The Promise: Difference between revisions
→Anime and Manga: Added example
m (Mass update links) |
(→Anime and Manga: Added example) |
||
(27 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Lootie, I promised him a kiss."
''"Your Royal Highness," said Lootie, suddenly grown very respectful, "must come in directly."
''"Nurse, [[I Gave My Word|a princess must not break her word]]," said Irene, drawing herself up and standing stock-still. . . .
''"Never mind, Princess Irene," he said. "You mustn't kiss me tonight. But you shan't break your word. I will come another time. You may be sure I will."''
|'''[[George MacDonald]]''', ''[[The Princess and the Goblin]]''}}
A dramatically-made promise that operates like a verbal [[Chekhov's Gun]].
Whether they [[I Gave My Word|succeed]], [[Failure Knight|fail]] or refuse to keep their promise depends almost entirely on the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|idealism-level]] of the show. Though other factors, such as whether they were told what they had to do, or if it was a [[Leonine Contract]], may come into play.
Compare: [[Heroic Vow]], [[Childhood Marriage Promise]], [[Pinky Swear]], [[If We Survive This]]. See also [[Empty Promise]] and [[Frequently-Broken Unbreakable Vow]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* This is basically the trope that sets in motion Mashiro's persistence to become a mangaka in ''[[
* Utena invokes
* In the Soul Society arc of ''[[Bleach]]'', Ichigo ''will'' save Rukia... whether she likes it or not.
** Later on, during the Arrancar Arc, Ichigo vows to {{spoiler|Orihime that "next time... I'll definitely protect you!" And later, during the Hueco Mundo Arc, he tells her "Don't worry. I'm definitely going to win."}}
* Keitaro holds strongly to his 15-year-old promise to get into Tokyo University for/with a nearly-forgotten girl in ''[[Love Hina]]''. He also made a similar promise to forever be with his adoptive sister, which she does indeed dramatically call him on in the [[OVA]] sequel, ''Love Hina Again''. The concept of promises also is the main theme of the episode about the [[Robot Girl]] Moe.
* Both Lottie and Sara in ''[[Soukou no Strain]]'' promised to become Reasoners and see their brothers again. {{spoiler|One brother kills the other before either can reunite.}}
* In ''[[Ranma
* ''[[Naruto]]'' is full of "promises of a lifetime"... some more successfully fulfilled than others
** The most notable case is Naruto's promise to Sakura to return with Sasuke. {{spoiler|The episode after the mission to do this was actually called "The Promise That Could Not Be Kept." Though, he renews his promise and it's still his most important reason to fight, alongside protecting his friends.}}
** Another plot relevant promise is Sasuke promising to avenge his family by killing his brother.
*** Well, yeah. He does. He's devoted his life to turning himself into a vengeance machine. If the original quest had come to a satisfying conclusion, maybe he could have moved on and rebuilt himself into something new, but instead Itachi acted ''very weird'' and then Madara came in and filled in the plotholes with the fact that he threw away ''everything'' for ''nothing'' because the person he hated more than anything had loved him more than anything, and his true enemies were the people who'd forced them into that position. Naturally all he can do is kill someone.
* ''[[Vandread]]''{{'}}s Hibiki made the casual promise to come to Dita's room. Though hardly a big thing to promise, this haunts him throughout the entire second season. (They way they talk about it makes it seem like something else...)
* In the Battle City arc of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', Jounouchi's/Joey's major motivation is his promise to duel with Yugi and get back his Red-Eyes Black Dragon card.▼
▲* In the Battle City arc of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]'', Jounouchi's/Joey's major motivation is his promise to duel with Yugi and get back his Red-Eyes Black Dragon card.
* ''[[Elfen Lied]]'' plays around with this in the scene where the villainous Bando, rescued by Mayu earlier in the series and feeling indebted, promises to save her once if she winds in trouble. Mayu is forced to cash in this promise not even a minute later, when ''Bando himself attacks her.''
