History Main / TalkingYourWayOut

* ''Series/WhiteCollar'' - Talking his way out of tough situations might be [[GentlemanThief Neal Caffrey's]] superpower. As a fast-talking white collar criminal who hates guns but has extensive experience dealing with more dangerous people, this talent is a necessity for him if he wants to survive, and is also what makes him such a good CI.

* ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'': John Constantine has been known to escape from really dire dangers using this tactic. A full and almost flawless con man, he's always tricking demons, angels and monsters, and even criminals and ruffians, into distrusting each other until they kill themselves. Special mention to the "...Freezes Over" storyline, where he spends the four issues solving a situation with three armed criminals purely by talking. The highlights are when he talks a SerialKiller into suicide and talks a normal man into becoming a serial killer (he also talks a man into dying but he was already bleeding, he just distracted him until he bled out)

* ReBoot. This is Bob's only option to deal with Hexadecimal in the early episodes, since Hex is far more powerful than Bob. When she succeeds in [[TakenForGranite turning the entire city to stone]] Bob has to convince her that petrifying the city goes against her nature as a chaos virus. To be precise, a petrified city is the opposite of chaotic -- it's quiet, predictable, and the same forever. This works and she reverses the effect and lets Bob go.

* BenedictCumberbatch talked his way out of [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2085527/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Sherlock-star-talked-way-kidnap-attempt-South-Africa.html a kidnapping]] while in South Africa.

* This was Gabrielle's schtick on XenaWarriorPrincess, at least until [[ExecutiveMeddling someone in charge]] decided she needed to TakeALevelInBadass.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The GenreSavvy Sokka does this when the gaang is captured by pirates and [[AntiVillain Zuko]], convincing the pirates that they'd get a better deal personally handing [[TheChosenOne the Avatar]] over to the [[BigBad Fire Lord]] instead of trading him to Zuko for their valuable scroll. Zuko sees right through it, but the pirates take the bait, a fight breaks out, and the gaang escapes during the chaos.
** Perhaps this inspired [[TheHero Aang]] to try this on Zhao four episodes later... It didn't work.

** When caught and held defenseless by Scarface's gang, Batman convinces Scarface that the one who sold them out was Arnold Wesker, aka The Ventriloquist. Scarface angrily orders his men to kill Wesker, Scarface ''is'' Arnold Wesker -- he is just a [[DemonicDummy ventriloquist's doll]] that Wesker uses to manifest his psychotic SplitPersonality, so the men hesitate and Scarface thinks they are traitors as well. Batman escapes in the chaos and bring the gangsters down.

->''Talking might make you feel a lot better... and less homicidal...''

* You have to do this in order to complete ''IndianaJonesAndTheFateOfAtlantis''. The choices at the end boil down to death (if you don't persuade/trick the BigBad) or victory (if you do).

* ''{{Geneforge}}'' lets you be a real ManipulativeBastard about this. Join the BigBad's faction, stroll into his base, convince him that you have repaired the damaged safety equipment that will let him use the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Geneforge]], bluff him into thinking that he needs to send his bodyguards away, laugh as he fries himself. Bonus bastard points if you then use the real safety equipment to successfully use the Geneforge yourself, and even more if you find the item that lets you break the Geneforge so that nobody else can use it.

* You can do this in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', but usually it falls under Force Persuade.

* It's possible to do this in VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines, if you play your cards right (Or seduce/dominate/dement) you can feasably do a PacifistRun for the biggest part of the game. [[DisappointingLastLevel Sadly, the last few parts of the main campaign has you fighting, no ifs ands or buts about it.]]

* In ''AMiracleOfScience'', [[spoiler:Caprice]] [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html demonstrates the technique.]]

