Armor Piercing Question / Fan Works

Sometimes, even in fan fiction, all it takes is one well-timed question to make someone stop and think about what they're doing.

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Abridged Series

• In Dragon Ball Z Abridged Cell drops one of these on Trunks, showcasing his knowledge of the future and touching a nerve.
  Cell: Does Gohan know, by the way?
  Trunks: Does he know what?
  Cell: That you let him die.
  Trunks: ...I'm going to power up now.
• Episode 10 of Hellsing Ultimate Abridged has a literal armor-piercing question considering it's the only thing that succeeds in defeating the nigh-immortal Alucard
  Alucard: Am I a bad person?
• Scootertrix the Abridged:
  • This exchange from Princesses Celestia and Luna:
    Celestia: Luna, let me ask you a question. If there was a princess who did bad things, but they always resulted in good things happening, would that princess be good?
    Luna: Wha— no! She would be evil. That pretty much defines evil. That is evil!
    Celestia: Then let's say there is a princess who always tried to do good, but it always seemed to result in evil. Would she be evil?
    Luna: No, because at least she tries to do the right thing.
    Celestia: Last question. Which one would you want ruling the kingdom?
  • In episode fifteen Spike drops a Logic Bomb on Twilight by asking whether she trusts magic or science more. She can't answer.
• Sword Art Online Abridged has a self-inflicted version in Episode 8, when Kirito finds himself rushing in to save the Aincrad Liberation Front from a floor boss. Cue a flashback to Sachi's death, one of Kirito's big moments, and one hell of a speech.
  Kirito: Why am I doing this?! It makes no sense! I don't even know these people! Why am I fighting a giant fucking goat demon for them?! This is stupid, why should I care about what happens to any of them? They're all a bunch of stupid sheep that let Corvatz herd them off a cliff! They knew exactly what they were walking into! Which just begs the question, WHY AM I STILL HERE?!