** But when she calls for his help again, he shows up in minutes and knocks the stuffing out of the man {{spoiler|sexually assaulting her.}}
** A second example is
* In ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'', Ken promises to Wormmon that he won't betray his essential
** In the previous season, Takeru promises to Sora that he'd protect Hikari. A promise which he still takes rather seriously in [[Digimon Adventure 02]], as he is seen putting himself protectively in front of Hikari (episode 3), seemed angry at himself for accidentally leaving her stranded in the Digital World (episode 7), and doggedly searched for her when she was taken by the Dark Ocean (episode 13).
* A much darker version appears in ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]''.{{context}}
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' has this: Kyosuke made a promise to Lamia that he'd kill her if she ever loses her mind ("If you ever lose your mind, don't worry. I'll destroy you myself"). He did get his time to try
* And also included in ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]:'' Squalo promised 8 years ago to Xanxus that he will never cut his hair until Xanxus becomes the boss of Vongola. And he did, {{spoiler|for eighteen years into the alternate future from the Ten Years Bazooka}}. Obviously because {{spoiler|Xanxus doesn't have the blood of Vongola, thus it's impossible for him to become Boss}}.
* ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]:'' Tetsunosuke promised to his friend Saya that he would not kill.
* ''[[Blood
* ''[[Nabari no Ou]]:'' Miharu's promise to Yoite, made under duress, to {{spoiler|erase Yoite's existence once Miharu can use the Sinrabanshou}} becomes the main tension and plotline of the series, as well as a source of a lot of its angst.
* ''[[Madlax]]'' has Madlax and Vanessa promising each other to survive. {{spoiler|It looks like Vanessa fails, but along comes [[Reality Warper|Margaret]] ex machina...}}
* ''[[The Place Promised in Our Early Days]]'' has such a promise as the entire backbone of it's plot.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'': At the last second in season three, it is revealed that in their past life together, Juudai promised that he would love only Yubel forever. This became the driving force of hir motivation when sie returned in season three. [[Fridge Horror|Then one remembers that Yubel can freely alter people's memories, and has no moral compunctions that would prevent hir from using these powers to get hir way...]]
** And then one remembers that their souls fused and any lies on either side would've been known and that Yubel didn't know that Juudai had remembered their past together. Yubel had nothing to do with his memories reviving. That happened because he'd actually inflicted damage on Yubel, which almost no one can do, since Yubel's effect is to take no battle damage at all. Not to mention that if Yubel lied, it would've been a part of the plot. Juudai loves Yubel. Their past is not a lie.
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima
* ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' has several promises that the main characters take very seriously. The first is that {{spoiler|[[Posthumous Character|Mary Magdalene]]}} made Chrono promise to "live", which is implied to be the only reason he {{spoiler|didn't commit suicide after her death}}. Also, the manga version shows Joshua and Rosette promise as children to {{spoiler|"grow-up together"--remembering his promise is what gives Joshua the strength to reject Chrono's horns}}. Also, when Rosette made [[Deal
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', Kotetsu made a promise to his wife on her deathbed to continue to be a [[Superhero|Hero]] after she was gone. {{spoiler|This promise starts getting harder and harder to keep once Kotetsu starts losing his powers.}}
* In ''[[Ponyo
** Sosuke's father doesn't make it home as he promised.
** Sosuke promised Ponyo to keep her safe, and she's swept away by the sea.
** Sosuke's mother promises she will come back; Sosuke and Ponyo set out in search of her when she doesn't.
* [[Code Geass]] has several. A couple of them are found on the [[Pinky Swear]] page and are explained in more detail there. A non-pinky promise comes during arguably the biggest [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] in the series; when [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch]] realises how much his friends care about him, he [[Manly Tears|tearfully]] promises them that he'll set off fireworks with them again someday. {{spoiler|He doesn't, and when he realises he won't be able to keep this promise, he calls them to apologise and say goodbye.}}
* In ''[[Gate 7]]'', Hana is [[I Will Wait for You|waiting for someone who has not been
* In ''[[Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew]]''; Ash tries to console Lucario after it believes it was abandoned and asks if he can help. Lucario only wants him to do one thing: Promise he will ''never'' abandon Pikachu. Ash swears he will not.