* Tyrion Lannister of ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' runs entirely off this trope. As a dwarf in a medieval society, the best he could hope for was to be made a jester or be part of a freak show, or just as likely have been left to die as a child. However, he has the good fortune of being born to the richest house in the kingdom and being one of the smartest characters in the series. The times he has talked, bribed, or conned his way out of death or worse number in the dozens. The problem is... an [[TooCleverByHalf overly smart]] [[DeadpanSnarker mouth]] ''can'' talk you into the trouble you then have to dig yourself out of, too. *cough*[[spoiler: Slave block.]]*cough*

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Pistols, cannons and swords pale in comparison to this trope's power in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean''. Jack Sparrow can talk himself out of any situation, and he seemed to have fun teaching the fine art to Will and Elizabeth. Best examples are Jack talking Norrington's sword from his throat to Will's, Jack talking himself out of a DealWithTheDevil, bribing help from his enemies several times, and convincing Will that he should help Jack find the key to the Dead's Man's Chest ''"Because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating in you discovering, detecting of a way to save your dolly-bell, oh.. whats-her-face?"''

* In ''GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', this tends to be Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord's, M.O. since he's a [[PunyEarthlings Puny Earthling]] surrounded by stronger and/or better-armed foes. He managed to talk an enraged Drax down from murdering Gamora, and convinced Rocket, who originally wanted to turn him in for a bounty, to team up with him and Gamora and escape the Kyln. Then he managed to convince an enraged Yondu who was seconds away from murdering him to team up and help the team defeat Ronan.

* Miles Vorkosigan of the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' runs on this. Unfortunately, some of his adversaries have grown somewhat Miles savvy. From ''The Vor Game:''
-->'''Admiral Oser''': Space them... Use the portside access lock, it's closest. If he, [pointing to Miles] starts to talk, stop his tongue. It's his most dangerous organ.
-->'''Miles''': Aren't you even going to have me chemically interrogated?
-->'''Oser''': And contaminate my interrogators? The last thing I want is to give you rein to talk, to anyone... Whatever your planned speech, removing your air will neutralize it. You nearly convinced ''me.''

* Sun Tzu's TheArtOfWar advises the aspiring strategist that [[ToWinWithoutFighting actual combat is the lowest form of victory]]. It is the sign of a [[TheStrategist competent strategist]] to win by [[GeoEffects out-manuvering]] or [[VictoryThroughIntimidation intimidating]] your opponent, but the sign of a [[TheChessmaster great strategist]] is invoking this trope on a conflict-wide scale, manipulating an enemy into being your UnwittingPawn or even your [[HeelFaceTurn ally]]. The sign of the [[GuileHero true master strategist]] is winning without the enemy never even realizing that they've lost, simply by negotiation and misdirection.

He sits back, pretends to accept his fate and engages in surreptitious psychological warfare against most or all of the members of the enemy group. Engaging them in idle conversation, he plants the seeds of discord, playing on the ...
* ... [[{{Pride}} egos]] - "How can you take orders from that buffoon? You should really be the one in charge."
* ... [[HonorBeforeReason reputations]] - "[[NobodyCallsMeChicken What, are you too afraid to release me and fight me yourself?]]"
* ... {{greed}} - "What are they paying you? I'll double it."
* ... sympathies - "These morons don't understand you."
* ... insecurities - "It's really a shame the rest of them don't pay any attention to you."
* ... [[ShowSomeLeg sex appeal]] - "You know what I really like? A man in a cage."
* ... and [[DividedWeFall mutual distrust]] - "You realize he's just going to off the rest of you once he gets what he wants, right?"

... of each individual member.

* Done by The Joker in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. After Batman and Commissioner Gordon leave, he is left alone in the interrogation room with one of Gordon's detectives ... at which point The Joker goads the policeman into attacking him by explaining his motivations for killing six of that detective's friends. At which point, he makes his escape. What makes this a truly interesting case is that the detective was warned beforehand that the Joker would use this tactic on him, and not to fall for it. The problem is that the Joker is just ''that good'' at manipulating people.

-->'''Admiral Oser''': Space them. ... Use the portside access lock, it's closest. If he, [pointing to Miles] starts to talk, stop his tongue. It's his most dangerous organ.

