History Main / InfallibleBabble

->''Whenever anybody comes up to you with a patently ludicrous claim (such as, "I'm not a cat, I'm really an ancient Red Dragon") there's an at least two-thirds chance they're telling the truth. Therefore, it pays to humor everyone you meet; odds are you'll be glad you did later on.''

-->-- '''Law of Productive Gullibility ([[VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue Ruby]] Rule)''', [[ConsoleRPGCliches97To120 The Grand List of Console RPG Clichés, #101]]

[[/folder]]

* Averted in VideoGame/{{DeusEx}}. Characters will lie based on their own various agendas, not even just concerning grand, important topics but smaller, subtler issues.

The trope is particularly common in [[VideoGameTropes video games]], which often rely on players [[TalkToEveryone talking to everyone]] as a way of teaching them what to do next. And thanks to ConservationOfDetail, when a video game gives you this information, not only will the expositor be correct, but it's also a pretty good bet that you'll be ''required'' to follow their advice at some point. As such, video games might spice things up by [[WisdomFromTheGutter putting the information in the mouth of an unexpected source]], taking advantage of a setting where AllMythsAreTrue, or {{lampshading}} the sheer [[ARareSentence unlikelihood of a certain plot element]].

But the trope can be seen in all media, in particular because TheLawOfConservationOfDetail means the audience expects every bit of dialogue to serve the plot. It's [[UnreliableExpositor sneaky]] at the least to throw information at the audience that you don't expect to follow up on (though having it pay off in an unexpected way is fair game).

But the trope can be seen in all media, in particular because the LawOfConversationOfDetail means the audience expects every bit of dialogue to serve the plot. It's [[UnreliableExpositor sneaky]] at the least to throw information at the audience that you don't expect to follow up on (though having it pay off in an unexpected way is fair game).

But the trope can be seen in all media, in particular because TheLawOfConversationOfDetail means the audience expects every bit of dialogue to serve the plot. It's [[UnreliableExpositor sneaky]] at the least to throw information at the audience that you don't expect to follow up on (though having it pay off in an unexpected way is fair game).

But the trope can be seen in all media, in particular because it's considered [[UnreliableExpositor sneaky]] -- if not bad form -- to bother with giving the audience useless information, or indeed outright misinformation.

* Delirium from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' is the personification of insanity. Even though she babbles a lot at length about nonsense it's been stated that she knows some things which Destiny, who carries a book that knows everything that's going to happen, does not. It's considered unwise to listen to her too closely but equally unwise to ignore her completely. Notably, she makes a coherent observation about the nature of [[CosmicEntity herself and her siblings]] in unintentionally molding the destinies of everyone who crosses where they've been.

[[folder:Film]]

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', where a woman in the FirstTown says she would love to tell you a story, but it's not relevant to your quest, and hearing strange stories like that from [=NPCs=] would make you more likely to ignore them when they're telling the truth.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', where the people of Zozo ''always'' lie, so you basically know what the truth is because you know [[AntiAdvice what it isn't]]. This is especially true when you're trying to find the Chainsaw, which requires you to TalkToEveryone and narrow down its location by process of elimination. The culmination of this is one character saying, "Zozo? Never heard of it!" Even the boss will tell you that he dislikes fighting and he'll let you pass by him unscathed, immediately before attacking you. The only guy in the town who ''does'' tell the truth is of no significance until the second half of the game.

** {{Subverted|trope}} in the case of the Deathly Hallows. People seemed to believe all the legends about how they worked as being totally accurate, but it turned out that although they're certainly very powerful magical artifacts, they aren't all-powerful in the way people expected. The Elder Wand could indeed be defeated straight-up (Dumbledore did it himself) -- its real power was inducing a never-ending cycle of YouKillItYouBoughtIt (and [[spoiler:Harry beats the cycle and snaps the wand at the very end]]). The Resurrection Stone does resurrect the dead, but [[CameBackWrong not in a way anybody wanted]], which was again the lesson it intended to impart (although [[spoiler:Harry properly used it for inspiration from his dead family and friends, not to resurrect them]]). And the Invisibility Cloak is more powerful than any other of its kind, but even it can be beaten (''e.g.'' Moody can see through it with his magic eye).

