History Main / VillainsNeverLie

** [[spoiler:The Grey Wardens]] never stop to consider that [[ObviouslyEvil Livius Erimond]] just might be misleading them about what those blood magic rituals and demon summonings were ''for''. He later plays this trope straight when he claims that he didn't use any brainwashing to get what he wanted. [[TheEmpath Cole]] will confirm that the only thing motivating his victims were their own fears and [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter terrible judgement]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': {{Discussed|Trope}} in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E8Sleeper Sleeper]]" after the First Evil appeared in various forms in the previous episode and said things meant to psych the protagonists out. The Scooby Gang aren't sure if just because the First Evil is, well, evil that means everything it said was a lie. Anya tells them that she herself frequently told the truth back when she was a vengeance demon.

* The [[VillainProtagonist title character]] of ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'' considers lying beneath him, but he's not above letting people hear what they want to hear. Being an AntiHero in his own comic, he's not exactly evil, just kind of a bastard. Indeed, it's mentioned that his chief vice is pride, and he is far too proud to ever lie, break an oath, or leave a debt unpaid. Rachel comments during their last meeting (having been burned by an ExactWords deal with Lucifer before) that never outright lying in no way means Lucifer is ''honest''.

** The Joker never lies to get out of punishment -- he'll lie to throw someone off balance, or as part of a GambitRoulette, or just because he finds it's funny, but he never denies his crimes in court or when Batman confronts him with them. He uses this to convince Batman that it's NotMeThisTime in ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' #191 , pointing out that he always takes credit for his work.

** The Joker never lies to get out of punishment -- he'll lie to throw someone off balance, or as part of a GambitRoulette, or just because he finds it's funny, but he never denies his crimes in court or when Batman confronts him with them. He uses this to convince Batman that it's NotMeThisTime in one story, pointing out that he always takes credit for his work.

** While "antagonist" would be more correct than calling him an outright villain, when Ichigo attempts to gain control of his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Hollowfication]] and confronts his [[EnemyWithin Inner Hollow]] within his [[MentalWorld inner world]], he notices that [[EmpathicWeapon Old Man Zangetsu]] is nowhere to be seen, and demands that his Inner Hollow tell him where he is. The answer? [[spoiler:"[[ExactWords I am Zangetsu]]"]]. It's not until Ichigo learns of the circumstances behind his parents meeting and his eventual birth that he realizes his Inner Hollow was telling the truth all along (not that Ichigo can be blamed for dismissing it as a lie at the time): [[spoiler:Aizen's experimental Hollow, dubbed "White", infected Masaki, a [[ArcherArchetype Quincy]], and was passed on to Ichigo during pregnancy, whereupon it merged with the Shinigami powers he inherited from Isshin and assimilated with the part of his soul that would otherwise become the spirit of his Zanpakuto. As for "Old Man Zangetsu", he is the spiritual manifestation of the Quincy powers Ichigo inherited from Masaki, but since he, too, is a source of Ichigo's power, it's still accurate to call him Zangetsu. This is later reflected when, upon Ichigo having his Zanpakuto reforged, it becomes [[DualWielding two different swords]], each one representing his Shinigami and Quincy halves. At this point, Ichigo agrees that, indeed, they are ''both'' Zangetsu]].

*** At the end of the 2.0 storyline for ''A Realm Reborn'', [[spoiler:Gaius]]' speech at the final of [[spoiler:Praetorium]] was often interpreted by fans as either false-but-sincere opinions on the state of Eorzea, or as deliberate lies to confuse the heroes. [[spoiler:Ignoring the part of Gaius' own leviathanic megalomaniacal visions on leadership, the remaining]] half of the speech rang true: In patch 2.4 and the arrival of both Shiva, the official anniversary short stories and The Coils of Bahamut raid, the players would learn that, indeed, [[spoiler:the Eorzean gods as called upon Carteneau by Louisoux are no different than those of the beasts -- eikons every one! Further, Louisoix did so because he lacked the strength or vision to do otherwise, but this is a rather hypocritical jab since the Empire intended to deploy Bahamut, an eikon, against Eorzea in the first place. It's also more than a little hypocritical because Gaius himself is exploiting eikons to power the Ultima Weapon--without them, it would be a dangerous mecha, not a superweapon.]] This is further complicated by events from the much later patch 6.1, where we learn [[spoiler:the Twelve really do seem to exist, independently, and they repeatedly insist that they are ''not'' primals, but refuse to give any further information about their origin. It's even speculated that Ramuh could be the Sylph interpretation of Rhalgr, and thus Gaius may have had it backwards, that is, the "eikons" might actually be species-specific interpretations of one of the Twelve.]]
*** In ''Shadowbringers'', the Ascian Emet-Selch occasionally visits the party, offering dubious information or challenging old assumptions. [[spoiler:As it trns out, nearly everything he says is completely true. It's just almost always told with extreme bias, full of massive omissions, or full of deceptive leading statements or impossible but plausible-sounding conditions. The greater irony, however, is that the story of ''Shadowbringers'' reveals that Emet-Selch wasn't the only one: both Lahabrea's crazed ranting and Elidibus' doomsaying were completely true, from an Ascian perspective, and not even particularly deceptive, we just didn't have enough information to understand what they were actually saying at the time.]]

Also, the villain is usually telling the truth, or [[FalseReassurance something]] that is [[ExactWords "technically" true]], for [[MetaphoricallyTrue certain values of "true"]], anyway — there are only a few cases where the villain just makes something up for giggles. This is why BreakThemByTalking works.

A common tool of TheChessmaster, the ManipulativeBastard, and WellIntentionedExtremist, because what better way to get TheHero to trust you than by telling them something they can't deny or dismiss out of hand? Particularly common for the MagnificentBastard — they're just that good that they don't have to waste time deceiving you and can instead play you like a harp using just the facts. The NobleDemon on the other hand may use this trope out of principle, feeling that the hero has heard enough lies and deserves the truth from them.

** During their fight in Karakura Town, Aizen waxes lyrically about how he has manipulated all of Ichigo's battles to develop his strength and power for Aizen's own gain. He even claims he has been manipulating Ichigo's life from the moment he was born. Ichigo notices that Aizen's words are contradicting what he said back on Soukyoku Hill, and accuses him of lying. Aizen points out that if he really is a liar, why would Ichigo trust anything he says to believe he was telling the truth back then and lying now; Ichigo should instead assume that Aizen has been lying constantly since the moment they met. When this sinks in for Ichigo, Aizen explains that he doesn't bother with lies or truth because truth is in the eye of the beholder: nothing Aizen says can ever be trusted. [[spoiler: Later arcs prove that he ''was'' indeed responsible for Ichigo's Hollow powers, though it wasn't his initial plan, and was monitoring his progress. The rest remains up in the air.]]

* Played with in ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool''. [[spoiler: In episode 7 of Side: Future, Monaca Towa claims that one of the survivors of the 78th class's killing game will die because of Makoto Naegi. In episode 9, we learn she had found out everyone's NG codes, and that Kyoko Kirigiri's was "Pass the fourth time limit with Makoto Naegi alive." The fourth time limit passes, and Kirigiri is seemingly killed. However, Episode: Hope reveals that Kirigiri took some of Seiko Kimura's "Antagonist" medicine to slow the poisoning, allowing Mikan Tsumiki to save her. But Monaca had no idea of knowing this, so while she did tell what she believed to be the truth, it was not what actually ended up happening.]]
* In ''Manga/DragonKnights'', Nadil seems to find that the truth hurts people far more than a lie would ever have to—after all, he commits some terrible atrocities to brag about.

** [[AxCrazy Kimb]][[FauxAffablyEvil lee]] wears many masks to conceal his psychopathy, but he never tells a direct untruth. For example, when he is talking to Winry, he tells her about finding her parents' bodies and says that he admired their efforts and would have liked to meet them when they were alive. Sure, he was trying to make sure that she would trust him, but every word he said to her was genuinely true. He conveniently left out the part where he had been ordered to execute them and was disappointed that somebody else killed them before he had the chance.
* Played with in ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners''. [[spoiler:When Shirazumi says that Shiki is the killer, it's outed IMMEDIATELY as a lie. However, when Shirazumi says that Shiki's beloved is dead, which as far as the viewer knows is true, Shiki takes it on slim evidence. She did not see the body.]]
* Gilbert Durandal in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'', where he says he has a plan to bring ultimate peace and unity to the universe, ridding it of war. [[spoiler:His plan turns out to be forcing conformity on every human in the universe, so no one can disagree]].

** Discussed in Chapter 291. Dabi reveals on live TV that Endeavor [[spoiler:is Dabi's father]], that Endeavor abused his family, and that Endeavor's associate Hawks [[spoiler:killed Best Jeanist and Twice]]. "Can't Ya See Kid," a fan of Endeavors, is in denial, but his friend tells him that the public will lose faith in heroes after hearing Dabi, especially after seeing [[spoiler:all the destruction caused by the heroes' failure to stop Gigantomachia]]. That said, while Dabi was telling the truth, he’s unaware that one of those reveals is actually completely false - [[spoiler:Hawks faked Best Jeanist’s death, resulting in the latter pulling a BigDamnHeroes moment]].
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Hey, Sasuke, guess what? [[spoiler:Itachi's actually a good guy]]!
** At least with that one he checks his facts when he could. Granted, this was about 75 chapters later and he'd been under the assumption Tobi was telling the truth for all that time.
** One of Tobi's claims is later proven false--[[spoiler:he was actually responsible for the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack]]. Then again, [[spoiler:[[DeadPersonImpersonation he was pretending to be Madara at the time]]]], which would make his claim MetaphoricallyTrue.