== Ballads ==▼
* In the [[Child Ballad]] "The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward", the young lord saves his life by promising to never tell anyone about the steward's having attacked and robbed him. (He gets around this through [[Exact Words]].)▼
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'' has the story ''A Promise In the Snow'' where the titular character promises a young girl her gravely wounded father won't die. After they're all nearly buried by an avalanche and Usagi has been battered unconscious, the girl invokes Usagi's promise to get him back on his feet.
* In the [[Film Noir]]
▲== Fairy Tales ==
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/bearskin/index.html Bearskin]", the hero, appalling shaggy, filthy and ragged, but rich, rescues a man from financial distress, the man [[The Promise|promises]] that he may marry one of his daughters. Only [[Youngest Child Wins|the youngest]] is willing. However, his appearance stemmed from a [[Deal With the Devil]], and that being over, [[She Cleans Up Nicely|he cleans up nicely]] and formally arrives at their house as a wooer -- or, in some variants, at his own wedding. The older sisters are impressed, but the youngest, being the sort who would marry a hideous man to redeem her father's promise, ignores him until he proves that handsome as he is, he is still the same man whom she promised to marry.▼
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/frogking/index.html The Frog King]", the king insists the princess must keep her promise to the frog who helped her.▼
** Similarly in "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/frogking/stories/wellworld.html The Well of the World's End]", although it is her [[Wicked Stepmother]] who insists out of spite (and indeed, she had to give the promise to fulfill the [[Impossible Task]] her stepmother imposed).▼
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/goosegirl/index.html The Goose Girl]", the princess swears to never tell anyone that the servant girl usurped her place. (She gets around this through [[Exact Words]].)▼
* In "[[East of the Sun West of The Moon (Literature)|East of the Sun West of The Moon]]", the bear lets the heroine go home as long as she promises not to speak with her mother alone. When she breaks this, her mother incites her to [[Forbidden Fruit|look at him at night]], which [[James Bondage|means that magic snatches him away]], and she [[The Quest|must search all over the world for him]].▼
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/pentamerone/10parsley1911.html Parsley]", when the ogress catches the mother in her garden, she makes her promise to give up her child. When the girl is about seven, the ogress tells her, repeatedly, to remind her mother of the promise.▼
{{quote| ''every time she went along the street and met the ogress the old woman said to her, "Tell your mother to remember her promise." And she went on repeating this message so often that the poor mother, having no longer patience to listen to the refrain, said one day to Parsley, "If you meet the old woman as usual, and she reminds you of the hateful promise, answer her, 'Take it.'"''}}▼
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rashin.html Rashin-Coatie]", the prince knows that the henwife's daughter (who cut her foot to fit in the shoe) is not the woman he fell in love with, but is bound by his promise to marry the woman whose foot it fit.▼
* "[[The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Literature)|The Pied Piper of Hamelin]]" is a story of what happens when people go back on their word, no matter how desperate they were when they gave it.▼
* The legendary mermaid [[Our Mermaids Are Different|Melusine]], is found near a woodland spring. She falls in love with the human who finds her, and agrees to marry him, on the condition that he not [[Peeping Tom|peek at her while she bathes]]. They are [[Happily Married]] for awhile, raising several children (all of whom are more like demons or demigods, depending on whom you ask), and settling into a nice chateau. Buut, one day, her hubby's curiosity and/or lust gets the better of him, and [[What an Idiot!|he peeks in on her bathtime]], and finds out that she's actually a mermaid. (He sees her tail fin.) [[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu|Melusine]] is ''not'' happy, to say the least.▼
** Notably, [[Generation Xerox|her own father]] broke a similar promise made to her mother, Pressyne. She, however, was satisfied with taking her three daughters and [[Toilet Seat Divorce|walking out on him]].▼
▲* In the [[Film Noir]] esque fanfic Nights In the Big City, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3560875/1/Nights_in_the_Big_City, Kim Possible makes a promise to Ron to sleep with him after he takes a flamethrower to the chest for her to motivate him to hang on during surgery. Afterwards he tells her that he knows why she made the promise and won't hold her to it. She does anyway.
