The Face: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{quote|"''Hold your fire!... Daniel... Do you think you could find a language that could tell these people we're human like they are... and that we're friendly?''"|'''Jack O'Neil''', |''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' }}
 
A typical [[Five-Man Band]] has [[The Lancer]] contrasting [[The Hero]] and [[The Big Guy]] contrasting [[The Smart Guy]] but the fifth role is more variable. This person is the '''The Face''' of the team and they are the one you want doing the talking. This is the super trope for the characters that could fit in that role.
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* Sir Dinadin from [[Camelot]]'s Round Table. He doesn't like fighting and thinks [[Courtly Love]] is a waste of time. The other things he's noted for is [[Plucky Comic Relief|good humor]] and being more sociable than his fellows: he's the only one that can recognize all of them by their face in addition to their shield crest. This ability is naturally helpful for knights who otherwise might not recognize their own king.
* ''[[Going Postal (Discworld)|Going Postal]]'': Moist for the Post Office staff. It's what Vetinari hired him for. Stanley's considered weird ''[[Even Nerds Have Standards|even by other pin collectors]]'', and Groat is... rather eccentric. Moist, however, [[Boxed Crook|is a con man]], so he knows how to sell an idea.
* Dolores Umbridge exploited this trope in ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and Thethe Order of Thethe Phoenix (novel)|Harry Potter and Thethe Order of Thethe Phoenix]]''. She doesn't want Hogwarts students trained in offensive magic so she fills the Defense Against the Dark Arts class with lessons like 'negotiation' and 'non-retaliation' on the premise that these skills are just as important for future Auror teams as curses and counter-curses.
** Note that while this might not sound like a bad idea, the fact that she is imposing these restrictions while a wizarding civil war is brewing in the background (plus the fact that she is personally a [[Complete Monster]] for various reasons) make it clear that, in this case, being The Face is less useful than knowing how to defend yourself from homicidal lunatics.
* ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'': Haruhi herself. She's always out to promote the SOS Brigade and Kyon notes that she 'knows how to get answers' peacefully from the apartment keeper during the investigation of Asakura's disappearance. Though in practice the trope is inverted as she steams-rolls people with either blackmail or [[Genki Girl|her personality]]... if she's not outright ignoring them.
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* The core cast of [[Bones]] are four [[Lab Rat|"Squints"]] and a smooth talking FBI agent. While the former collects and analyzes evidence in private the latter's gathering information from people related to the Crime of the Week and interrogating suspects.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': Xander is [[The Heart]] and lacks the supernatural powers of his teammates, but is best friends with Buffy and Willow to the end. His storylines tends to revolve around interpersonal relationships, and, as the most consistent of the Scooby Gang, he interacts with everyone.
* Inara from ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''. Officially, her role on the ship is to use her social contacts to "open doors that would otherwise be closed" to a group like Captain Mal and the crew.
** Also Jayne, but in a different way. His official job title on the ship is "Public Relations" and considering the ''Serenity's'' relations with the public this usually means hurting people.
* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' - Cameron is [[The Heart]] variety. She goes out of her way to 'get to know' the patients, as opposed to the other members of her department who more or less don't care.
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* In the ''[[BattleTech]]'' RPG one of the pre-made character archetypes is called the Faceman, basically a mix between a public relations manager and a lawyer, who works for a mercenary company. While he is next to useless in any fight it is mentioned that merc commands that don't have one of these guys usually go under within a year, often before seeing a single battle, thanks to legal, bureaucratic and monetary issues.
** The [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Clans']] merchant caste generally plays this role for the Clans who are willing to deal with the Inner Sphere. Merchants still see the Spheroids as destructive primitives but are able put this aside and hide their feelings during negotiations, unlike the other castes (''especially'' the [[Smug Super|warriors]]), to score a good deal.
* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]''. The Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society (in the supplement ''Terror from the Stars'') recommended having one of the [[Player Character|PCs]] be a Communication Specialist - a charismatic character who is a good talker. They would have a high Appearance and high percentages in the skills Bargain, Credit Rating, Fast Talk and Persuade.
* ''[[Earthdawn]]''. Having a high Charisma is essential for each of the following.
** The Troubador Discipline was good for this, with Talents like First Impression, Lasting Impression and Haggle.
** Characters with other Disciplines can fill this role by choosing General Skills such as Acting, Bribery, Conversation, Engaging Banter, Etiquette, Fence, Flirting, Seduction, Streetwise and Trading.
* [[Genius: The Transgression]], Scholastics serve this purpose in a Player Party. This is important, since a Genius' ever worsening [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]] causes jabir which makes talking to normal humans rather difficult.
* In ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' Courtiers are explicitly designed to play this role, as even though most [[Player Character|PCs]] should have basic social skills to survive Rokugan's complicated system of etiquette and conversation, it helps to have someone who can recruit allies and deal with gossip and slander. In a pinch, Air Shugenjas and more politically oriented Magistrates and Bushi (particularly from the Scorpion or Crane Clans) can fill this role.
* ''[[Shadowrun]]'': Any character with a high Charisma and Social Skills like Etiquette, Interrogation, Leadership and Negotiation.
* In ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', a group of Tau will often have [[Fantastic Caste System|a member of their diplomat caste]] around that can do all the talking when they have to meet with members of another species.