** "Madara's" identity is a fourth wall-piercing example. Many readers never questioned his identity simply because he stated he's Madara and other characters believed him. That and hints to his actual identity were thought to be an obvious RedHerring, until the real Madara turned up.
* [[spoiler: Kyubey]] of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' rarely tells the whole truth, but never in the series actually says something that's later proven to be untrue. It's very good at [[ExactWords twisting what it says]] to get the desired result, though. For example, when asked if [[spoiler: it was possible to turn a [[WasOnceAMan Witch]] human again]], it replies "Nobody has ever done it before. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if you could do it." Well, this is all true, because such a task is ''impossible''[[note]]Or rather, as shown in one of the spinoff mangas, it ''is'' possible, but Kyoko and Madoka lacked both the time and resources to be able to implement the solution used there[[/note]], and [[spoiler: Kyubey]] [[TheStoic doesn't have emotions,]] so it's physically incapable of being surprised. He also abuses YouDidntAsk for all it's worth; most importantly he studiously avoids explaining [[spoiler: the actual ''[[YourSoulIsMine mechanics]]'' of the [[DealWithTheDevil deal he's offering]] so that the girls can deceive themselves with false assumptions]].
** In the spinoff ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'', [[spoiler: Ui and her friends]] investigate the magical girl and Witch phenomena in-depth, looking up various suicides and deaths in the city that could be related. In the end, they interview [[spoiler:Kyubey]] for a whole afternoon. It goes on its usual way of witholding key facts and using ExactWords. Because of the investigation, however, they are able to deduce that [[spoiler:magical girls become Witches]]. Later on, [[spoiler:they use Kyubey's ExactWords against him, stealing his power to COLLECT grief, TRANSFORM it into energy, and MATERIALIZE it in the universe to fight entropy. This allowed them to create the Doppel System. He might have held back the truth about Witches, but didn't expect them to use the rest of his exposition to their advantage.]]

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers: ComicBook/SeasonOne'': Zarrko wastes a perfect opportunity to sow discord and honestly tells Thor he had no part in Cap's revival. [[PoorCommunicationKills Thor still doesn't listen]], because Loki had planted images of Cap in Zarrko's monitors.

* The [[VillainProtagonist title character]] of ''Comicbook/{{Lucifer}}'' considers lying beneath him, but he's not above letting people hear what they want to hear. Being an AntiHero in his own comic, he's not exactly evil, just kind of a bastard. Indeed, it's mentioned that his chief vice is pride, and he is far too proud to ever lie, break an oath, or leave a debt unpaid. Rachel comments during their last meeting (having been burned by an ExactWords deal with Lucifer before) that never outright lying in no way means Lucifer is ''honest''.
* Many Marvel heroes and Villains have no problem believing what Comicbook/{{Loki}} says, even though he once [[SelfproclaimedLiar called himself the God of Lies]]. He's not above using his reputation as an inveterate liar to use the truth to hurt those who ''don't'' believe him, too, though. And not listening to him is just inviting trouble too as unfortunately for everybody he ''does'' possess a great deal of knowledge and wisdom that could save lives.
* ComicBook/TheJoker never lies to get out of punishment -- he'll lie to throw someone off balance, or as part of a GambitRoulette, or just because he finds it's funny, but he never denies his crimes in court or when Batman confronts him with them. He uses this to convince Batman it's NotMeThisTime in one story, pointing out that he always takes credit for his work.
-->'''Joker:''' ''Admit it, Bats- you know that if I'd killed him. I'd gladly own up! Why, I'd be giving interviews!''
** Discussed in ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'' in the ''Everyone Loves Ivy'' arc. Having cornered ComicBook/PoisonIvy, who's taken over the world through mind-control by now, the heroes discover that the whole thing was instigated by Ivy killing six people for ComicBook/TheRiddler at the start of Batman's career, and feeling deep guilt over it. As it turns out, Riddler killed those people himself and made Ivy believe she'd done it.
-->'''Batman:''' ''That's what villains do, Ivy. They lie. And maybe, just maybe, you didn't understand this, not because you were weak or young...[[AntiHero but because you're not a villain.]]''
* In ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel1977'', there's an arc after Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack where Luke's targeting computer goes offline and he uses the Force to sight on and vape someone -- only to find later that it was his [[WingMan wing guard]] and LoveInterest [[HeroesWantRedheads Shira Brie]]. Shira was important enough to the Rebellion that he was immediately ostracized. While Luke was having a crisis of faith in the Force, Vader contacted him and told him that Shira was TheMole, operating at Vader's command. No one would believe Luke if he told his friends -- the only one he could go to in all the galaxy, now, was Vader. Luke had found evidence that Shira had been making up her tragic past before, but he didn't believe Vader until he'd infiltrated a data storage facility and saw the evidence himself.

* Inverted in the French comic book ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'', where the EvilSorcerer [[BigBad Darkhell]], after [[YouHaveOutLivedYourUsefulness betraying]] his ally [[AntiVillain General Rasga]], [[ReasonYouSuckSpeech mockingly]] reveals to him that [[spoiler:the whole reason for his people, the Pirahni, and their enemies, the Elves, to hate each other, was because of the Pirahni wrongly blaming the Elves for banishing them on a deserted island, when they actually chose themselves to live there and the Elves used to be their allies.]] Ironically, Rasga is reluctant to believe it, when it turns out Darkhell is actually ''telling the truth''.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Doctor Doom, as a part of his NobleDemon villain character type, prides himself on never lying, viewing it as beneath his obvious superiority. Though, he'll still gleefully engage in deception by using ExactWords.
** However, DependingOnTheWriter Doom ''will'' lie if the truth is sufficiently humiliating or embarassing. Case in point, he's constantly lying to himself that Reed Richards started their feud by sabotaging Doom's experiment.

* {{Discussed}} in ''Comicbook/{{PS238}}'' [[http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/2019-08-05/ here]], where a character mentions that she can trust a ''magical'' villain not to lie if he's making an official oath.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': While most of Diana's villains lie to an extent just to give Diana something to use the Lasso of Truth for, Ares would rather manipulate the truth to his whims, at least when dealing with Diana and other mortals, he's far more willing to stretch the truth completely out of shape when dealing with other gods. He also sticks to his oaths, even when they become inconvenient for him, though he tends to stick to the letter rather than the spirit of the oaths.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In a fanfic that pitted Anime/SailorMoon against Doctor Doom (yes, really), Doom reveals to Amy what the other girls think about her. When Amy denies this and calls Doom a liar, Doom responds with this trope.
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', [[spoiler: Diamond Tiara makes a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Discord]], freeing him in exchange for him restoring her mother's sanity. And to the great surprise of the readers, when he gets out he upholds his end of the bargain. However, it's made clear that he only did it because he swore to his [[EldritchAbomination parents]], which appears to be a vow he can't break (his little sister Rancor reveals later that if he does, their mother Entropy will ''erase him from existence'' and apparently has done so before). Though in the process of freeing Discord, Diamond ''does'' end up being [[DrivenToMadness driven so crazy]] she goes [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare]], so he still screws her over.]]

* In ''Fanfic/FeverDreams'' Light tells the investigators [[MetaphoricallyTrue he is constantly being watched and guarded by two Shinigami-one keeps constant watch over him and threatens him every time he steps out of line and the other, a Shinigami that likes apples, drops in regularly to takes reports from the one guarding him]] [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse and then lets them come to their own conclusions]] [[FalseInnocenceTrick about his involvement in the Kira case.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheCadanceverse'': Octavia realizes that Blazing Sun and Nightmare Moon must be telling the truth about [[spoiler: Cadance being a {{Golem}}]] because they're both sticking to the story -- they [[EvilVersusEvil hate each other]] so much that if one of them ''were'' lying, the other would expose it just to trip them up.
* [[Manga/{{Bleach}} Aizen]] in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12394742/1/ The Defeated]]'' never lies to Ichigo or Orihime. Yes, [[GenderFlip she]] intends to sacrifice Karakura Town to become Soul King, but she doesn't need the entire town and is willing to spare their friends and families. Yes, she arranged for Rukia to be executed but not only would she have likely been executed anyway (as shown by how few even consider questioning it), but she was really only interested in obtaining the Hogyouku that Kisuke hid inside Rukia. When Yoruichi is resurrected, Aizen doesn't lie to her either and states Ichigo and Orihime have joined her to get revenge on Soul Society for what was done to them and their friends, all while detailing [[ColdBloodedTorture exactly]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil what]] they went through. In each case it's less a matter of not wanting to lie (She lied to the entirety of Soul Society after all) but rather that the truth is more helpful to her cause.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatianStreet'' the fanfic [[https://www.wattpad.com/story/292855701-i-am-a-de-vil I AM A DE VIL]] [[spoiler: Dylan is kidnapped and he's taken to Cruella. Dylan believed his family will come rescue him; however, Cruella tells him the harsh truth that his family see him as useless and they continue to put him down. Dylan breaks down crying knowing full well that she's telling the truth. She unties him and offers him to stay with her and he'll never be useless. He accepts]].
* Vanitas in ''Fanfic/ASongOfIceFireAndHeart'' visits King Robert on his deathbed to torment the man with the knowledge that [[spoiler:his beloved Lyanna never loved him and actually eloped with Rhaegar because she couldn't stand her betrothed]], musing it's a waste to lie when the truth is much more painful to hear.
* ''Fanfic/AllForLuz'', As much of a ManipulativeBastard he is, All For One has only admitted to have lied to Luz once, that their PowerParasite Quirk couldn't be replicated (not like that info meant much to the girl). He was also completely honset to her about his backstory: from his rise to power in his world, to the creation of One For All to his demise at All Might's hands. He also ''especially'' invokes this, if it concerns an AwfulTruth, simply out of delight with her trying to deny the awful revelations whilst he's being completely forthright with her. Despite hating his BrutalHonesty initially, Luz does gain a level of trust in All For One because of his AtLeastIAdmitIt attitude compared to the NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist and KnightTemplar foes she constantly fights. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Luz, just because her EvilMentor 'doesn't lie' doesn't mean he still isn't any less manipulative, villainous, and deceitful.]]
--> ''Wake-up call after wake-up call was something that [Luz] was used to, but not with the bluntness that Shigaraki provided. Most people danced around every subject, but Shigaraki didn’t. [[BrutalHonesty He went straight to the heart of the problem and ripped the bandage off with a pair of pliers each and every time]]. First, it was about using her [[PowerParasite power]], then it was about the [[FantasticRacism reality of the situation she was in]], and recently it was about her [[ParentsAsPeople mother]] and her actions.''