== Film ==
* The German film ''[[Das Versprechen]]'' literally means "The Promise." It's about a teenage couple in which the girl escapes from East Germany, and her boyfriend promises "Ich komme nach" (roughly: I will come after you). The movie's plot is basically how difficult that is for him to accomplish.
== Literature ==
* The poems of Robert Service occasionally feature these, such as "The Cremation of Sam McGee" or "The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill". In the former, a man must carry Sam's dead body around with in the Arctic him until he finds a place to cremate him, and in the latter, an undertaker has to journey out to find Bill's dead body and give him a proper burial. Except that his ''rigor mortis'' prevents him from fitting into the coffin. [[Dead Baby Comedy|Why, look. A hacksaw.]]
* As of ''[[
* In the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series, it's mentioned several times that "A Wizard always keeps his promises." At one point, a secondary character tells the main character that the reason this happens is, as a wizard, he's subconsciously using his magic to make sure the promise is kept.
* In the novel ''The Oathbound Wizard'' by Christopher Stasheff the wizard Matt Mantrell makes a careless hyperbolic vow to overthrow a nearby [[Big Bad]]. Since he lives in a magical world with similar laws to Medieval legend, he is honor bound to do so. He later convinces God that the vow was made in error and he shouldn't be held to it, but by then he has seen how horrible the [[Big Bad]] is and wants to overthrow him anyway.
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[
* In [[
* In the [[Chivalric Romance]] ''Sir Orfeo'', the King of Fairy must give up Orfeo's wife because he gave a promise to Orfeo, [[King Incognito|disguised as a ministrel]].
* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer
** In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''Legion'', Alpharius is reluctant to leave an undertaking because he has promised to do it. [[With Due Respect|Soneka objects that they always act with relentless pragmatism.]]
** In James Swallow's ''The Flight of the Eisenstein'', Garro reveals Horus's treacherous attack to his men, and demands that they swear an oath of moment on [[Cool Sword|his sword Libertas]]. An intercepted order [[Debate and Switch|reveals to all of them that he tells the truth]], and they all swear.
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Warhammer
* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Warhammer
* In [[Robin McKinley]]'s ''[[Beauty a Retelling of Beauty And The Beast|Beauty]]'', Beauty is told not to go into the forest. When she thinks this means ''far'' in and goes in around the edges, her brother-in-law makes her promise not to. She dislikes giving her word on
* In [[James Swallow]]'s ''[[Warhammer
* In [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Coraline (
* In ''[[Outbound Flight
{{quote|
"All right. I'll do my best."
"You'd better go then. Please don't forget."
"I won't." }}
** Then Car'das neglects the promise for ''fifty years'', until [[Survivors Quest]].
* In [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[Sylvie and Bruno]]'', a subject of discussion between Lady Muriel and the narrator.
{{quote|
* In ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', Feanor and his sons swore a terrible oath to recover the Silmarils at any cost. These Silmarils were three hallowed jewels which Feanor made, and which [[Big Bad|Morgoth]] stole. Centuries later the oath destroyed them thoroughly, and resulted in them slaughtering many innocents. Even after the last two surviving sons [[Tragic Villain|thoroughly hated the oath and wished to stop killing people]] over the jewels, they felt (or thought they were) somehow compelled to continue.
** In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Aragorn can summon the Dead to fullfill the oath of assistance that they did not respect centuries before.
* [[The Godfather
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "[[
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Kull]] story "The Shadow Kingdom", after Kull and Brule learn that the ghosts of those the Snakemen kill are [[Made a Slave|their slaves]].