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': Most NPCs either don't know anything plot-important or are disinclined to discuss any of it with you... and then there's [[SmallNameBigEgo Zote]], whose 57 Precepts are mostly a jumble of nonsense, but contain major storyline hints. [[spoiler: Zote is correct to mistrust dreams (unlike gravity, mothers, and statues), since that's how the infection spreads, and his Precept "seek truth in the darkness" basically describes the path to the True Ending.]]

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' generally subverts the trope, as almost everyone you meet is trying to manipulate your actions and influence your opinions in various directions to follow their own agendas. This is especially true with the various vampire characters and their minions -- even the relatively benign ones, who seem to be doing it to [[SecretTestOfCharacter learn more about you]] (or [[ItAmusedMe for laughs]]). The main exception is the [[MadOracle Malkavians]], whose ramblings are often tainted by madness, couched in weird metaphor, or just strangely phrased, but no Malkavian is ever outright wrong about anything, and what they say is never less than plot-relevant.

** {{Subverted|trope}} in the case of the Deathly Hallows. People seemed to believe all the legends about how they worked as being totally accurate, but it turned out that although they're certainly very powerful magical artifacts, they aren't all-powerful in the way people expected. The Elder Wand could indeed be defeated straight-up (Dumbledore did it himself) -- its real power was inducing a never-ending cycle of YouKillItYouBoughtIt (and [[spoiler:Harry beats the cycle and snaps the wand at the very end]]). The Resurrection Stone does resurrect the dead, but [[CameBackWrong not in a way anybody wanted]], which was again the lesson it intended to impart (although [[spoiler:Harry properly used it for inspiration from his dead family and friends, not to resurrect them]]). And the Invisibility Cloak is more powerful than any other, but even it can be beaten (''e.g.'' Moody can see through it with his magic eye).

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' generally subverts the trope, as almost everyone you meet is trying to manipulate your actions and influence your opinions in various directions to follow their own agendas. This is especially true with the various vampire characters and their minions -- even the relatively benign ones, who seem to be doing it to [[SecretTestOfCharacter learn more about you]] (or [[ItAmusedMe for laughs]]). The main exception is the Malkavians, whose ramblings are often tainted by madness, couched in weird metaphor, or just strangely phrased, but no Malkavian is ever outright wrong about anything, and what they say is never less than plot-relevant.

* ''VideoG

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'', Princess Ida's magical talent is the "idea"; anything she believes is true [[RealityWarper becomes true]], provided that the idea came to her from someone who does ''not'' know about her abilities -- so you can't just plant an idea in her head.

* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' discovered the ubiquity of this trope in its play-testing stage; when told by a guard that they weren't allowed to go upstairs, playtesters didn't even ''try'' to go upstairs, and instead wandered around aimlessly and failed to complete the mission. It seems Infallible Babble can beat ReversePsychology.
* Played with in the ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' series. The flavor text describing important features of planets you come across or background information that's provided form clues about what's really happening (such as records showing former civilizations having disappeared at roughly 50,000 year intervals, and a reference to a massive kinetic weapon strike which later turns out to have been used by Cerberus to find dead Reaper) and you'll run across characters, such as the apparently nutty scientist you first encounter right at the start of the first game, who make statements that, in retrospect, turn out to be true. On the other hand, sometimes it is just nutty babble. One planet entry mentions a volus excavating a planet looking for "beings of light" to fight against creatures of darkness he saw coming. This led players to anticipate that at some point these entities would turn out to be real and would be used against the Reapers, but it turns out that no, he really was just a nut.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Completely averted in ''Roleplay/NanQuest''. The Pilgrim's creepy speeches? [[spoiler:Random junk Henry made up to sound intimidating]]. Santiago's rambles about freedom? Lies he made up to sound edgy. Anna and Kim philosophizing about the nature of the creatures and the hotel? Total nonsense with no bearing on anything.
[[/folder]]

----

* From ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona Persona]]'':