[[folder:Film — Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'': When Ursula sings ''Poor Unfortunate Souls'', she lies about her intentions, downplays the risks involved (she says that people not being able to pay her and getting punished has happened "once or twice", but it's visually implied to be much more common), and is very manipulative towards Ariel... but when it comes to the DealWithTheDevil itself, she's entirely honest about what she's offering and what she's asking, and she is correct that Ariel can woo the Prince even without speaking to him. Presumably this is necessary to make the contract valid.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': In "Friends on the Other Side", Doctor Facilier does a reading for Prince Naveen and Lawrence, where he accurately outlines their problems (Naveen's parents want him to get married but he doesn't want to be tied down, and Lawrence is sick of being pushed around) and his intended solutions to them, but he manipulates the scene so that Naveen assumes that the "green" Facilier offers is money when he actually means to ''literally'' turn Naveen green by transforming him into a frog. Lawrence gets a better deal as he's offered to be made "exactly the man he's always wanted to be", which turns out to mean being transformed into Naveen via an amulet.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/RedEye'', Jackson Rippner never lies once and makes a point of it to Lisa. This has led to some fans interpreting his off-handed joke about killing his parents as [[FridgeHorror actually the truth]].
* ''Film/{{Memento}}'': Teddy tells Leonard that [[spoiler: Leonard killed his own wife with an insulin injection, and now he continues to search for a new murderer time and again in order to have some meaning to his life.]] We don't know [[AmbiguouslyEvil if Teddy is really a villain]], or whether he says the truth or not, but this is the second-to-last scene (or is it the second scene?), so we tend to believe him. Not to mention the whole [[spoiler:self-manipulation twist-ending]].

** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'': Darth Vader telling Luke "No. ''I'' am your father." Again, actually true. Luke's acceptance is justified by the Force, which allows a Jedi or Sith to divine the truth of a statement -- Luke initially doesn't believe Vader, leading Vader to say, "Search your feelings; you ''know'' it to be true!" and Luke still remains skeptical enough to ask Yoda point-blank in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' to confirm it. According to Creator/GeorgeLucas, after a discussion with a psychologist, he learned that most people would automatically assume that Vader was lying, and was trying to trick Luke somehow; notably, Vader's [[Creator/JamesEarlJones own voice actor]] thought that this was the case. He added the scene with Yoda confirming it to convince both Luke and the audience that Vader was in fact being truthful.
** ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'': Count Dooku tells Obi-Wan plainly that the Senate is controlled by a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious. Yoda and Mace Windu assume he's just trying to create mistrust and divisions between the Senate and the Jedi. Then Windu is shocked to learn that Palpatine is the second Sith in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. Of course, Dooku doesn't bother to mention that ''he's'' a Sith Lord and Sidious's apprentice no less, which makes it a lie by omission as well: with the benefit of hindsight, he was clearly hoping to [[WeCanRuleTogether recruit Obi-Wan to the Banite Sith Order as his own Apprentice]] in preparation for overthrowing Sidious to become the Master himself.

* In the movie of ''Film/TheGoldenCompass'', Mrs. Coulter is the one to tell Lyra who her parents are.
* In ''Film/The6thDay'', the villain tells Adam Gibson [[spoiler:that he's really the clone]], and Adam just laughs him off, until the villain gives his proof.
* [[LouisCypher John Milton]] in ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate'' never outright lies to the people he wants to manipulate. Instead, he plays on their own human flaws and sinful nature to get what he wants. "I only set the stage. You pull your own strings." "Vanity, definitely my favorite sin."
* Seen in the '80s classic ''Film/BackToSchool'' when JerkJock Chas tells Jason that his father bribed the coach to give him a spot on the diving team, Jason believes him right away and chews out his old man for it. His dad Thornton calls him out for that, but in all fairness, up to that point, it did seem like something Thornton might do. He did, after all, cut the school a huge check to enroll in the first place and was using his hired staff to do his homework for him.
* None of the machine characters in ''Franchise/TheMatrix'' ever lie, and it's somewhat implied that they can't. Even Smith's initial conversation with Neo is totally truthful, to the point that Smith admits to Neo that he is actually living two separate lives, with one "lived in computers". The Architect reacts with something approaching disgust when the possibility of him breaking his word is brought up: "What do you think I am? ''Human?''" The only machine to lie is The Analyst in ''Film/TheMatrixResurrections'' who reneges on his deal to allow Neo and Trinity to leave if they want to, [[spoiler:which disgusts [[EvenEvilHasStandards Smith of all people]] to turn on the Analyst and help the heroes escape.]]
-->'''[[spoiler:Smith]]''': Lies, lies, and more lies. What has the world come to when you can't even trust a program?
* Jigsaw, the titular villain of the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise, always told his victims clearly and specifically how they could escape death without using falsehood, distortion, or even metaphor. If he told one of them to dig deep inside themselves to find the key that unlocked the deathtrap that would kill them, he actually meant that he surgically implanted the key inside their bodies and intended for them to painfully tear said key out.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the Joker repeatedly states that he's "a man of his word" and is constantly believed. However, he's an expert at making people ''assume'' he's saying one thing when he means another (he convinces Harvey that he doesn't plan ahead by saying comparing himself to a dog who chases cars without knowing what he'd do if he caught one- note that he never says he doesn't have ''plans'', just [[AndThenWhat no idea what to do afterwards]]), and is not above lying [[ItAmusedMe purely to mess with people]] (see his multiple stories about how he got his scars). [[spoiler: When he pulls his SadisticChoice of getting to either Harvey or Rachel before their bombs go off, he switches the locations of the two hostages, resulting in Rachel's death.]]
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', only John Blake is seen doubting Bane when he [[spoiler:reads Gordon's speech about the true nature of Harvey Dent]], until Gordon admits Bane’s telling the truth. However, since no one else is seen reacting to the confession and it never comes up again in the film, it’s possible others didn’t believe it.
* [[spoiler:Subverted]] in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', where the title character refuses to even entertain the idea that the people claiming to have kidnapped his wife may be lying, although our hero, The Dude, certainly speculates on the possibility. The Dude turns out to be [[spoiler: right, and it turns out the only reason Lebowski was so credulous was so he could embezzle the ransom money.]]

* Don Vito Corleone claims to "never lie to [his] friends" in ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII''.
* Subverted with DramaticIrony in the climax of the first ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'': Shredder certainly believes that [[spoiler:Splinter is dead by now]] and while the audience knows otherwise, the Turtles themselves don't and Leo accuses him of lying. Once Shredder smugly doubles down on it ("Do I?"), Leonardo attacks him in a rage.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** [[spoiler:Ego the Living Planet]] in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' consistently restricts himself to lies of omission when talking to Peter Quill. [[spoiler:For example, he has no problem telling Peter that he genuinely loved Peter's mother... but it's only when Peter is getting DrunkOnTheDarkSide that he lets slip that [[YouKilledMyFather he ensured Meredith Quill's terminal brain tumour]] because he felt that love threatened his commitment to his EvilPlan]].
** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Thanos claims to his adopted daughter Gamora that while he taught her all she knows about being a powerful warrior, he never taught her to lie. This is why he thinks she [[BadLiar does such a bad job of it]] when she is questioned about the location of the Soul Stone.
** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', when the Avengers finally capture Thanos, they demand to know where he hid the infinity stones, so they can reverse what he did. He reveals that he destroyed the stones to keep anyone from reversing his wish. In denial, the Avengers reluctantly refuse to believe him, but Nebula states that Thanos is many things, but he's not a liar.
--->'''Rhodes:''' We have to tear this place apart. He has to be lying!
--->'''Nebula:''' My father is many things. A liar's not one of them.
* At the climax of ''Film/WonderWoman2017'', Diana is quick to throw the [[TruthSerum Lasso of Truth]] around Ares, but that doesn't slow him down one bit as he gives her a BreakingLecture about how HumansAreBastards (and WeCanRuleTogether). Since she's been holding such a black-and-white view (humans were supposed to be good while Ares was responsible for the Great War), it's enough for him to tell her that humans were largely responsible for all the atrocities she's seen. It threatens to lead her to the same conclusions [[KillAllHumans as him]].
* In ''Film/DraculaUntold'', a pre-vampire Dracula is desperate to save his kingdom and family from the wrath of the Ottoman Empire, so desperate he goes to a cursed cave that keeps a vampire prisoner. Once Dracula meets the vampire (played by Charles Dance), he begs to be turned into a vampire himself, so he can use the power to save everything he loves. The vampire reveals all the consequences and tragedies that will befall Dracula if he accepts and even explains that if Dracula feeds on human blood, not only will he become a vampire permanently, but this will also free the elder vampire from the cave and he will become a blight across the land once again; but if Dracula can resist feeding for three days, he will regain his humanity and the vampire will remain imprisoned. Dracula asks why the vampire is being so truthful, and the vampire responds that it's because the truth is so much worse than any lie he could tell.
* In ''Film/LookWhosBack'', for all the things UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler is, he never lies about who he is. The film plays this for chilling effect when Sawatzki realises Hitler ''is'' the genuine article rather than a politically-incorrect comedian who is very insistent on MethodActing and confronts him at gunpoint, accusing him of tricking people as he did in the 1930s. Hitler replies with cold bemusement that he never tricked or conned anyone; he argues that [[YouMonster if he really is a monster]], [[HumansAreBastards then so are all the people who backed his goals and policies]] because he was completely up-front about what he believed and what he would do if he ever got into power, and everyone who supported him knew exactly what he was all about.