{{quote|
"I swear," answered Brule, his fierce eyes lighting. "And do ye the same by me, Kull." Their strong right hands met in a silent sealing of their bloody bargain.'' }}
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Kull]]/[[Bran Mak Morn]] story "Kings of the Night", Bran's problem is that one tribe is willing to break its promise if it does not follow a man of its own blood.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[
* In [[Juliet Marillier]]'s ''Son of the Shadows'', the heroine refuses to give her promise to stay in Sevenwaters to the Fair Folk, knowing that it will come back to haunt her if she does - The Fair Folk always get what is promised to them.
* In ''Between the Rivers'' by [[Harry Turtledove]], the protagonist in a grandstanding moment vows that he won't marry his sweetheart until the completion of the trading expedition he's about to embark on. It seems like a safe thing to do since it's a routine expedition and he wasn't planning to marry her until after he got back anyway. But then the nation they were going to trade with unexpectedly puts a trading embargo on the protagonist's city. And the god he swore by is real, interventionist, and quite willing to make the vow stick.
* The ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' novel ''Crookedstar's Promise''. A mysterious spirit cat asks the main character, as a kit, to promise to be loyal to his Clan above all else, even his own desires. Naturally, he promises, since he can't imagine ''not'' being loyal. Turns out that she meant that he can't take a mate or anything of the sort, and she definitely didn't have his or the Clan's best intentions at heart.
* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[
* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere:
* In [[Gene Stratton Porter]]'s ''[[
{{quote|
* In ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', Lyra promises a friend that she'd come and save him if he ever got kidnapped. In the process of trying to keep this promise, she travels to Svalbard, burns down a military-protected research station and [[Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?|tricks the king of the]] [[Everything's Worse
* In [[John C. Wright]]'s ''[[Hermetic Millenium
* ''[[
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Averted in ''[[
▲* ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'': "Tommy, you're my big handsome hero, and I need you." (Interesting Western example with English and Japanese characters as the promiser/-ee.)
▲* Averted in ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' with John and Scorpius. John promises to give Scorpius all of the wormhole knowledge in exchange for help rescuing Aeryn, but this debt is later wiped out when John comes up with a way of hurting the Scarrans, which makes Scorpius VERY happy. [[Played for Laughs]] with John's promise to Aeryn that he wouldn't hurt Scorpius since Scorpy saved her life. Aeryn releases him from the promise, but they never intended to kill him, anyway.
* [[Life On Mars|Sam Tyler]] promised Annie he wouldn't leave her at the end of the finale, and mentioned that promise to his mum afterwards. {{spoiler|And he kept his promise.}}
* Several promises have been made on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. Freya promises that one day she will repay Merlin for his help, and does so by delivering Excalibur into his keeping. Arthur promises Guinevere that when he is King, they'll be together. Whilst held hostage by a warlord, Lancelot promises Guinevere that he'll rescue her - this thus far is the only promise that hasn't been kept - whilst Lancelot does his best, it is Arthur and not Lancelot that rescues them.
== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==
▲=== Ballads ===
▲* In the [[Child Ballad]] "The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward", the young lord saves his life by promising to never tell anyone about the steward's having attacked and robbed him. (He gets around this through [[Exact Words]].)
=== Fairy Tales ===
▲* In "[
▲* In "[
▲** Similarly in "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130906231232/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/frogking/stories/wellworld.html The Well of the World's End]", although it is her [[Wicked Stepmother]] who insists out of spite (and indeed, she had to give the promise to fulfill the [[Impossible Task]] her stepmother imposed).
▲* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20170618020621/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/goosegirl/index.html The Goose Girl]", the princess swears to never tell anyone that the servant girl usurped her place. (She gets around this through [[Exact Words]].)
▲* In "[[East of the Sun and West of
▲* In "[
▲{{quote|
▲* In "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130824043504/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/cinderella/stories/rashin.html Rashin-Coatie]", the prince knows that the henwife's daughter (who cut her foot to fit in the shoe) is not the woman he fell in love with, but is bound by his promise to marry the woman whose foot it fit.