-->'''Oser''': And contaminate my interrogators? The last thing I want is to give you rein to talk, to anyone. ... Whatever your planned speech, removing your air will neutralize it. You nearly convinced ''me.''

** It's awesome when it works, but the times when it fails are more interesting, and also generally awful and depressing, because you often really think he's going to pull it off this time...right before someone dies.

* An odd variation in ''Roleplay/{{AJCO}}'' when [[BadassPacifist Egg]] returned to the Silo. She hadn't been captured, she'd gone in willingly, but her friend Vinnie had been trapped for a while - so she talked ''her'' way in and ''Vinnie's'' way out. She also managed to get herself out safely, despite the fact that A_J had a more than handful of reasons to want her dead and could easily have made it happen.

** When caught and held defenseless by Scarface's gang, Batman convinces Scarface that the one who sold them out was Arnold Wesker, aka The Ventriloquist. Scarface angrily orders his men to kill Wesker, Scarface ''is'' Arnold Wesker - he is just a [[DemonicDummy ventriloquist's doll]] that Wesker uses to manifest his psychotic SplitPersonality, so the men hesitate and Scarface thinks they are traitors as well. Batman escapes in the chaos and bring the gangsters down.

** Perhaps this inspired [[TheHero Aang]] to try this on Zhao four episodes later...It didn't work.
* ReBoot. This is Bob's only option to deal with Hexadecimal in the early episodes, since Hex is far more powerful than Bob. When she succeeds in [[TakenForGranite turning the entire city to stone]] Bob has to convince her that petrifying the city goes against her nature as a chaos virus. To be precise, a petrified city is the opposite of chaotic- it's quiet, predictable, and the same forever. This works and she reverses the effect and lets Bob go.

A brief summary: Yudkowsky is a member of an organization aiming to make [[AIIsACrapshoot any future AI we may build less of a Crapshoot]], and when he told people this, one common reaction was, "Why not just lock the AI away where it couldn't do anything and only let it answer questions?" When he replied that the AI would convince its captors to remove the locks, they replied, "They couldn't convince ''me!''" Sick of this exchange, he decided that he had better prove them wrong ... which he did by making them stake cash on them not letting ''Yudkowsky'' (who played the AI) out during a two-hour RP session in a private chatroom, and winning three times in a row.

* When Quinton Zempfester is imprisoned by trolls in [[ThievesAndKings Thieves & Kings]], he talks his way out by excitedly greeting one of the trolls as the spy sent to free him, thus creating suspicion among the other trolls that he is a spy, and setting in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the hapless troll finds that he is doomed to torture for his imaginary spy secrets if he does not go rogue and flee immediately. Rather than face this fugitive fate alone, Quinton offers the troll his assistance, if released, and the two make a break for it together.
* In ''[[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} X-Men Unlimited # 47]]'', ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} wakes up after a fight with an army of generic Black Ops Ninjas to find himself strapped down and about to have his eyes cut out by a low-on-ethics surgeon. He calmly explains to the surgeon that he'd better remember to kill him when he's done, because he's memorised the brand of the surgical equipment in the room and will be able to track him down by it. Oh, and even if he is dead, there's a telepathic redhead who will be looking for his killers. Either way, the end result will be a conversation with Wolverine. The surgeon lets him go, [[MakeItLookLikeAStruggle requesting a light beating to justify the escape]]. Cyclops is happy to oblige.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' gives you this option in a sidequest, though [[GuideDangIt the conditions have to be just right]]. Hawke can hunt down a group of rogue mages who are practicing blood magic on the Wounded Coast, and let them go. Upon exiting a cavern, Hawke and company will encounter a group of templars who are looking for said blood mages. If MagnificentBastard Varrick is in your party, Hawke has the option of having Varrick spin a good line about how the mages have fled in the opposite direction, thus ensuring the mages and templars won't bump into each other. Even better is that this earns you points with both sides of the Mage-Templar Conflict.

* GundamWing: One of Relena Darlian's specialties. Early in the story she convinced a certain HitmanWithAHeart with a gun not to shoot her to death... and then she roped him into dancing with her at a high-class party!