* This is one of [[Creator/SimonRGreen John Taylor's]] favorite expressions: "The Devil always lies, except when the truth will hurt you more."
* Sometimes justified in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', when dealing with either the denizens of [[TheFairFolk Faerie]] or certain other supernaturals who have made promises. Faeries ''can't'' lie and most supernaturals invest a lot in their promises and will not break them lightly. Of course, that only binds them to their ''word''. Fae are simply unable to tell an outright falsehood, but many are know not to trust them since that doesn't quite preclude being deceptive, dishonest, or manipulative, and they've had ''ages'' to learn how to abuse technical truths. Also, they are bound only to the word of their agreements while being willing to break the spirit if it suits them; a faerie who promises it will "protect you from danger to your life" may break your back and both your legs and dump you in a hospital to keep you from being in ''actual'' danger of death.
** Dresden is quick to learn that the [[FallenAngel Order of the Blackened Denarius]] will ''always'' lie, and thus is extremely wary about trusting anything they say. Harry's experiences have actually made him pretty good at never taking what villains tell him at face value. Unless the villain happens to be a [[ChronicHeroSyndrome vulnerable]] [[KnightInShiningArmor woman.]] That tends to [[StupidGood skew his rationality]], a flaw he fully acknowledges. He's gotten better about that, to his somewhat-justified disgust.

* ''Literature/XWingSeries''. The Director of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard, averts this. [[spoiler: Corran Horn]] falls into her clutches believing that Tycho was her agent and had betrayed him. Isard never actually tells her victim that this is so, but several times she seems to confirm his belief. Really Tycho was [[IncorruptiblePurePureness innocent]], but [[spoiler: Corran]] doesn't learn this until he finds out during his escape. Telling him that he'd gotten an innocent man put on trial for his own murder, and Tycho was quite likely to be declared guilty and executed, would have given [[spoiler: Corran]] massive guilt, but Isard wanted to use his anger.
* Lord Foul the Despiser, in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', never lies. He doesn't see it as necessary to achieve his goals, and he's been right so far.
* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella completely believes James when he tells her that he's holding her mom captive. [[spoiler:To her defense, they had the conversation over the phone and he used the audio from a home movie he stole from her mom's house.]]
* ''Literature/GideonTheNinth'': [[spoiler:Cytherea]], after being unveiled as the murderer, claims to have never once lied to anyone, instead misleading them all with double meanings and hypotheticals and then letting them draw their own conclusions. It's not clear ''why'' [[spoiler:she sees the need to do this since she's only there in the first place because she murdered and impersonated another character and has been free to spin as many lies as she wants to shore up her disguise, other than her own amusement.]]

* In their confrontation at the end of Stephen King's ''Literature/TheGunslinger'', the man in black makes the following proclamation to the eponymous hero: "Only enemies speak the truth; friends and lovers lie endlessly, caught in the web of duty."
* Rimmer Dall, the BigBad from ''Literature/TheHeritageOfShannara'' series is a masterful user of this, [[spoiler: he gives Par a fairly standard TomatoInTheMirror, "the guy who sent you on this quest is using you, etc..." speech, then hands over the Sword of Shannara which Par was there to retrieve, said Sword having the power to completely destroy any lies and show the full and complete truth about anything it's used on. He tells Par to use the Sword on him to see if he's lying; he does, and it doesn't respond. Turns out the whole point of Dall's speech before handing over the sword was to put just a tiny bit of doubt in Par's mind about himself, and since the Sword [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve requires the user to fully believe he can use it in order to call on its power]] this makes Par unable to use the Sword at all.]]
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Katniss may see President Snow for the horrible power-hungry monster he is, but she does take him at his word when he says that he will never lie to her. [[spoiler: This is part of what leads Katniss to assassinate Alma Coin]].
* ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle:'' [[GreaterScopeVillain The Cthaeh]] is noted to ''never'' lie. But being TheOmniscient, it knows some {{Awful Truth}}s indeed, and will specifically aim for the worst and most destructive revelations it can tell to its interlocutor, not just for them but for the world at large. It specifically angles to steer history down the worst path a singular conversation can manage.
* In ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'', it's stated in-universe that the [[EvilOverlord Lord Ruler]] WillNotTellALie. After all, he's the nigh-omnipotent GodEmperor of the world -- why on Earth would he ever ''need'' to lie to accomplish his goals? [[spoiler: Of course, his reign ''is'' based on deception -- he's not actually an avatar of God, nor is he TheChosenOne who arose to protect the world a thousand years ago -- but he never actually refers to himself using the name of the former Chosen One, and his belief in his divinity and that he'd successfully co-opted the Chosen One prophecy were, to all appearances, completely genuine]].
* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'': It's understandable wanting directions on your trek through the burning tar pits of the Malebolge, but Virgil would have been wiser to buy a map rather than seeking guidance from the local devils who run said burning tar pits of, etc., etc. Naturally, those devils deliberately send Virgil down a dead end, try to attack him, and send him tumbling into the next Circle of Hell. The rest of the damned love rubbing this in Virgil's face for the rest of the descent.
* ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'': Count Magpyr manages to seriously dispirit would-be vampire hunter Mightily Oats by claiming that he contributed to much of the holy texts Oats is trying to use against him. Oats is already so plagued with doubt about his faith that he doesn't question it, and it's ambiguous as to how much truth there was to the Count's claims.
* ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'': [[NoAntagonist To the extent that he can be called a villain in the first place]], Mustapha Mond's final appearance to Berhard, Helmholtz, and John provides him with the opportunity to be extremely open and honest to all three of them. Unlike all the other characters Mond understands the full extent of how the society of the book works from the top-down, and willingly explains [[TotalitarianUtilitarian why he finds this state of affairs somewhat regrettable but ultimately necessary]].

--> Why bother when the truth is usually so much more devastating?

** The heroes take evil brain doctor Dr Sparrow at his word when he claims that Fred's soul was destroyed when Illyria was resurrected in her body. The comics show he was lying. After Illyria is at ground zero of the Seed of Wonder being restored at the climax of ''[[ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]]'' Season 9, Fred comes back to life, albeit with her and Illyria SharingABody.

** Zig-zagged in "Deathstroke". After Slade tells Laurel that Oliver is the Arrow, she remains suspicious, aware that Slade has been deceptive before, but takes the time to investigate his claims and confirms it herself.
** Played completely straight in "The Magician". Malcolm denies having [[NotMeThisTime anything to do with]] [[spoiler:Sara's murder.]] Oliver believes him without question, and actually ''places him under his protection'' from the League of Assassins (smoothly ignoring the literal hundreds of murders he is guilty of). Nyssa is utterly disgusted by this and remains convinced that Malcolm is the one who did it. [[spoiler:She's right]].

* ''Series/BlueBloods'': A SerialKiller who's been taunting Danny all season 6 informs him that he's going after his family. He rushes home and is confused to see that Linda and the boys are okay--"Why did he lie? He never lies. He said he was going after my family and he always does what he says." Until the FBI agent he's working with reminds him of the guy's MO--"18-22-year-old females"--and he realizes that his niece Nicky is the target.
* Used to great effect in the Swedish/Danish series ''Series/TheBridge2011'', as the killer always delivers on his promises, whether that's how many people he intends to kill or whether he will let the hostages go if certain demands are met, thus ensuring people always take his threats seriously. In the climax of Season One, he reveals [[spoiler: his ultimate revenge on Martin is that his son has been taken from him, and Martin will never find out what happened to him]], made all the more effective because Martin knows without a shadow of a doubt he isn't lying.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': {{Discussed}} in the Season 7 episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E8Sleeper "Sleeper"]] after the First Evil appeared in various forms in the previous episode and said things meant to psych the protagonists out. The Scooby Gang aren't sure if just because the First Evil is, well, evil that means everything it said was a lie. Anya tells them that she herself frequently told the truth back when she was a vengeance demon.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In season 3, Wilson Fisk gets Ray Nadeem wrapped around his thumb by feeding him a constant stream of reliable information about other criminals...who conveniently happen to have corrupt connections that Fisk wants to take for himself. Once he's certain Nadeem has been thoroughly manipulated, Fisk sends Nadeem and the rest of the FBI after Matt Murdock, claiming that Matt used to work for him (which is partially true, since he had James Wesley hire Nelson & Murdock to defend one of his hitmen). Nadeem doesn't stop to think that this conflicts with public records that show that Nelson & Murdock was instrumental in sending Fisk to prison, simply because Fisk’s testimony on other things has proven itself to be reliable up to this point. He does come to realize Matt is innocent and Fisk is a liar after Jasper Evans is killed while preparing to claim that Fisk paid him to shank him, but by this point, Nadeem is in too deep with Fisk to get out.
* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'': Across this show, plus ''Daredevil'' and ''Series/{{Iron Fist|2017}}'', Madame Gao prides herself in always telling the truth and she is extremely apt at using it to mess with people's heads.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E14TheNextDoctor "The Next Doctor"]], while facing involuntary conversion into their new leader, Miss Hartigan protests that the Cybermen merely told her she would be heralded if she helped them. In response, they [[ExactWords hail her as the CyberKing]]. She adds that she was specifically promised she would never be converted, which the Cybermen admit they straight-up lied about.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp "The Unicorn And The Wasp"]], this provides a clue to the identity of the culprit. While interviewing everyone about what they were doing at 4:15 PM, only [[spoiler:Reverend Golightly]] was telling the truth, while everyone else lied about their activities and were goofing off at the time, because only the killer was actively trying to establish an alibi.

-->"Oh, and, by the way--I only have one kidney. Guess who has the other."

* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Played with for Dr. Karl Malus in season 2. When Jessica confronts him with the fact that Jeri Hogarth is trying to use Shane Ryback's healing powers to save herself, he insists that he never created a healer, let alone performed experiments on someone named Shane. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Shane is indeed a fraud who is manipulating Jeri.]] In general, though, while Karl rarely tells direct lies, he tends to leave important information unsaid and hides incriminating material.
* Legal and police dramas, with their emphasis on the veracity of witnesses, defendants, etc., frequently play with this trope. ''Series/LawAndOrder'' mocked it in the episode "Access Nation", in which a convicted felon, while in prison, uses an Internet information-gathering company to track someone down and then murders that person upon his release. The owner of the company, trying to defend himself from accusations of wrongdoing, points out that all customers are required to fill out a form asking if they had a criminal record. [=McCoy=] says, "And it never occurred to you that someone with a criminal record might actually ''lie'' about it?"
* Ben Linus from ''Series/{{Lost}}'' is pretty much ''always'' lying, but the other characters pretty much ''always'' believe him, even if they say they know what he's up to. On several occasions, he's admitted that past statements were "not entirely truthful".
** Michael Emerson's excellent performance makes this much easier to suspend disbelief about.
** Except Keamy, who called Ben's bluff about not actually caring about Alex. That one kinda backfired.

* Heroic (or at least anti-heroic) variant: the titular character of ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'' never lies; at most, he can be evasive, but he takes great pleasure in telling others that he is, in fact, the Devil himself. Nobody believes him, and most assume that it's some kind of act. His cop partner Chloe tells him that, grandstanding devil act aside, she knows she can trust him.
* An interesting case is Morgause from ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}'', who convinces Prince Arthur to visit her home so that she can conjure up the spirit of his dead mother. On meeting the late Queen Igraine, Arthur learns the truth about the circumstances of his birth: that his father Uther made a deal with the sorceress Nimueh to help them conceive, which resulted in Igraine's death thanks to [[BalancingDeathsBooks the nature of the spell]]. This enrages Arthur so much that he races home to Camelot and almost kills his father, only for Merlin to talk him out of it by suggesting to him that Morgause had made the whole thing up and that the spirit of Igraine wasn't real. The twist is that although Morgause ''could'' have conjured up a fake Igraine (the show is never clear), the audience knows (thanks to conversations between Uther/Gaius) that everything Igraine told Arthur about his birth ''was'' in fact completely true. Even more interestingly, '''Merlin''' knows the information was true but lies to Arthur to dissuade him from committing patricide.

** For some reason [[FridgeHorror (that Regina's description of the incident might be believable in this world aside)]], Rumplestiltskin believes the Evil Queen Regina when she tells him that his LoveInterest Belle was scourged by clerics at her father's behest, locked up and DrivenToSuicide, despite being perhaps the most qualified person to know exactly how manipulative and wicked Regina is, given that he taught her to be.

* ''Series/ThePrisoner2009'': In the first episode, when 6 demands that he be returned to New York, 2 responds that New York doesn't exist. [[spoiler:He wasn't just gaslighting 6, the Village exists on an alternate plane of reality far below the subconscious. There really is nothing outside the Village.]]

** Lucifer states in "Sympathy for the Devil" that "Contrary to popular belief, I don't lie. I don't need to." He does in fact lie in later seasons, though.
** At the end of "Do You Believe In Miracles?", Crowley says, "I might not have told you the entire truth. But I never lied."
** In "On the Head of a Pin", Alastair tells Dean that [[spoiler:Dean accidentally broke the first seal when he agreed to torture souls in Hell and made the Apocalypse possible.]] Dean is initially unsure whether this is true, but Castiel confirms that the prophecy Alastair described is real and does in fact refer to Dean.
* In ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'', one challenge centered around a note left by Dr. Dark, which implied that one of the heroes was actually a spy. The heroes all then began wondering who it was and discussing which amongst them was the most suspicious. Only Hygenia was smart enough to consider that Dr. Dark was just lying. [[spoiler:This was pretty much the case, although he also wasn't outright lying--the note said that one of the heroes ''could'' be a good spy, not that one of them actually ''was'']].
* One episode of ''Series/TheXFiles'' has Mulder rather unbelievably instantly trusting someone he's never met before about some new information on the alien conspiracy. Scully even calls him on it: "What happened to 'trust no one?'" Mulder replies "I changed it to 'trust everyone.' Didn't I tell you?" This attempt at a LampshadeHanging falls rather limp since it does nothing but make it even more explicit that Mulder is utterly out of character in the scene, and we don't even get any reason for it like mind control, as some other episodes do. Agent Mulder often had two conflicting ideals to choose between: "Trust No One" and "I Want To Believe." In this case, Mulder wanted to believe that the character was part of a government conspiracy, feeding into both of those ideals at once.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'':

*** Subverted. Orthodox Christianity says that the death is a coincidence of disobedience of God's law. Adam and wife could live forever if they followed the Lord. And after they committed the first sin, and couldn't manage to repent, so they died - they become sinners, moreover they got passions - eight deadly illnesses, and all their deeds became sinful. The death was simply not instantaneous. So, it's the case of devil being the ConsummateLiar. That's why Jesus called him a killer of man: he convinced them to fall.

** Satan quotes Scripture during his temptation of Jesus. Jesus doesn't fall for it and [[QuoteToQuoteCombat responds with further quotes]] which explain why Satan's interpretations are wrong.
*** In this case, {{Satan}} is not being deceptive by lying, but by distorting the original intent of each quote, which is why Jesus's rebuttals are quotes as well, to return them again to the context and meaning in which they were written.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': This is the shtick of Devils since they're embodiments of Lawful Evil. They're fully ''capable'' of lying when they want to, but they prefer to stick to being misleading. After all, can't close a deal if nobody trusts you to stick to your end.
** Absolutely ''no'' [[DealWithTheDevil devilish contract]] will contain an outright falsehood. This is actually enforced by diabolic courts, so if a mortal feels that the contract is illegal (i.e. the devil promised something they weren't able to give, changed the contract without the mortal's consent, et cetera) and can successfully argue their case, they can dissolve the contract and leave without paying the devil anything. This tends to piss off the superiors of the devil in question, so devils would like to avoid it if at all possible.

* This is a key element of [[DealWithTheDevil deals with the devil]]. In Goethe's ''Theatre/{{Faust}}'', Mephistopheles surprises the doctor by telling him that hell has laws and that, therefore, he can be trusted to hold up his end of the bargain. The quintessential feature of such a deal is that the devil figure either [[ExactWords twists the terms of the agreement to subvert their intended effect]] or brings about some change that renders the benefit he confers undesirable--not that he breaks the agreement outright. Without this trope--played straight, mind you--this effect couldn't be achieved.
* In Marlowe's ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus'', Mephistopheles is even more honest. He tells Faust he'll give him certain powers and abilities in exchange for Faust's soul, and keeps the bargain to the letter, giving Faust everything he promised. Interestingly, he even tries to talk Faust out of it, pointing out that if he, Mephistopheles, a demon, exists, then wouldn't it stand to reason that God also exists and that Faust, by implication, would be making a horrible mistake by taking Mephistopheles up on his offer? Faust replies that that doesn't follow at all, since just because one part of a story turns out to be true, it doesn't prove that the whole story is true. Mephistopheles concedes the point.
* In ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', all of the witches' prophecies are true, but the things they say are meant to manipulate their listeners into evil by putting ideas in their heads. They say that Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor? Next scene, he gets the message that he's been made Thane of Cawdor after the previous Thane was executed. This is why Macbeth starts thinking about killing King Duncan- after all, the witches weren't lying about the Thaneship, maybe they weren't lying that he'd become king. Their second set of prophecies is equally accurate- Macbeth should beware Macduff because Macduff fulfilled the NoManOfWomanBorn criteria to kill him. Macbeth's the one who decided to make it a SelfFulfillingProphecy by killing Macduff's family and giving Macduff a reason to join Malcolm's rebellion.

* ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo''. As The 40th Day draws to a close, Salem and Rios have Jonah cornered; Jonah promptly tells them he's sitting on a nuke that will wipe out half the city if it goes off, but, keeping with the social-experiment theme of his actions, he'll disarm it if Salem or Rios kills the other instead of him. [[spoiler: As is likely easy to guess despite the spoiler tag, there's no nuke.]]
* This is Terumi's schtick in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. What better way to MindRape somebody than reveal truths such as "their rightful place in the world was stolen away by someone who only exists because of causality-interference effects screwing with the [[StableTimeLoop time loops]]", or that "they're really just a failed version of an EldritchAbomination" which ''in turn'' is a failed version of a PersonOfMassDestruction"? He ''does'' conveniently forget to neglect certain details, however, but he never technically fibs and pretty much confesses without ''any'' provocation that he gave [[AntiHero Ragna]] his DarkAndTroubledPast ForTheEvulz.
** There is one incident Terumi was ''forced'' to lie, however - if he was honest in any capacity, his plans could have been compromised. In ''Decision''[[note]]Jin's story mode in ''Continuum Shift''[[/note]], he makes a move on Makoto, only to get subsequently parried by Jin, and when he states that his actions were for disciplinary purposes, (which, seen as MetaphoricallyTrue still ''could'' be considered a truth from Hazama's perspective,) Jin refuses to buy it. [[spoiler:In addition to Makoto's {{protectorate}} issues, she had just returned from assignment in Ikaruga, where [[HeKnowsTooMuch she learned things]] that stand to be ''very'' damaging to his schemes if left uncontrolled. In ''Slight Hope'', which takes place beforehand, she had proven herself a [[SpannerInTheWorks nuisance]] to his plots - add all of that up, and it's clear he wanted her dead ''three days ago''.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' Lautrec of Carim is a very shifty, amoral fellow with goals that don't quite match with yours, but he remains completely on the level with the player.

%%* In VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}, [[spoiler: Daud says the trope almost word for word. He's telling the truth.]]