▲* "[[
▲* The legendary mermaid [[Our Mermaids Are Different|Melusine]], is found near a woodland spring. She falls in love with the human who finds her, and agrees to marry him, on the condition that he not [[Peeping Tom|peek at her while she bathes]]. They are [[Happily Married]] for awhile, raising several children (all of whom are more like demons or demigods, depending on whom you ask), and settling into a nice chateau. Buut, one day, her hubby's curiosity and/or lust gets the better of him, and [[What an Idiot!|he peeks in on her bathtime]], and finds out that she's actually a mermaid. (He sees her tail fin.) [[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu|Melusine]] is ''not'' happy, to say the least.
▲** Notably, [[Generation Xerox|her own father]] broke a similar promise made to her mother, Pressyne. She, however, was satisfied with taking her three daughters and [[Toilet Seat Divorce|walking out on him]].
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Halo
{{quote|
[[The Hero|Master Chief]]: "You know me. [[I Gave My Word|When I make a promise]]..."
Cortana: "...You... keep it. ...I ''do'' know how to pick 'em..."
Master Chief: "Lucky me." }}
* One of the story paths in ''[[
* In [[Planescape: Torment]], your character can actually do this as a dialogue option. Sometimes, dialogue choices (in some specific, important and dramatic scenes) will have a declaration of intent hidden, such as "Truth", "Lie", and, most importantly, "Make Vow". Those dialogue choices affect your [[Character Alignment]]: you become more Lawful if you tell the truth, and more Chaotic if you lie.
* A promise is the driving force behind the plot of ''[[Disgaea 4:
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'': At the end of the first game Sora makes a promise with Kairi that he'll return to her and the island with Riku someday.
** In a deliberate echo in ''[[
* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' has a promise between Squall and Rinoa.
{{quote|
Rinoa: "...Why?"
Squall: "The reason why you couldn't find me was because we haven't promised yet."
Rinoa: "Promised...?"
Squall: "I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise."
Rinoa: "I'll be here, too. It's a promise! Thanks Squall! Next time, we'll meet for sure!" }}
:: In the ending, when the two are lost in the endless space-time continuum, they find each other by imagining the field of flowers the promise took place in.
* Cloud's childhood promise to Tifa that he would protect her if she ever got into trouble from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''.
** He has a tendency to show up a little late.
* ''[[
* In [[Castlevania Sorrow|Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow]], Soma Cruz asks {{spoiler|Julius Belmont}} to promise to kill him if he turns evil. Thankfully, the person making the promise is reliable and more than strong enough to fulfil said promise if it comes to that. {{spoiler|In Aria's bad ending, Julius turns up in the throne room to kill Soma, and in Julius Mode in ''Dawn'', Julius gets Yoko and Alucard's help to take down Soma.}}
{{quote|
'''{{spoiler|Julius:}}''' What is it?
'''Soma:''' From here. I will set off to fight against my own fate. If I lose the battle... And I become reincarnation of evil, I want you to kill me.
'''{{spoiler|Julius:}}''' ... I will... I promise.
'''Soma:''' Thanks. Now I can go into this battle without reservations.
'''{{spoiler|Julius:}}''' Farewell, my friend. Don't let me use that whip again. }}
* In ''[[Persona 3]] [[Updated Rerelease|Portable]]'', a romantic vow to stay together is apart of the [[Level Up At Intimacy 5|last rank of the Justice Social Link]] for the female protagonist. What makes it so important is that it's with [[Cute Shotaro Boy|Ken Amada]] who's very insecure about their [[
** A bigger promise is for [[True Companions|SEES]] to meet up again on Graduation Day, {{spoiler|if they manage to beat Nyx}}.
