of the Week]] resisted ''any'' single try to have him interrogated by the [[Five-Man Band]]... until [[The Smart Guy]] tries his luck on it. Said [[Smart Guy]] is a major [[Cloudcuckoolander]] ''and'' a telepath who channels everyone's thoughts. In few minutes, the monster is ''begging'' to have the guy off him otherwise he'll end up braindead.
** Not as sinister as it sounds. His ''rambling'' drove the bad guy up the wall to the point that he cracked, whereas both threats for if he didn't talk ''and'' promises of leniency if he did had failed before.
* In the finale of the 2004 ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* In Day 3 of ''[[
* On Madeline Kahn's appearance on ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', she appears in a skit where she is in a park marvelling at how beautiful everything is. Along comes a monster who starts destroying each beautiful thing she mentions. Then she turns to the monster and starts talking about how beautiful it is in its awfulness. The monster starts shrinking from embarrassment until it is small enough for Madeline to hit it away with her umbrella. "Sometimes it helps to talk your problems down to size."
* In ''[[Warehouse 13]]'' Myka does this with H.G Wells when H.G is trying to destroy the world. In the end Myka makes H.G put a gun to her head telling H.G to shoot her then since everyone was going to die anyway then H.G should just shoot her making H.G realise she can't kill Myka and has a breakdown.
== Mythology ==
* Mercifully free of any heroic platitudes, Roman writer [[
* Similarly, Oedipus talked the Sphinx into suicide simply by solving its infamous riddle.
* [[Everything's Better
** Wouldn't that be an inversion? Talking Yourself To Life?
* Subverted in a Japanese folktale: a monk meets in a ruin a wicked, cannibalistic hag who's crying because she can't reach Nirvana (being a cannibalistic hag and all). The monk tries to talk to her and make her repent her sins, but the old witch changes her mind and [[Downer Ending|devours the poor guy]].
== New Media ==
* While reviewing a cavalcade of old NES peripherals, [[
▲== Real Life ==
* This is basically the definition of a [[wikipedia:Filibuster|filibuster]], where the "monster" in question is a bill that a legislator wishes to block. The record in the U.S. is held by Strom Thurmond, who rambled on for more than 24 hours to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957.▼
** Ironically enough, it was subverted in its very first use during the Senate's meeting over the issue to reverse the censure placed on [[Andrew Jackson]]. The opponents to reversing it simply began to talk on and on. The Jacksonian faction's response? They simply stocked up on food, ale and coffee and enjoyed themselves until the opposition gave up.▼
*** In America at least, the ability to use a filibuster to halt the passing of a bill became so annoying that it was decided that any use of it could be overridden by a 60% majority simply because pretty much anyone could delay a bill and piss off everyone just by talking for a long time.▼
** This ended up getting subverted in the USA by the introduction of rules that removes the need to talk for hours to filibuster - a formal declaration of filibustering a bill is enough for it to count.▼
* Zhuge Liang has a knack for this. He once challenged Wang Lang to a battle of words, and when Zhuge finished verbally lobotomizing the reasons for Wei's political moves, Wang Lang DIED. Same thing happened with Cao Zhen, but with a LETTER. In the exact words, "Cao Zhen became furious, coughed, and spat blood..." If only Zhuge Liang could have a little chat with all his enemies...▼
== Tabletop Games ==
* Most [[RPG
* The infamous story of a PC in ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' talking the Computer into a logic loop and crashing it.
▲* Most [[RPG|RPGs]] that have a skill system (read: most RPGs) will usually have some sort of "diplomacy" skill. Judicious use of these skills can often allow victory with very few die rolls and even less conflict.
* There are several ways you can do this in ''[[Exalted]]'', to the point that most Social charms are built around this trope. A few of them even references the story of Zhuge Liang (see [[Real Life]] examples).
== Video Games ==
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** Not quite. What happens is that you meet a group of Devils talking amongst themselves. The leader asks you if you know what he is. Depending on your character's intelligence and/or Knowledge (Arcane) skill, you can say "some kind of monster," give him a short description of what he is (basically what it says in the Monster Manual), or give him a several hours long speech about exactly what kind of Devil he is, what his role is in the 9 Hells, how he came to be promoted to his current station, and what he must do in order to be promoted to the next form of Devil. Doing the last impresses him so much ([[Memetic Mutation|Devils, of course, love details]]) that he gathers up his underlings and departs without a fight.
** You can also unnerve a Barghest and its brood (provided you didn't kill him earlier) from a fight by showing him the dead kitty you've been carrying around for no reason since the beginning of the game. If you also happen to be carrying a dead man and a dead woman (and have enough ranks in Intimidate), the Barghest will run off in fear because someone as deranged as you ''clearly'' isn't to be messed with.