** Discussed and Defied in a conversation about the BigBad's explanation of his past. After reaching Skyhold, the Inquisitor can point out that what [[spoiler: Corypheus]] says about [[spoiler: entering the Black City]] and what the Chant of Light says are similar, but do not match completely. Giselle will remark that, while the Chantry is a tool of men and might have erred in speaking of it, that doesn't mean [[spoiler: Corypheus]] is right and truthful. He might well be [[SelfServingMemory choosing to remember things in a manner more flattering to himself]], or have confused memories after being sealed away for a thousand years.
* The bad guys in ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' tend to be a lot more honest about what's actually going on than the good guys who know the full story. Knowing the truth is rather destabilizing and can lead to some serious issues, so the good guys withhold crucial information [[spoiler:such as the fact that they should never allow the Messiah to come into being.]]

** None of the Frenzied Flame's followers will ever lie to you. They're out to burn everything, and they make that very clear. However, Shabriri is also truthful when he says that you'll have to commit a terrible injustice, [[spoiler: that being letting your companion Melina sacrifice herself]], to become Elden Lord normally, and that the Frenzied Flame will allow you to avert it.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s legendary MindScrew was initiated by one of these. Cloud actually does insist that Sephiroth is lying when he says Cloud [[TomatoInTheMirror isn't who he thinks he is]], but since [[spoiler: his own version of events isn't right either, and thus there is evidence even in his own memory that seems to support the even more false but still truth-tinted alternative]], the doubts eventually [[HeroicBSOD overcome]] him.

*** At the end of the 2.0 storyline for ''A Realm Reborn'', [[spoiler:Gaius]]' speech at the final of [[spoiler:Praetorium]] was often interpreted by fans as either false-but-sincere opinions on the state of Eorzea, or as deliberate lies to confuse the heroes. [[spoiler:Ignoring the part of Gaius' own leviathanic megalomaniacal visions on leadership, the remaining]] half of the speech rang true: In patch 2.4 and the arrival of both Shiva, the official anniversary short stories and The Coils of Bahamut raid, the players would learn that, indeed, [[spoiler:the Eorzean gods as called upon Carteneau by Louisoux are no different than those of the beasts — eikons every one! Further, Louisoix did so because he lacked the strength or vision to do otherwise, but this is a rather hypocritical jab since the Empire intended to deploy Bahamut, an eikon, against Eorzea in the first place. It's also more than a little hypocritical because Gaius himself is exploiting eikons to power the Ultima Weapon--without them, it would be a dangerous mecha, not a superweapon.]] This is further complicated by events from the much later patch 6.1, where we learn [[spoiler:the Twelve really do seem to exist, independently, and they repeatedly insist that they are NOT primals, but refuse to give any further information about their origin. It's even speculated that Ramuh could be the Sylph interpretation of Rhalgr, and thus Gaius may have had it backwards, that is, the "eikons" might actually be species-specific interpretations of one of the Twelve.]]
*** In ''Shadowbringers'', the Ascian Emet-Selch occasionally visits the party, offering dubious information or challenging old assumptions. [[spoiler: Turns out, nearly everything he says is completely true. It's just almost always told with extreme bias, full of massive omissions, or full of deceptive leading statements or impossible but plausible-sounding conditions. The greater irony, however, is that the story of ''Shadowbringers'' reveals that Emet-Selch wasn't the only one: both Lahabrea's crazed ranting and Elidibus' doomsaying were completely true, from an Ascian perspective, and not even particularly deceptive, we just didn't have enough information to understand what they were actually saying at the time.]]

* Frequently abused by villains in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, who love to say things that are MetaphoricallyTrue or the actual truth--[[ExactWords just not the whole truth]]-- or a [[MetaphoricallyTrue slanted version of it]]. Maleficent in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' used this to devastating effect on the protagonists by making them question Terra's brushes with [[TheCorruption the darkness]] until it becomes a SelfFulfillingProphecy, [[spoiler:something Xehanort was counting on]].
* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain''. Kain is a NominalHero / VillainProtagonist who never lies. Unfortunately, the people he doesn't lie to almost always assume he's lying, to disastrous results.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', a [[CreepyChild strange-looking]] [[ObviouslyEvil girl]] tells him that she and her sisters are all being held captive on the Ghost Ship and of course they don't know where Tetra is, but could he please rescue them all? Of course most players are probably suspicious of this all from the start, [[ButThouMust but gameplay insists]].

* Some in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fandom have taken this approach where [[spoiler:Morinth]] is concerned. After [[spoiler:Shepard kills Samara in cold blood,]] [[spoiler:Morinth]] claims that her mother was "tyrannical" and "a monster" and deserved to die, along with the statement that she'll never pose Shepard any threat, [[DracoInLeatherPants and for some reason,]] a few people have taken this and a few other of her lies at face value. [[spoiler:This includes the lie that Shepard would be safe if he/she and Morinth decided to meld, which has been ''proven'' to be wrong.]]
* in the RPG [[HGame h-game]] "Monster Girl 1,000", during a rebel faction's assault on the [[spoiler: City of Magic Weavers]] to assassinate [[spoiler:the true source of woe in the world that is [[DemonInPlainSight Eris and one of her major subordinates, Eden]]]], [[spoiler:Juliet, who is [[LastOfTheirKind another Devourer Demon survivor]] of the continental purge that Eris and her forces are responsible for many years ago,]] truthfully tells Ray that [[spoiler:Eris and her lieutenants are the real cause of the current discourse throughout the world.]] Ray, at first, adamantly denies it and a bit later says that even if what [[spoiler:Juliet is saying is the truth, Juliet and her "Rogue Faction"'s actions place them as opponents to Ray and company.]] After a [[spoiler: [[WillfullyWeak mock battle]] after Juliet demonstrates her power by leveling the administrative building where Eden would most likely be with [[MeteorSummoningAttack a very large meteor]]]], unfortunately [[spoiler:Eden was out at a local spa before the meteor destroyed the building, and in the end, the only thing that the rebel group did was solidify to the public eye to view them as nothing more than terrorists, and Eden gets away completely scot-free, with only killing merely one of Eris' [[MesACrowd multiple selves]] as a meager, yet pointless success in the long run for them.]]
* [[spoiler:Myrkul]] in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'' when talking to [[spoiler:Kaelyn]]. The main character can even lampshade it. The trope is subverted in your own case, however: [[spoiler:what Myrkul tells you in the same conversation later turns out to be a complete lie.]]
* Parodied in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', where the FinalBoss Dark Star [[LukeIAmYourFather claims to be protagonist Travis Touchdown's father]], and after a moment of trying to remember, Travis seems to remember him. [[spoiler:Then Travis' hitherto-unmentioned step-sister Jeane [[BaitAndSwitchBoss comes out of nowhere to punch through Dark Star's ribcage]] and remind Travis that no, that guy ''isn't'' his father - Travis saw both his real parents die right in front of him as a kid. Dark Star [[{{Troll}} simply liked lying like that to get into his opponents' heads]] so they'd be unable to focus on the fight, and therefore easier to kill.]]

** In ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'', Harry gets played for an UnwittingPawn by Dahlia the whole game, and he believes her until the point where Dahlia reveals that [[spoiler: Cheryl is actually Alessa]].
** ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' gives us this [[MindScrew terrible]], [[ParanoiaFuel awful]] question from [[SmugSnake Vincent]]: "Monsters? They look like ''monsters'' to you?" When Heather reacts with horror, he claims that he was kidding, but DAMN.
** TheReveal in ''VideoGame/SilentHillHomecoming'' - [[spoiler: that Alex [[TomatoInTheMirror was never in the army]]]] was given through his [[WellDoneSonGuy father]]. Even on [[WMG/SilentHillHomecoming this very wiki]], the debate continues.

* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', a dying Admiral Karath whispers the game's major plot twist to Carth in hopes of shaking him up a little. Carth, naturally, immediately turns to Bastila and yells, "You knew! You and the whole damned Jedi Council!" Bastila actually confirms it as soon as he says this, though, so he was actually ''right'' to be mistrustful - and the circumstances leading to said revelation already heavily foreshadowed this to the player. And depending on how you answer an inquiry a little further on, ''you'' can confirm the same truth as well. There is also a wealth of evidence that Carth is an untrained Force-Sensitive, which can come with low-level LivingLieDetector abilities.
** In ''VideoGame/StarWarsKnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords,'' meanwhile, [[spoiler:Kreia]] tells the PC all sorts of things. Some of them are true. Some of them are not. Have fun figuring out which is which. There's still debate in the fandom about what her actual end goal was since she gives multiple mutually exclusive explanations.
* In the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series, one of Bison's character traits is that he does not lie, ever - unless you count Cammy's ending in ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterII Super Street Fighter II]]'', which was a mistranslation on the part of Capcom.
* Akasim from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' cannot lie because of his Sphere of the "Truth Seeking Goat."

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' features the red text. Anything said with it [[LanguageOfTruth is always true]] [[spoiler:and if you try to lie with it you will ''choke'']]. The red text can only be used by the witches, or anyone granted the power to speak the red truth. Naturally, the ones to use it are the witches trying to force Battler to surrender and accept them.