* [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] is a dab hand at doing this. The Seventh Doctor in particular has a knack for it; in "Paradise Towers", he escapes an execution by convincing his over-bureaucratic captors to ''let'' him escape.

** He tries it again on the Master in ''The End of Time Part 2'' by giving him a speech on how "stone-cold brilliant" he is. His description soon switches to "bone-dead stupid" because the Master doesn't realise [[spoiler: his right hand man is really a Vinvocchi]].

* Dewey from ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' occasionally does this to great effect.

* In KingdomOfLoathing 's 2009 [[YouMeanXmas Crimbo]] ended with your character avoiding death by explaining to the [[TheMafia Penguin who bought the holiday for completely legitimate purposes]] that his plans to use the magic of Crimbo to steal everyone's money couldn't possibly work: because no matter how much meat they stole, the magic of Crimbo would cause all the money to be [[TrueMeaningOfChristmas "left on the front step of an orphanage, or some equally sentimental crap"]]. To make matters worse, whoever runs Crimbo [[BlessedWithSuck can't keep anything. Everything he makes must be given to others.]]

* ''JadeEmpire'': The FinalBoss tries to use this on YOU. If it works, you let yourself be killed, AND doom the world to a horrible, blighted excistance under a heartlessly brutal, immortal dictator who view people as mere things to use at whim. So DO NOT FALL FOR IT!!!

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' does this one almost all the time. Every plot-significant fight bar one can be bypassed, usually through talking; every other fight can be avoided through stealth or running away. This includes the BigBad, who you can [[spoiler: literally talk out of existence.]]

* GundamWing: One of Relena Darlian's specialities. Early in the story she convinced a certain HitmanWithAHeart with a gun not to shoot her to death... and then she roped him into dancing with her at a high-class party!
* Attempted by Kagome Higurashi from InuYasha, when she was kidnapped by Manten and Hiten. While she didn't secure her release, she ''did'' manage to keep herself alive until Inuyasha came to fight them.

* ''[[VideoGame/TwentyTwentySeven 2027]]'': If you are stopped by the Human Horizon agent in Paris, you can lie to him about your identity, saving your life. Meeting him however, causes [[spoiler: an ambush to be set up for you later after the Paris Lab mission.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'' is one of the few video games where you can use this against the BigBad. In fact, it's possible to talk your way into his stronghold, talk your way up to the boss, convince him of the error in his plan, get him to commit suicide, and [[LoadBearingBoss leg it as the base collapses around you]]. Ta da! Saved the world [[PacifistRun without firing a shot]].

* Batman uses this method to escape the Injustice Gang in the ''JusticeLeague'' episode "Injustice For All". Features a ''very'' rare instance of the Joker being the voice of reason, as he anticipates Bats's strategy but [[BondVillainStupidity is unable to convince Luthor to let him kill Batman]]. Even more interesting: Batman plays several cards ''at the same time'', playing on Solomon Grundy's insecurities, playing the sympathy and sex appeal cards with Cheetah, and eventually delivering a bribe to [[spoiler:the Ultra-Humanite (which Humanite donates to PBS)]]. Then, because he's Batman, he reveals at the end that he could have escaped ''any time he wanted to''.
** Batman also used this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', when Harley Quinn singlehandedly captured him and put him in a DeathTrap ''he couldn't escape from''. He played off her infatuation with the Joker and convinced her to call him so that he could "witness" his death, knowing that his ego [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou wouldn't allow anyone else to off the Batman]].

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "A Dog and Pony Show", Rarity is captured by the gem-obsessed Diamond Dogs. She puts up absolute minimal (physical) resistance but she coerces/complains/whines the whole time. By the end of the episode, just as TheCavalry arrives, [[PityTheKidnapper the Dogs are begging to be rid of Rarity]].

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars 2}}'', when Mater is surrounded by a pack of {{Mook}}s, he tries to invoke this by sympathizing with them as outcasts and laughing stocks. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]