{{quote|
'''[[Player Character]]:''' Oh, well, okay, if you insist. Pity, though, you'd have made a fine addition to my pretty, tender collection...
'''Yquog:''' AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! }}
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' allows the player to literally talk some NPCs to death, including the final boss, and avoid many other enemies or dangerous situations merely by virtue of having a high enough Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma. This is largely because its world is [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe|shaped by belief]].
** And in the case of the final boss, it's {{spoiler|an aspect of the hero himself}}. Convincing it to {{spoiler|rejoin with him}} whether by threats, trickery, sincerity, or force of will results in a somewhat better ending than simply destroying it.
* In what is probably the [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for this game, the last case of ''[[Phoenix Wright]]: Trials and Tribulations'' has {{spoiler|Mia Fey}} talk {{spoiler|the spirit of Dahlia Hawthorne ''past'' death, forcing her to recognize that all her plans have ended in failure and apparently condemning her to an eternity of regret. Dahlia's ensuing rage forces her out of the body she's been possessing with a scream of frustration.}} Let's just say the Judge was not the only person freaked out and awed.
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* In the first ''[[Fallout]]'' game (from the makers of the Planescape game above), the final boss could be beaten like this. If you can convince him that his plans are utterly futile, he'll initiate his base's [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]] and let you run to escape.
** The final boss of ''Fallout 2'' could not be directly talked to death, as no matter what you say he dismisses all your claims and will eventually attack. However, you ''can'' talk to his bodyguards and ask them to side with you against them, and you can also reprogram the automated turrets in his chamber to attack him.
** ''Fallout 3'' also pulls this off with the last
** Fallout 3 again, in the add-on Operation Anchorage, the last boss in the simulation kills himself if you pass the speech challenge.
** [[Fallout: New Vegas]] lets you convince Legate Lanius to pull back his army and retreat....if you have a Speech skill of ''100''.
*** You can also pretty much talk down 99% of all non-random fights.
* ''[[Arcanum:
* A variation occurs in the ''Hordes of the Underdark'' expansion for ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]''. If you managed to get Mephisto's [[I Know Your True Name|true name]] right before the final battle with him at the end of the game, you can use it to stop the fight before it even begins. This only works if you have his name, and with it you can do different things based on your [[Character Alignment]] and conversation options you choose, such as: order him to drop dead, order him to return to Hell, or even order him to give you command of Hell and become your either you partner or lackey. Your choices have major effects on the epilogue.
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' you can convince a demon (or devil, I cannot quite recall) that merely by talking to you, it has failed to knock down a door, and has failed its master. Since failing its master is punished by death, it promptly keels over.
** Should have been a [[Lawful Evil|devil]] then, as demons are [[Chaotic Evil]].
* In ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'', the only way to defeat {{spoiler|Darth Sion}} is to talk to him in the breaks between combat. Eventually, you succeed in weakening his will to live, at which point he accepts death peacefully.
** Roughly:
{{quote|
{{spoiler|'''Darth Sion'''}}: It was not. No matter how many Jedi I killed...no matter how many lay broken at my feet...the pain would not end. I am glad to be rid of this place. }}
* In the ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' community module ''The Bastard of Kosigan'', your character gets to hold a conversation with your recently deceased father's ghost. Not forgiving him makes him take damage, but you can choose to forgive him completely and avoid the battle at the end.
* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', you can talk your way out of a few fights using the Charm and Intimidate skills. You can even convince the [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] Saren [[Heel Realization|that siding with]] [[Eldritch Abomination|Sovereign]] will save nobody. {{spoiler|Though being convinced that Sovereign can regain control over his mind and body at any time, he pulls out his gun and shots himself in the head.}}
** {{spoiler|In ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', The Illusive Man can be convinced he's indoctrinated too and enacts the exact same solution to release himself from it as Saren did, if you got all the pertinent reputation checks while talking to him throughout the game.}}
* Inverted in one chapter of ''[[Disgaea]]'', where the ''monsters'', knowing that [[Noble Demon|Laharl]] is [[Allergic to Love]], bombard him with happy and cheerful sayings, sapping his powers for the duration of that battle.
** Amused by this, Flonne even joins in with her happy message of eternal love. The irony of the moment is that Laharl wouldn't have been impaired (as badly?) had Flonne
* The Mediator class in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' has the "Death Sentence" skill, which kills its target in three turns if successful.
