Talking the Monster to Death: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|'''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|Winged Monkey:]]''' Hahaha! You'll never win!<br />

'''[[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.]]<br />

'''Winged Monkey:''' ... you're right. <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Driven to Suicide|Hangs himself on a noose]]]<br />

'''Winged Monkey:''' ... you're right. <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Driven to Suicide|Hangs himself on a noose]]<br />

'''The Crow:''' [Wipes away a tear at a job well done.]|''[[Robot Chicken]]'', 4.17}}

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* 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.

* 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]].

** 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.}}

** 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]]s 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.}}

** 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]] )

* 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.

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* 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!]]''. The President's secure bunker has been overrun and his only offense is to give a speech to the Martian attackers. Just like similar attempts seen on screen, it doesn't quite work.

* In the [[Film of the Book|film adaptation]] of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', Marvin uses the Point of View Gun to incapacitate an entire army of [[Mook~~|Mooks~~]] by showing them how bleak the universe is from his perspective.

* In the [[Film of the Book|film adaptation]] of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'', Marvin uses the Point of View Gun to incapacitate an entire army of [[Mook]]s by showing them how bleak the universe is from his perspective.

* Subject of a throw-away joke in the ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''-knockoff ''[[Alligator]]'', when the heroes are brainstorming a way to kill the eponymous reptile:

{{quote|"We could introduce him to my mother. She could talk him to death."}}

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* The Shadows and the Vorlons were convinced to leave the galaxy after being told off by Sheridan, Delenn, and Lorien in ''[[Babylon 5]]''.

** It is a little more complicated than that, but not by much.

** Another ''[[Babylon 5]]'' ~~example -- during~~ the civil war between Sheridan's forces and Earth Force ships loyal to President Clark, Sheridan convinces one of the enemy ship captains that Clark's orders are illegal and that he should therefore disobey them. That decision is briefly reversed when the other ship's first officer takes over, and then re-reversed when the ship's crew takes the first officer into custody.

** Another ''[[Babylon 5]]'' example—during the civil war between Sheridan's forces and Earth Force ships loyal to President Clark, Sheridan convinces one of the enemy ship captains that Clark's orders are illegal and that he should therefore disobey them. That decision is briefly reversed when the other ship's first officer takes over, and then re-reversed when the ship's crew takes the first officer into custody.

** The phrase "[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Be Somewhere Else]]" (backed by considerable firepower) convinced a Clark-loyal Earthforce fleet to flee the field of battle.

** In the first season, Sinclair talked one [[Monster of the Week]] into committing suicide (more or less).

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== Mythology ==

* Mercifully free of any heroic platitudes, Roman writer [[Ovid]] brings his version of the [[Greek Mythology]] of Argos, a hundred-eyed and eternally vigilant watchman. The trickster god Hermes defeated Argos by telling him a series of long, sad, and boring stories until every last one of his hundred eyes shut and fell ~~asleep -- and~~ then cutting his head off.

* Mercifully free of any heroic platitudes, Roman writer [[Ovid]] brings his version of the [[Greek Mythology]] of Argos, a hundred-eyed and eternally vigilant watchman. The trickster god Hermes defeated Argos by telling him a series of long, sad, and boring stories until every last one of his hundred eyes shut and fell asleep—and then cutting his head off.

* Similarly, Oedipus talked the Sphinx into suicide simply by solving its infamous riddle.

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses|Princess]] [[Scheherazade Gambit|Scheherazade]] of the Thousand and One [[Arabian Nights]]. Her husband, the king, was in the habit of serially executing his wives ... but she kept him entertained with stories night after night, and he couldn't execute her because he wanted to hear how the latest story ended ... until a thousand nights had passed, and he finally decided she was too interesting to kill.

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== Tabletop Games ==

* The infamous story of a PC in ''[[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.

* Most [[RPG]]s 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).