** In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Justice For All'', [[spoiler: the final defendant Matt Engarde tells Phoenix that he didn't commit the murder he was accused of. He's technically correct and bypasses Phoenix's magical lie-detector by being so, but what he fails to mention is that he hired the assassin who DID commit the murder.]]
** During Dahlia's final cross-examination in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'', nobody doubts that she's telling the truth because a) [[InterrogatingTheDead she's dead]] and has nothing to lose from honesty, and b) telling the truth will screw over Morgan, so she'll do it out of spite. [[spoiler: However, while Dahlia isn't ''actively'' lying, she ''is'' making incorrect assumptions about the crime; she never knew that Godot was present, and she didn't know Maya was channeling her in the courtroom.]]
* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' plays with this in an interesting way. Whenever [[BigBad Zero]] says something it's a safe bet that it's true. It may not be [[ExactWords what you think it is]], but it's the truth (one exception:[[spoiler: She lied about putting bombs in the players (the innocent ones at least, it's unknown if Ace had a bomb in him, but two of his conspirators definitely did (though one wasn't even a proper player)) and threatening to blow up Clover if Snake reveals what happened in the first Nonary Game]]). However, this only applies to things said ''as'' Zero. When not being Zero [[spoiler: Akane]] has no problems lying to everyone all the time.
* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': Monokuma doesn't lie. This is both so that he can uphold the rules of his twisted game (i.e. if the Monokuma Files gave a false cause of death, it'd be impossible for anyone to solve the murder) and because he can't be a proper HopeCrusher if nobody trusts his awful revelations. There are, however, a few exceptions.
** Monokuma is fine with lies by omission, and often deliberately [[AbsenceOfEvidence leaves things out]] of his Monokuma Files if said details would make a case too easy.
** Later in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', he does start blurring the line between ExactWords and outright lies, such as [[spoiler:planting a fake suicide note and claiming it was okay because he never signed the victim's name and presenting a corpse of someone ''he himself'' executed and manipulating the scene to make it seem like a recent death]]. In this case, it's a sign that he's losing control of the games and ''needs'' to lie in order to keep things going.
** [[spoiler: Junko, [[TheManBehindTheMan The Despair Behind the Bear]]]], doesn't lie but ''does'' exaggerate and make incorrect assumptions in order to spin their words into what they want their audience to hear.[[spoiler: For example, she never realized that her sister Mukuro wasn't a despair-nut like her.]]
** This trope is averted outside killing games or when the Mastermind is not the original; [[spoiler: Monaca Towa is very much a liar, and Tsumugi Shirogane's whole shtick is that she lies about everything, and nobody knows if her revelations in the final chapter can actually be trusted.]]

--->'''Rose''': [[https://www.homestuck.com/story/3627 I thought you didn't lie]].
--->'''Rose''': Aren't jokes essentially humorous lies?
--->'''Rose''': At least, those like the one you just attempted.
--->'''Doc Scratch''': Jokes are only temporary lies.
--->'''Doc Scratch''': If the falsehood is never exposed, there is no punchline. If the punchline is never delivered, the lie is sealed forever, regardless of initial humorous intent. Lies are not funny.
--->'''Rose''': I think if you're going to risk tarnishing your record of honesty, you should probably get better material.
--->'''Doc Scratch''': My joke was objectively funny. Who would know better than I?
--->'''Rose''': Ok.
--->'''Rose''': So you're saying an inaccurate statement doesn't count as a lie, as long as you say "just kidding" later?
--->'''Doc Scratch''': Basically.
--->'''Rose''': What if it's much later? Is it still "just a joke?"
--->'''Doc Scratch''': No, that would be something closer to a prank.
--->'''Doc Scratch''': I don't play pranks very often.
--->'''Rose''': Are you allowed to lie about playing pranks? If I asked you if you were playing a prank on me, would you tell the truth?
--->'''Doc Scratch''': I am allowed to do whatever I want. I choose never to lie. I also choose to tell jokes now and then, and to play pranks quite sparingly.
--->'''Doc Scratch''': But I can say that I have never played a prank on you, and no statement I have made to you thus far, or will make in this conversation, will contain any trace of falsehood for the sake of setting up a joke or a prank, with the exception of the joke I just made, and another one I will make very soon.
** However, he claims that "lying by omission" is a false concept (read: he does it all the time because he doesn't consider it lying) and is the undisputed ''master'' of ExactWords. He manages to con the heroes into believing [[spoiler:they are ''destroying'' the Green Sun, when in fact they are '''creating''' it--and, by extension, Scratch's master, the time-traveling, universe-eating demon Lord English. Of course, essential as the creation of the Sun was, it was also kind of moot since he is already here]]. [[ManipulativeBastard All without telling a single lie]].
-->'''Doc Scratch''': [[spoiler:S u c k e r s.]]

** During the "[[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0633.html Soul Splice]]" story arc, Vaarsuvius makes a DealWithTheDevil with a trio of archfiends, who offer V vast amounts of power in order to save his/her family from a vengeful dragon, in exchange for temporary custody of their soul, based on the amount of time they choose to retain the power. The fiends in question are being completely fair and honest, even going so far as to [[TakeAThirdOption point out that there is an alternative]]--although this would require V to admit that they had failed. Although the soul splice doesn't actually turn Varsuvius evil, black cloak and glowing eyes notwithstanding, absolute power still corrupts...
*** It should be pointed out that Director Lee, the [[LawfulEvil devil]], is kind of required to give an alternative. See, infernal pacts in D&D only work if the metaphorical Faust is given a choice. If the deal is made under duress, Vaarsuvius could challenge the deal in a diabolical court in the Nine Hells. Since diabolic courts are somewhat fair (they are beings of pure law and evil, after all), Vaarsuvius could wriggle their way out of the deal and possibly get the commission scrapped by whatever archdevil approved of it. The fiends, however, exploit [[InsufferableGenius Vaarsuvius']] ego in order to ensure they would pick the option ''the fiends'' wanted them to pick. And they told the {{exact|Words}} [[MetaphoricallyTrue truth]] the whole time.

** It gets even better later. They said they'd get custody of V's soul for the same length of time as V used the power. [[spoiler: V (and probably most of the readers) ''assumed'' they'd do it at V's death, but they never actually specified a time. One of them chooses to do it when V desperately needs to get a message to the rest of the party. V had actually worked out that the price as they understood it didn't really make sense, since their actions during the effects had already earned an eternity of damnation on their own.]]
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'' has a KnightTemplar example in ''Breaker of Infinities'', when Jagganoth reveals to Allison that [[spoiler:the universe is stuck in a GroundhogDayLoop where one of TheChosenMany have been raised as [[TheChosenOne The Successor]] in every cycle, only to fail and die battling Jagganoth. [[TimeLoopFatigue He has killed billions if not trillions of Chosen Ones at this point and is thoroughly sick of the whole thing]], which is why he wants Allison to just give him the Master Key so he can destroy the whole cycle and everyone else along with it]]. Allison decides that Jagganoth's words, true or not, do not matter since he is an OmnicidalManiac.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. For some reason, Zuko believes [[MagnificentBastard Azula]] when she offers him the chance to join her to take over Ba Sing Se. This is despite his trustworthy uncle berating him for this, and her having explicitly betrayed him in the first episode of the season. AND despite his childhood [[SurvivalMantra litany]] to himself - "Azula always lies." Despite this, however, this is one of the few times where she's being fully honest. Probably more for her own convenience, but she shows no intention whatsoever of betraying him... until he inadvertently informs her that Aang survived her attempt to kill him, at which point she carefully sets Zuko up to take the credit for Aang's death and thus the blame if the truth ever becomes public.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand''. In a climactic fight with Evil Emperor Zurg (complete with glowing metal rods, just to drive the parody home to the viewers), Zurg tells Buzz that he is Buzz's father, causing Buzz to gasp out a "what" response. Zurg then continues the fight after he reveals that the previous reveal was a sham to catch Buzz off guard.
** This is a recycled gag from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', only the end result is different. There's the same LukeIAmYourFather, the same BigNo, but then the next scene shows them playing a nice father-son game of catch. Then again, they're supposed to be toys acting the part of their "namesake" characters. The cartoon series is a {{Defictionalization}} of the movies, so the toys might have taken the idea "from the cartoon" and ran with it.
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers''. An often parodied weakness of the show is that the supporting cast always seems to fall for the villains' deceptions, despite their [[ObviouslyEvil conspicuous names and menacing appearances]]. Best summed up by ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic:''
--> ...and of course they all have those traditional cosmopolitan names, like Hoggish Greedly, Verminous Scumm, and Sly Sludge. Seriously, would you ever do business with a person named Sly Sludge? It's like marrying a woman named Nasty [=McSpendsmoney=]; it just has bad news written all over it.

** In "Hidden Talent", after a "recover the stolen MacGuffin" mission, Kim wonders why Professor Dementor insisted that the device was his own invention. Ron just assumes that Dementor is lying. [[spoiler:Dementor was telling the truth -- the mission was a set-up by Dr. Drakken to trick Kim into stealing Dementor's device and delivering it to him.]]
** In "Rappin' Drakken", Drakken's plan to TakeOverTheWorld with [[MindControlDevice brainwashing]] [[MayContainEvil shampoo]] fails because the label ''tells people what the stuff does''. Drakken may be a villain, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards he's not a corporate shyster]]. Also, he was quite confident that people would buy it anyway, simply because [[ProductPlacement it was mentioned in a rap song on TV]], therefore making it "cool."

-->''"[[TheVillainSucksSong Ooh-ooh, better be wise,/And don't believe his lies!]]"''

* Valtor in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' claims to Bloom that he killed Oritel and Marion. Later he says to her that he absorbed them both into his body. Bloom initially believes him both times. [[spoiler:He lied both times. The Three Ancient Witches locked them up in the Obsidian Dimension.]]
* Zig-zagged in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. When Sportsmaster claims to have an "inside source" on the Team, Aqualad keeps quiet about it, unsure whether there's really a mole or if Sportsmaster was just sowing dissent. After Red Tornado seemingly betrays them, Aqualad gets flak from his teammates for not warning them until he explains ''who'' the source of the "tip" was. Over the course of the season, three different heroes on the Team turn out to have big secrets the villains could exploit... only for them to all come clean to their friends, convincing everyone there is no mole. [[spoiler:They're half-right. The mole was never one of them, it was Red Arrow, which was a shock [[ManchurianAgent even for him]].]]

* ''Literature/{{Ravirn}}'': Eris, WillNotTellALie, usually:

** Although it's only mentioned in an episode commentary, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Holtz]] didn't lie, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] as he was. He considered himself to be on the side of right, after all.