** There is also the much milder skill "Mimic Darlavon" ("Daravon" in the previous localization,) which simply puts the enemy to sleep by droning on and on and on, like the tutorial-dispensing Professor.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics
* In some ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' games you can convince enemies to join your side (or at least give you an item) by flattering them, threatening them,(strangely enough pissing them off is also an option)etc.
** In fact, this is the main form of party recruitment in nearly all main series [[Mega Ten]] Games (The MMO Included), and it makes an appearance in the early Persona Games as well. Only recently has it been replaced with alternative methods of obtaining Demons and Personae.
** It doesn't work on bosses, though. In ''[[Persona]]'', you're told "They have no interest in discussion." More amusingly, ''[[Shin Megami Tensei I]]'' tells you "No time for talk, they're out for blood!"
*** Talking does not work on demons during the Full Moon / Brightest Kagutsuchi phase, or demons of a specific alignment/class.
*** ''[[Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
*** ''[[Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
* In the [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]] ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' reverses the trend at some points, with you taking damage from being bored by chatty monsters, or in some cases, read poetry.
** Also played straight in one area where you can hurt the monsters by reading a dictionary to them.
* Because many creations instinctively obey anyone who can control essence, a PC in the ''[[Geneforge]]'' series with high leadership has the option to convince some creations to commit suicide.
** There are actually variants of this all over the games if you've trained Leadership high enough. For instance, when you obtain one of the control batons in the first game, {{spoiler|a shade appears and tells you it represents [[Big Bad|Trajkov]], who'll send soldiers after you unless you break the baton. Break off a tiny piece of the handle, and the imprecision of its instructions will get it to back down.}}
* ''[[
** [[Incredibly Lame Pun|"You're Banned" usually stops a troll in their tracks.]]
* ''[[Strong
* This is a staple of the ''[[
** ''[[MOTHER 1
** ''[[
** ''[[
* Early on in ''[[
** In the sequel, you eventually meet an Observer (a non-evil Beholder) who is magically bound to guard a box containing an item you need. The most obvious solution is to kill him, but with a high enough Wisdom you can point out to him that {{spoiler|the wizard bound him to guard the box, not the ''contents'' of the box. . .}}
* In ''Flight of the Amazon Queen'', you encounter a gorilla blocking your way; you can get rid of it by telling it that it doesn't exist. (And even if it existed, it has no business being in South America when gorillas only live in Africa.)
* ''[[
** But it only works three times, after which it's [[Fridge Horror|implied]] that {{spoiler|Jecht has lost consciousness, if not control, of his Final Aeon form}}. From there, one's only option is to open a can of whoop-ass.
** The option also appears for certain party members in {{spoiler|the first three fights with Seymour}}, granting them a boost to their statistics.
* Possible in a roundabout manner in ''[[Indiana Jones and
* ''[[
* In ''[[Soul Calibur]]: Broken Destiny'', [[Gentleman Thief|Dampierre's]] finisher just has him telling the opponent a sob story and ends with them giving him a coin while they go off to cry.
* ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'' has a lot of situations where talking to the right people beforehand can make certain fights much easier (for instance, being friends with [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath|Steven Heck]] can make [[Disco Dan|Brayko]] a lot easier to fight), but the only boss fight you can outright talk your way out of is {{spoiler|the rematch with Conrad Marburg if you didn't kill him in Rome}}, which requires high reputation {{spoiler|or the piece of evidence that proves Parker was the one who cut him loose during his Deus Vult days.}}
* In ''[[Dragon Age]]'', wandering through Denerim's market may lead you to being confronted by a royal knight who fully believes {{spoiler|Loghain's lies that the Grey Wardens murdered the king (It was really Loghain leaving him to die)}} and demands that you face him in honorable combat. With a good persuasion skill, you can make him question why {{spoiler|the Wardens would want the king dead}}, and, unable to think of an answer, he agrees to back off.
* The final showdown with Tolwyn in ''[[Wing Commander (
* ''[[Deus Ex
* Inverted in ''[[Crimsoness]]'', with [[Motor Mouth|Iteko]] trying to talk ''the main character'' to death, taking advantage of the game's 3 minute time limit and talking on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[8-
▲* In ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'', Black Mage killed Astos by making a really bad joke.
** Astos? Mo' like yo' ass ''is'' toast!
** As [[Puff of Logic]] illustrates, Red Mage once defeated a T-Rex by telling him he couldn't exist.
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** "[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/06/09/episode-1138-use-your-words/ So, this is what it's like to be bored to death.]" (Spoiler-y)
** This was also their final plan for fighting {{spoiler|[[Final Boss|Chaos]]}}. They intend to have Fighter talk to him. As Fighter seems to just make people stupid by talking to them, the plan is to make Chaos [[Too Dumb to Live]].