* In ''[[Solatorobo]]'', Elh promises Red a billion rings if he helps to complete the Rite of Forfeit. {{spoiler|Of course, Elh actually doesn't ''have'' a billion rings and, if the Rite had gone [[Human Sacrifice|as it usually did]], Red wouldn't have needed them anyway. Red survived, however, and instead of being angry, he just [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|invited Elh to join his team]] - [[I Was Just Passing Through|ostensibly to work off that debt]], of course, but [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|nobody was fooled]].}}
* In ''[[
* If Shepard enters into a romantic relationship with Liara in ''[[Mass Effect]]'', at the conclusion of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Liara asks Shepard to promise her that s/he's always coming back. {{spoiler|At the moment, it isn't clear if Shepard gets to keep the promise or not.}}
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
* ''[[The Dreamland Chronicles]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20130312155742/http://tinyurl.com/2dqrcbe Alex, growing up.]▼
▲* [[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]: [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=287 Coyote promises Antimony she will not be harmed to lure her] to the [[Lost Woods|forest]]. Antimony points out that he's a [[Trickster]] and he finds it hilarous.
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'': Roy's father, Eugene, swore a Blood Oath of Vengeance to seek out and destroy Xykon, the [[Big Bad]]. His failure to do so, plus his decision to abandon his quest, keep him in limbo even after his natural death and transfers the obligation to his heirs.▼
▲* [[The Dreamland Chronicles]]: [http://tinyurl.com/2dqrcbe Alex, growing up.]
▲* ''[[Order of the Stick]]'': Roy's father, Eugene, swore a Blood Oath of Vengeance to seek out and destroy Xykon, the [[Big Bad]]. His failure to do so, plus his decision to abandon his quest, keep him in limbo even after his natural death and transfers the obligation to his heirs.
** He's incensed when his son, Roy, gets to go on to the afterlife proper, since Roy didn't fulfill the terms of the Oath either. It's pointed out by a Being of Pure Law and Good that Roy gets to move on because he died in direct pursuit of the quest his worthless flake of a father dumped on him by consciously abandoning it.
* ''[[Megatokyo]]'': [http://megatokyo.com/strip/1185 Promise to never ever tell my friends that I'm a] [[Magical Girl]].
* ''[[Memoria (
* ''[[Roza]]'': [http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/index.php?date=2007-06-07 Wait, you promised!]
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130609034017/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib080.html Err... well, we had sworn to. . .]
** Earlier, Dara [https://web.archive.org/web/20130609032521/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter001/ib005.html extracts one from Roan], in a [[Leonine Contract]].
** After that, [https://web.archive.org/web/20131024215923/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib056.html she promises him that those of Ancient blood will not always be looked at with fear and disgust.]
* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'', the [[Show Within a Show]] ''Rebel Cry'' has [https://web.archive.org/web/20120510103151/http://www.rhjunior.com/NT/00714.html the admiral try to make a promise to our hero, who recounts the already broken promise to him and says he can make no promise that a politician can't break.]
* In ''[[Blue Yonder]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20150920212132/http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1080254/blue-yonder-prologue-page-14/ as the badly wounded Jared is brought in, he asks for a promise they will find his sister, and gets it.]
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [
* In ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', [http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0132.html Angelika tries to get one from Lenny, who responds by asking for one in return.]
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (
** [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/02-35.html the promise to return in a week particularly enrages the Beast]
** [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/03-74.html Claire had promised that she would survive, regardless. She had forgotten that.]
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
** {{spoiler|Although it's not really a demotion, so much as a case of [[Skewed Priorities]] on the part of the gumball dispensers, who actually say, "No wait! I have a better idea! ''Trial by math!''}}
* ''[[Up]]'': As kids, Ellie makes Carl promise to help her get to Paradise Falls. She never gets there, but Carl's desire to fulfill his obligation drives the plot of the movie. Later, Russell has Carl promise to keep the bird he befriended safe, and Carl's conflict between the two promises drives the second act.
* Rapunzel from ''[[Tangled]]'' takes promises very seriously and says that she never breaks them. This comes into play later when {{spoiler|she promises Mother Gothel that she will be her prisoner forever if she lets her heal the fatally injured Flynn}}.
* In the after-series comic in [[
* In [[Titan
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Dialogue]]
[[Category:Morality Tropes]]
[[Category:Fairy Tale Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Print]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Be Careful What You Say]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Promise, The}}
|