** During the "[[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0633.html Soul Splice]]" story arc, Vaarsuvius makes a DealWithTheDevil with a trio of archfiends, who offer V vast amounts of power in order to save his/her family from a vengeful dragon, in exchange for temporary custody of his/her soul, based on the amount of time he/she chooses to retain the power. The fiends in question are being completely fair and honest, even going so far as to [[TakeAThirdOption point out that there is an alternative]]--although this would require V to admit that he/she had failed. Although the soul splice doesn't actually turn Varsuvius evil, black cloak and glowing eyes notwithstanding, absolute power still corrupts...
*** It should be pointed out that Director Lee, the [[LawfulEvil devil]], is kind of required to give an alternative. See, infernal pacts in D&D only work if the metaphorical Faust is given a choice. If the deal is made under duress, Vaarsuvius could challenge the deal in a diabolical court in the Nine Hells. Since diabolic courts are somewhat fair (they are beings of pure law and evil, after all), Vaarsuvius could wriggle his way out of the deal and possibly get the commission scrapped by whatever archdevil approved of it. The fiends, however, exploit [[InsufferableGenius Vaarsuvius']] ego in order to ensure he would pick the option ''they'' wanted him to pick. And they told the {{exact|Words}} [[MetaphoricallyTrue truth]] the whole time.
** Also played with in that same story arc. The fiends tell Vaarsuvius "You may be experiencing some slight feedback. You know, alignment-wise", and "Do not let them influence your actions! YOU are the one in control!" The last sentence of that is entirely true. The other three are half-true at best. [[spoiler:All together, though, it implies the reverse. Thus, Vaarsuvius assumes s/he isn't in control of hirself, and, as one of them later points out, "A good way to get a decent person to do something horrible is to convince them that they're not responsible for their actions." Horrible indeed...]]
** Also subverted in an unexpected way: [[spoiler:While the alternative they presented could have worked as far as V knew, it was based on his/her incorrect assumption about the current location of the party's healer. Had V pursued that course, s/he would have accomplished nothing more than suicide. They presented it as part of full disclosure in order to legitimize the contract; V was making a free-willed choice without any lies on their part. As far as V knew, this other option would have worked and not required any obligation to the Fiends. In any case, they knew V would never accept the alternative plan as presented because it would require admitting defeat and failure to use someone ''else's'' plan to get other people to save V's family]].
** It gets even better later. They said they'd get custody of V's soul for the same length of time as V used the power. [[spoiler: V (and probably most of the readers) ''assumed'' they'd do it at V's death, but they never actually specified a time. One of them chooses to do it when V desperately needs to get a message to the rest of the party. V had actually worked out that the price as s/he understood it didn't really make sense, since his/her actions during the effects had already earned an eternity of damnation on their own.]]

** Discussed in ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'' in the ''Everyone Loves Ivy'' arc. Having cornered Poison Ivy, who's taken over the world through mind-control by now, the heroes discover that the whole thing was instigated by Ivy killing six people for the Riddler at the start of Batman's career, and feeling deep guilt over it. As it turns out, Riddler killed those people himself and made Ivy believe she'd done it.

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Ubik, one of the four ([[spoiler:later, five]]) members of the God Hand always tells the truth. Unfortunately, in this world [[CrapsackWorld the truth is always pretty damn depressing]], and he's an absolute expert at framing the truth in the worst possible light and focusing on the subject's worst moments. That's why he does so well at [[BreakThemByTalking breaking people's wills with words alone]].

Often takes the form of BrutalHonesty, because inconvenient or unvarnished truths are easier to twist to the villain's advantage. When a hero believes the villain will keep his word and the villain [[KickTheDog does not]], expect an exchange along the lines of "YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo!" "ILied." Frequently, they'll TrashTalk the hero over being such a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter as to [[DidYouActuallyBelieve actually believe their lies]] in the first place. Is a subtrope of FictionNeverLies. Compare VillainRevealsTheSecret.

** "Madara's" identity is a fourth wall-piercing example. Many readers never questioned his identity simply because he stated he's Madara and other characters believed him. That and the person he was eventually revealed to be was thought way too obvious to be real.

** A retroactive example happens in one of the annuals, where Vader takes in a boy who had found his mother's dead body, openly saying that he was once in the same position. The writers intended for him to be lying just to get the boy on his side, but ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', which was released decades after the comic but set previously, reveals that Vader ''really was'' in the same position (and it was his StartOfDarkness), so he was being honest with the kid after all.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Doctor Doom as a part of his noble villain character type, actually never lies though sometimes he avoids lying by using ExactWords.

** Subverted in "Deathstroke". After Slade tells Laurel that Oliver is the Arrow, she's later shown taking the time to investigate his claims and confirms it herself.

** While "antagonist" would be more correct than calling him an outright villain, when Ichigo attempts to gain control of his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Hollowfication]] and confronts his [[EnemyWithin Inner Hollow]] within his [[MentalWorld inner world]], he notices that [[EmpathicWeapon Old Man Zangetsu]] is nowhere to be seen, and demands that his Inner Hollow tell him where he is. The answer? [[spoiler:"[[ExactWords I am Zangetsu]]"]]. It's not until Ichigo learns of the circumstances behind his parents meeting and his eventual birth that he realizes his Inner Hollow was telling the truth all along (not that Ichigo can be blamed for dismissing it as a lie at the time): [[spoiler:Aizen's experimental Hollow, dubbed "White", infected Masaki, a [[ArcherArchetype Quincy]], and was passed on to Ichigo during pregnancy, whereupon it merged with the Shinigami powers he inherited from Isshin and assimilated with the part of his soul that would otherwise become the spirit of his Zanpakuto. As for "Old Man Zangetsu", he is the spiritual manifestation of the Quincy powers Ichigo inherited from Masaki, but since he, too, is a source of Ichigo's power, it's still accurate to call him Zangetsu. This is later reflected when, upon Ichigo having his Zanpakuto reforged, it becomes [[DualWielding two different swords]], each one representing his Shinigami and Quincy halves]].

** When Ichigo confronts Yhwach and asks him if he's the enemy leader, Yhwach at first tries a flimsy NonAnswer. When Ichigo loses his patience and asks him if he's the one who just razed Soul Society and reduced the Seireitei to a pile of rubble and corpses, however, Yhwach doesn't even bother denying it anymore and answers with a BluntYes. [[spoiler:Played with in that, at least from Yhwach's point of view, Ichigo is not ''his'' enemy since he is part Quincy. That being said, Yhwach is well aware that this kind of logic would not fly with Ichigo even if he did believe his claims, and so he attempts to kidnap Ichigo and forcibly recruit him into the Vandenreich's ranks after "[[ReforgedIntoAMinion re-educating]]" him.]]

** During their fight in Karakura Town, Aizen waxes lyrically about how he has manipulated all of Ichigo's battles to develop his strength and power for Aizen's own gain. He even claims he has been manipulating Ichigo's life from the moment he was born. Ichigo notices that Aizen's words are contradicting what he said back on Sougyoku Hill, and accuses him of lying. Aizen points out that if he really is a liar, why would Ichigo trust anything he says to believe he was telling the truth back then and lying now; Ichigo should instead assume that Aizen has been lying constantly since the moment they met. When this sinks in for Ichigo, Aizen explains that he doesn't bother with lies or truth because truth is in the eye of the beholder: nothing Aizen says can ever be trusted. [[spoiler: Later arcs prove that he ''was'' indeed responsible for Ichigo's Hollow powers, though it wasn't his initial plan, and was monitoring his progress. The rest remains up in the air.]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Ubik, one of the four [[spoiler:later, five]] members of the God Hand always tells the truth. Unfortunately, in this world [[CrapsackWorld the truth is always pretty damn depressing]], and he's an absolute expert at framing the truth in the worst possible light and focusing on the subject's worst moments. That's why he does so well at [[BreakThemByTalking breaking people's wills with words alone]].

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Ubik always tells the truth. Unfortunately, in this world [[CrapsackWorld the truth is always pretty damn depressing]], and he's an absolute expert at framing the truth in the worst possible light and focusing on the subject's worst moments. That's why he does so well at [[BreakThemByTalking breaking people's wills with words alone]].

* The AffablyEvil Ur-Quan Kzer-Za in ''VideoGame/StarControlII'' never lie about their intentions and always do what they say they will. They believe that lying is for the weak,
[[AC:"And the Ur-Quan are not weak."]]

** A retroactive example happens in one of the annuals, where Vader takes in a boy who had found his mother's dead body, openly saying that he was once in the same position. The writers intended for him to be lying just to get the boy on his side, but ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', which was released decades later, turned it into this by not only revealing that he really ''was'' once in the same position, but that it was his StartOfDarkness.

** PlayedWith during the Fullbringer arc, where [=XCution=] have their memories altered by Tsukishima to successfully deceive Ichigo. With their altered memories, they all believe Tsukishima to be an enemy who has a different ability than he actually does, and they believe that they train Ichigo with good intentions, [[TreacherousAdvisor when in reality they are training him to steal his powers in the end]]. Basically, they never lie to him while their memories are altered, since they believe what they say is the truth. And later, when Ginjou does steal (part of) Ichigo's powers, the other members (minus Tsukishima) confront him that they agreed to share Ichigo's power with each other, Ginjou holds his word...[[FakeOutTwist by cutting them first which is how they receive their power-ups]].

* Zig-zagged in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. When Sportsmaster claims to have an "inside source" on the team, Aqualad keeps quiet about it, unsure whether there's really a mole or if Sportsmaster was just sowing dissent. After Red Tornado seemingly betrays them, Aqualad gets flak from his teammates for not warning them until he explains ''who'' the source of the "tip" was. Over the course of the season, three different heroes turn out to have big secrets the villains could exploit... only for them to all come clean to their friends, convincing everyone there is no mole. [[spoiler:They're half-right. The mole was never one of them, it was Red Arrow, which was a shock [[ManchurianAgent even for him]].]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Ubik always tells the truth. Unfortunately, in this world [[CrapsackWorld the truth is always pretty damn depressing]], and he’ll always make sure to pick the most depressing truths from anyone to get his points across. That's why he does so well with his BreakingLecture.