{{quote|
*** In fact, {{spoiler|White Mage does this with Chaos by convincing it that the nothingness that would ensue from destroying all life would be a form of order itself.}}
* In [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0010.html this] comic of ''[[
{{quote|
'''Vaarsuvius:''' But ... I did not cast my spell yet ... }}
* One of Rumisiel's many [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Crowning Moments of Awesome]] in ''[[Misfile]]'' is his [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=337 talking down of vengance seeking ghost Angelica] moments after she just fried his (ostensibly) stronger brother.
* ''[[PvP]]'': In a story arc, Scratch deals with supernatural beings with formulas that prove that they can't exist.
* ''[[Chasing the Sunset]]'': [http://www.fantasycomic.com/index.php?p=c555 Nobody] keeps a dragon as a pet or prisoner.
* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]],'' Bob does this very well, to the point that it can probably be considered his most effective weapon. It's how he stopped [[Big Bad|Fructose Riboflavin]] once, the [[Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti|Bigfoot Army,]] and [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Galatea.]] Though the second time he tried it in Riboflavin, it [[Berserk Button|backfired.]]
* Referenced as [[Labyrinth
{{quote|
** Later it's revealed in a [[Tear Jerker|heartbreaking]] (mini)arc that {{spoiler|his father got banished by his mother}} with the [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-133-Forsaken-184751515 very SAME monologue] and appearently it [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-22-Girls-Rock-71158866 also works] on [[The Lord of the Rings|Ringwraiths]].
* ''[[Vexxarr]]'' once he <s>was deranged enough</s> got the hang of it, managed to [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=010311 disable three crewmates in three pages] by talking to them.
** Sploorfix often makes AI self-destruct without trying to do it, by talking to them. And even a ''[http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=122214 light switch]''. While advanced AI can resist, [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=100516 they are still affected]. Vexxarr [http://www.vexxarr.com/archive.php?seldate=042617 uses him] as an universal hacking tool.
* In ''[[Digger (Webcomic)|Digger]]''. this is Boneclaw Mother's weapon of choice. {{spoiler|Eventually used to stop Jhalm. "Don't worry about him. We had a little chat and he decided to leave."}}▼
{{quote|'''Carl''': To me he's a lifeform that literally communicates with ''bullets''.}}
▲* In ''[[
* In ''[[Captain SNES]]'', Frog, Palom and Porom defeated the Eater of Dreams during a conversation. He was giving his big speech about how the heroes have no chance and the heroes were saying how much of a cheating bastard he was or how he could not win, but the EOD ends up dying because he wasn't paying attention to his HP and ran out of hit points due to a previously cast Virus spell.
* In ''[[
** Nanase gambles on {{spoiler|Abraham's}} good intentions to [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-10-20 convince] the {{spoiler|wizard}} to [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2009-10-22 swear an oath not to harm] {{spoiler|Ellen}}.
** Later, [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-04-26 Melissa tries this on the Taurcanis Draco] in the same style as ''The Flight of Dragons'' example above. It fails but she distracts it from causing trouble until [[Big Damn Heroes|more capable reinforcements arrive]].
** [[Mr. Exposition|Mr. Verres]], as the new [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-01-19 Head of Paranormal Diplomacy], had a meeting with some sort of half-a-ton troll ("[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-01-10 business stuff]") and somehow convinced him to apply elsewhere with that rampaging "deathless army of rage". He's just that good.
* ''[[The Non-Adventures of Wonderella]]'' presents it [http://nonadventures.com/2013/03/16/two-girls-one-up/ in an old game format].
* ''Use Sword On Monster'' is occasionally read by the fans as "Uses Word On Monster". After the first ogre an encounter can go either way, you never know.
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Sailor Nothing]]'' ends with Himei ending [[Big Bad|the Dark Queen]]'s rampage by telling her that
* Spoofed in ''[[The Salvation War]]''. A Russian politician makes a defeated demon ''beg to be killed'' by reciting some speeches of Russia's then-president Vladimir Putin to it.
* [[Atop the Fourth Wall
== Western Animation ==
* One episode of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' had Blossom and Buttercup arguing over whether to use tactics or brute force against a monster. Bubbles solves the problem by simply asking the monster to leave town, pretty please with sugar on top.
** On the other hand, Blossom and Buttercup keep trying to prove that their way works, even when it's obvious that they don't. This actually might explain why the monster finally left when Bubbles asked - when the argument leads to Blossom and Buttercup making one final attempt to prove that their way is the right one, [[media:annoyedmonster.jpg|the monster is]] annoyed that the girls are '''''still''''' trying to beat him, and was probably glad for the excuse to go.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'': Subverted in one of their Halloween specials. Marge gives a heartwarming speech to a [[I Love Nuclear Power|mutated mob]] that calms them down long enough for Marge and kids to get into position and blast them away with shotguns.
