History Main / LivingLieDetector

* Fear in the ''MetalGearSolid3'' fanfic ''FanFic/TheJoyOfBattle'' is a human lie detector. He explains it simply to Sorrow after finishing his sentences for most of a scene: "I'm perceptive."

* ''Webcomic/TheSpiderCliffMysteries'': Rebecca's witchy abilities allow her to tell whenever someone is lying to her, which should be extremely useful in a mystery, but situations always interfere so it has never solved a case.

* ''TheSpiderCliffMysteries'': Rebecca's witchy abilities allow her to tell whenever someone is lying to her, which should be extremely useful in a mystery, but situations always interfere so it has never solved a case.

* ''Webcomic/TheSpiderCliffMysteries'': Rebecca's witchy abilities allow her to tell whenever someone is lying to her, which should be extremely useful in a mystery, but situations always interfere so it has never solved a case.

* ''TheSpiderCliffMysteries'': Rebecca's witchy abilities allow her to tell whenever someone is lying to her, which should be extremely useful in a mystery, but situations always interfere so it has never solved a case.
* [[http://www.superstupor.com/sust11262007.shtml This]] ''SuperStupor'' sees the usual BlessedWithSuck and raises to full out [[BadPowersBadPeople Bad Powers fuel]], [[BlackComedyRape given the nature of how it's done]].
* Gail Curmen, one of the two main characters of ''{{Thunderstruck}}'' has this ability. Not that it does her much good -- one of the main motivations of the plots of the assorted villains is ''a matter of opinion''.
* ''TheWarOfWinds'': Vrin, but maybe one of the powers involved with her DealWithTheDevil with Azaq.
* Biscuit in {{Goblins}} is a justified instance, due to the Goblins universe being governed by DungeonsAndDragons mechanics; Sense Motive (the skill which lets you know when someone is lying) is based off a characters wisdom, and creatures gain a bonus to wisdom as they age. Biscuit, being [[Really700YearsOld over 600 winters old]], has a considerable bonus to his wisdom...

* ''HarryPotter'': Voldemort "almost always knows when someone is lying to him." He's not super-sensitive or precognitive, just casual about [[MindProbe boring into other's minds]]. [[spoiler:Snape's pretty good at this as well, as is Dumbledore.]]
** And there is another art for protecting oneself from lie detection. At the beginning of tome 6, you know that [[spoiler:Snape was able to fool Dumbledore ''or'' Voldemort.]]

* The Grand Veritable in Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Son of Spellsinger''. It was a sentient device that could not only detect all lies but knew the objective truth of any statement.

* The legendary Irish sword Fragarach forced everyone to tell the truth if held at their throat.

* [[http://www.superstupor.com/sust11262007.shtml This]] ''Super Stupor'' sees the usual BlessedWithSuck and raises to full out [[BadPowersBadPeople Bad Powers fuel]], [[BlackComedyRape given the nature of how it's done]].

* In the second season of the ''Spawn'' HBO animated series, the character Merrick is able to tell when someone is lying by the hesitation and inflections in their voice.

* Inversion: in 1993, then president Bill Clinton called up KMOX radio in St. Louis and said on the air "in a couple of hours from now, Rush Limbaugh will come on and will have three hours to say whatever he wants and I won't be able to defend myself. There's no truth detector." Limbaugh countered: "We need no truth detector. I ''am'' the truth detector."

* Inversion: in 1993, then president Bill Clinton called up KMOX radio in St. Louis and said on the air "in a couple of hours from now, Rush Limbaugh will come on and will be able to say whatever he wants and I won't be able to defend myself. There's no truth detector." Limbaugh countered: "We need no truth detector. I ''am'' the truth detector."

** Then there's the matter of people whose body language and/or emotional responses don't fit the human norm, eg people with ASD or a variety of personality and/or mental disorders.

* Parodied on ''CurbYourEnthusiasm'', where Larry believes he can tell if someone's lying just by staring at their face. The audience is left to draw their own conclusion about how effective his method is.
* Jerry Espenson on ''BostonLegal'' -- an ironic ability for someone with UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome.
* On an episode of ''[[LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit Law & Order: SVU]]'', a serial rapist/killer (played by MartinShort!) who enjoys pretending to have PsychicPowers in order to play with his victims' families is revealed to have trained himself to be a Living Lie Detector using [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_Action_Coding_System FACS]].

* ''FanFic/TurnaboutStorm'' has [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight]] becoming this after accidentally PowerCopying [[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix's]] Magatama, giving her the ability to see when someone is hiding the truth from her through "Psyche-Locks".

* Denethor from "Literature/TheLordOfTheRings" : Gandalf explains to Pippin before meeting him that it is extremely difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try.

* Link, the BigBad in the BelisariusSeries, is a supercomputer from the future able to judge absolutely whether someone is lying. This is not the same thing as being able to judge whether they are being ''deceitful'', however, a distinction which costs it dearly.

See also PinocchioNose, YouCanAlwaysTellALiar, TheTell. ExactWords can sometimes help against this, but don't bet on it.

[[caption-width-right:350:Too bad Murdock didn't know about Hogman's pacemaker.]]

** Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston, also ''invented the polygraph detector''.

If a ''dog'' is the one who can do this, then it's an EvilDetectingDog. [[KickTheDog Watch over it so it doesn't get kicked.]] [[ShootTheDog Or worse.]]

* On ''{{Warehouse 13}}'', this is the "talent" of the newest team member Steve Jinks.
** It can be beaten with an artifact, however, said artifact being [[TakeThat Richard Nixon's]] shoes.

* The Grand Veritable in AlanDeanFoster's ''Son of Spellsinger''. It was a sentient device that could not only detect all lies but knew the objective truth of any statement.
* Flinx and Pip in AlanDeanFoster's ''HumanxCommonwealth'' series -- both are [[TheEmpath empaths]] and can detect lies as a basic ability. Flinx is human and knows how to be discreet about it (when he isn't holding the IdiotBall), but Pip (his [[ABoyAndHisX minidrag]] [[BondCreatures companion]]) is not and reacts very aggressively toward liars and anyone who threatens her or her master.

* This was an ability occasionally used by Isabelle in ''{{The 4400}}''.