{{quote|
'''Homer''': That's my wife! [[I Am Legend|Now, who wants a Ferrari?]] }}
** Subverted in another Halloween special in which a haunted house seeks to force the Simpsons out. After a ''Can't We All Get Along?'' speech from Marge, the house thinks about life with the Simpsons, and chooses to destroy itself in a scene reminiscent of the finale of ''Poltergeist.''
{{quote|
* In The ''[[He-Man and
* In an episode of ''[[Invader Zim]]'', Dib uses his newly gained super powers to dodge Zim's defense lawn gnomes (which he could have easily done without powers) and talk to Zim at his house.
{{quote|
'''Zim''': Well, Dib, Your words have moved me. I'm done with evil. Gir, it's been a pleasure working with you, now self destruct.
'''Gir''': Finally! ([[Your Head Asplode|His head then explodes]].) }}
* In ''[[Batman
* In ''[[My Little Pony:
** {{spoiler|She does this again in "Stare Master" against a cockatrice ''as she's being turned to stone''.}}
** Rarity also had a moment in "A Dog and Pony Show", in which she freed herself from being abducted and pressed into hard labor by the jewel-hoarding Diamond Dogs by [[Pity the Kidnapper|driving them insane with her incessant whining and complaining.]]
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* In the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Patriot Act" a bunch of second-string [[Badass Normal]] heroes go up against a rogue general who shot himself up with [[Super Serum]] to prove that superheroes/metahumans are a threat to normal people. When the heroes go down, the civilian population intervenes, informing the general that ''he's'' the only one in the battle who actually has super powers. "All right, I've become what I hate, I'll give you that," the villain says, putting down the car he was about to throw, and departs.
** In "Flash and Substance," the Flash sits down at a bar with the Trickster, chides him for not taking his medication, and persuades him to both give away the other rogues and turn himself in by promising to play (soft) darts with him in the hospital.
* In the ''[[Transformers:
{{quote|
* Terry gives an excellent example in ''[[Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker]]''. While Bruce much preferred to ignore the Joker's insane ramblings and [[The Stoic|stay silent]], Terry has no difficulty pushing Joker's buttons in a [[Ironic Echo|complete reversal]] of Joker's speech with the original Batman. Who knew laughing at the Joker would be his [[Berserk Button]]?
* In an old animated short on ''[[Sesame Street]]'', the Western town of Sniddlers Gulch is terrorized by Cowboy X, a huge bruiser who rides around town using an ink stamp to mark random things with a letter X. One small boy finally tries asking Cowboy X not to do that. Cowboy X actually agrees to stop. In a subversion, he immediately changes his name to Cowboy O, and rides around town stamping things with the letter O. In a double subversion, the people of Sniddlers Gulch are satisfied with this.
== Real Life ==
▲* This is basically the definition of a [[wikipedia:Filibuster|filibuster]], where the "monster" in question is a bill that a legislator wishes to block. The record in the U.S. is held by Strom Thurmond, who rambled on for more than 24 hours to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
▲** Ironically enough, it was subverted in its very first use during the Senate's meeting over the issue to reverse the censure placed on [[Andrew Jackson]]. The opponents to reversing it simply began to talk on and on. The Jacksonian faction's response? They simply stocked up on food, ale and coffee and enjoyed themselves until the opposition gave up.
▲*** In America at least, the ability to use a filibuster to halt the passing of a bill became so annoying that it was decided that any use of it could be overridden by a 60% majority simply because pretty much anyone could delay a bill and piss off everyone just by talking for a long time.
*** Parliamentary democracies have a similar way to stop a filibuster: [[w:Cloture|closure]]. In Canada, this can be passed by a simple majority, gives each parliamentarian a maximum of 20 minutes to speak to the motion, and requires the discussion to be completed by 8:00 PM on the day the motion of closure was passed. In the UK, this can be moved by 100 Members of Parliament, who specify in the motion when debate ends.
▲** This ended up getting subverted in the USA by the introduction of rules that removes the need to talk for hours to filibuster - a formal declaration of filibustering a bill is enough for it to count.
▲* Zhuge Liang has a knack for this. He once challenged Wang Lang to a battle of words, and when Zhuge finished verbally lobotomizing the reasons for Wei's political moves, Wang Lang
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Death Tropes]]
[[Category:Psychological Combat]]
[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
[[Category:Speeches and Monologues]]
[[Category:
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