Fan Fiction

Crossovers

• All For Luz: After explaining what her what the Quirk she inherited from him does, Luz vehemently makes it clear to All For One she would never take another person's powers, Addictive Magic or not, until the supervillain stops her in her tracks with a good question.
  All For One: What if you end up attacking Julia?
  Luz: What?
  All For One: You heard me. What if when you enter that Quirk Feuge, you end up coming across Julia, your friend? She casually greets you and asks how your day is. Then, out of nowhere, you suddenly lunge at her, grab her by the head and drain her power away, taking it for yourself with little to no remorse in the action. Suddenly that friendship is shattered, and she hates you for it. She'll never forgive you, even if you try and explain yourself. You couldn't help it, because your power took over you and made you do it. But she doesn't buy that. Not even for a second. From there on out, she and you are enemies. And there is nothing you could do about it.
• In Avengers: Infinite Wars, while it isn't explicitly acknowledged as such, when Matt Murdock is interrogating Bo-Katan Kryze about her role in the Mandalorian Death Watch, she finds herself unable to answer when he asks her to tell him something about herself that doesn't involve her position in the Death Watch.
• In Avengers of Panem, as in canon, Clarke Griffin (The 100) cuts through Allie's claim of the City of Light being a good thing by asking Jaha about Wells and observing that it took a few moments for Jaha to remember his dead son.
  Clarke: How can anything be good if it costs you the memories of the good parts of your life just to get rid of the bad?
• A couple of these feature in the Avengers of the Ring sequel Methteilien (set after Thanos performed the Snap);
  • While captured by Morgoth, Wanda Maximoff asks why he doesn’t like humanity, which prompts Morgoth to rant about his anger that humanity were given true free will and (in his view) abused that right.
  • Later Morgoth provokes Elanor/Reaper (the biological daughter of Samwise Gamgee, manipulated to become Thanos's new adopted daughter) to have doubts in Thanos by pointing out that the timeline she's been presented with doesn't fit the idea that Morgoth performed the Snap.
• The Boys: Real Justice: While in prison, Annie tries to justify that she was a real superhero and not just a corporate puppet to Poison Ivy by speaking up about what The Deep did to her and other women leading to his firing. Poison Ivy points out that Vought only protected their interests by dropping The Deep who wasn't respected even before that, stunning Annie into silence and eventually leading her to change the subject:
  Pamela: Not when you threaten their stock price. Tell me something, did people even have respect for that man even before you brought up what he did to you?
  • However Annie rapidly returns the favor by comparing her to the Joker and bringing up her relation to Harley Quinn, leading Poison Ivy to almost strangle her in a blind rage:
  Annie: So I take it that you agree with what the clowns are doing to Vought? I read about you and his girlfriend, Harley Quinn, is it? I wonder what it is you and her boyfriend have in common? Other than the fact you both are clearly homicidal maniacs.
• In Binding the Galaxy Together, when Izuku decides to tell Bakugo about One for All, Camilla asks him something that makes him reevaluate his relationship with his bully.
  Camilla: Why do you want Katsuki to be your friend again?
• In The Boy with the Magic Notebook, while during the Undersider's attack on the PRT headquarters, Lily asks one to Skitter which makes her pause. The next Interlude showed that she actually froze and had to stop everything to think about the question.
  Lily: Didn't you want to be a good guy?
• In Blue Moon, the Watchers' Council are introduced to the Cullens and the Quillettes, and Rupert Giles explains a theory that the Cullens' class of vampire are the "Old Ones", the original vampires, who even retain their souls. Sam Uley asks how the Old Ones can drink human blood if they have their souls, but Emmett Cullen clarifies that the issue is a matter of taste, comparing vampires choosing not to drink human blood to the idea of someone trying to make the wolves choose a salad over a steak dinner.
• Chaos Theory Z: In Chapter 13, Gohan asks Piccolo why he would want to rule the earth. When Piccolo realizes he’s not asking from a “why would you want to do bad things?” perspective, he pauses to listen. Gohan outlines The Perils of Being the Best and The Chains of Commanding, unable to understand why anyone would ever want to rule the world. Piccolo hadn’t considered those points before, and soon after decides he cares more about being free.
• Children of Time is absolutely full of these, thanks to it being a characterization-heavy series that develops Sherlock Holmes into a Darker and Edgier person, as well as touching several times upon the Doctor's past and darker side.
  • On their very first adventure together, Holmes is on his Hiatus, and the Doctor has just lost Rose Tyler and spent Christmas with Donna Noble. And when the Time War enters the equation, Holmes tries to get the Doctor to open up: "It is not my wish to distress you, my dear sir, and I am all too aware that there is a great deal more to this than you would wish to divulge. But I ask you, Doctor: how I am to aid you effectively if you will not confide in me?"
  • "What did he tell you, I wonder, of the Last Great Time War? Did he tell you of the battles he waged? ... He told you none of this, did he?"
  • "Ah, so is this truly about me, or is it about yourself, Holmes — as usual? Are we truly speaking of your concern for my well-being, or your own selfishness?"
  • Holmes later quotes this question of Moriarty's: "Of the two of us, which is truly the more reprehensible: the man who never had neither friends nor a heart, or the man who had both and sold both away in a childish desire to avoid emotional pain?"
• In chapter 30 of Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron, Tohdoh asks Suzaku if he’s told the other paladins about the death of his father. Suzaku reluctantly admits that he hasn’t, and Tohdoh warns that they’re going to find out sooner or later, which ends up happening at the end of the chapter when Mao reads Suzaku’s mind and blurts out that Suzaku had killed his father.
• Code Prime:
  • When Optimus Prime asks Suzaku about his hope to reform Britannia from within, when he decides to return to his Court Martial in the hopes of getting acquitted, Suzaku admits that he doesn’t have an answer, and can only hope that he’s right.
  Optimus Prime: You say that Britannia can change for the better; what if you go down this path... and you're wrong?
  • Airachnid loves giving these out to her enemies and her "allies" in the hopes of riling them up and taking them down.
    • When Suzaku encounters her, she asks him a number of questions that makes it blatantly clear that he’s working for the wrong side. Namely, she’s quick to point out how the other Decepticons are taking advantage of his idealism, despite his insistence that he’s doing the right thing.
    • She does this to Cornelia in the chapter Divided They Fall. Airachnid points out how her sister, Euphemia, has not involved herself in politics, nor has she involved herself in the military, unlike Cornelia. For this, she asks Cornelia why hasn’t Britannia disposed of her despite their "Survival of the Fittest" mentality. But she really gets under Cornelia’s skin when she asks what would she do if the Emperor ordered her death: Would she stand there and do nothing, like how she did nothing for Lelouch and Nunnaly when they were exiled, would she carry out the deed herself, or would she betray the Emperor to save her sister? Cornelia doesn’t take it well, and tries to lash out at her.
• Death Note Equestria: When Twilight sets up Sunny Days to die as part of a plot to clear her own name, Byuk asks Twilight what she did to deserve to die. Twilight's weak excuse causes her to face the fact that she's been killing innocents, as opposed to her original plan of just killing criminals, and she has a miniature breakdown before composing herself.
• One of Harry's children in A Discordant Note makes a comment about the planet being round, which is why they can't see Harry's tower from the Wall. The nobles' sons he's talking to insist the world can't be round or people on the other side of the world would fall off.
  Wyman: If the world isn't flat, what's keeping them on the ground?
  Havel: And what is keeping us on the ground.
• The Dragon and the Bow: In chapter 9, when Gobber asks Bertha, Astrid's mother, to talk to Astrid about getting her to stop antagonizing Merida, the latter accidently touches a nerve about the former's past, resulting in this response:
  "Ah daenae really care how ye meant it, all Ah really care aboot is this," Gobber replied darkly, "If, by some miracle Hiccup an' Merida make it through marriage without ane o' them gettin' murdered, 'at they somehow manage tae start a family taegether, are ye really goin' tae tell me at Ah'm nae goin' tae hear th' same ridicule, th' same prejudice aimed at an innocent child as Ah did all those years ago?"
  Bertha was silent, looking away from Gobber and at the ground.
  "Aye," Gobber stated after a moment, shaking his head slightly as he turned away from Bertha and began making his way back home, "Ah thought as much."
• The Force Is Not A Quirk!: In Chapter 41, after Ahsoka calls him out for letting Bakugo threaten her, Aizawa bitterly realizes that he's conformed to favoring the strong and powerful and ignoring everyone else. When Midnight protests this, he shuts her down with this question:
  Aizawa: If it had been one of the Gen Ed students coming up to Tano and claiming she was a cheat and using their Quirk next to her would you, or would you not, have put them to sleep?
  Midnight: (silence)
  Aizawa: I thought so.
• The Good Hunter:
  • During Bishop Ria and Jophiel's conversation, they later talk about how to deal with the Outside-Context Problem that is the Hunter. Ria suggests that it would be better for the Hunter to die on an errant knight's blade since the bounty placed on his head is quite high. Jophiel instead asks her, "What makes you think any knight is capable of taking that fiend down?" Ria has no answer to that.
  • The Wandering Scholar's question towards Sierra on whether she thinks that Cyril Sutherland, the man she harbours feelings for, is evil is intended to be this, being the Scholar's last question in their meeting, as well as the question appearing at the last part of his interview entry. Sierra, instead of finding herself unable to answer, gives an Armor-Piercing Response that boils down to this: you could say that Cyril's evil, but if he were truly evil, the both of them would be already dead before they know it.
• Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters:
  • When Caleb is saying that all shapeshifters are evil, Taranee asks if he's ever even met one besides Cedric or Miranda. His silence is all the answer she needs.
  • When Elyon is denying Phobos' evil by bringing up all the people he's been allowing her to heal and help with her powers, Alchemy counters by asking if she ever stopped to ask why these people needed her help in the first place. That stops Elyon cold.
• In How the Light Gets In, as in Arrow canon, Oliver returned from his five-year exile still hopelessly in love with Laurel. Here, however, she was Happily Married and heavily pregnant when he did so. Eventually he asks her what could've happened if she'd been single when he got back, only for her to flip out and ask a series of questions that make it clear why they cannot be a couple again:
  Laurel: How many other girls were there?
  Oliver: Laurel-
  Laurel: How many other girls, did you fuck while you were dating me? How many times did you drop me off at home after a date, kiss me goodnight, and then go off and stick your dick in one of our friends? You know, one of the first things I did after you and Sara... (takes a deep breath) After you and Sara, the first thing I did when I was able to drag myself out of bed was go and get tested. Now, tell me, Oliver. Was that an overreaction?
  Oliver: ...No. It wasn't.
• Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: Since the story deals with people entering the Train having to come to terms with their insecurities and mental problems, this comes up often.
  • Atticus brings one up when Chloe notes how her Yamper and Ash's Pikachu can get along.
    Chloe: He [Pikachu] and Yamper get along well...but Ash and I...we're not compatible...
    Atticus: What do you mean? If they can get along well, why can't you get along with Ash? What is he like?
    Chloe: He's...He's... not into me. He wouldn’t like me at all since Goh is essentially everything I'm not.
    (number rises from 148 back to 151)
  • When Yeardley, one of Chloe's classmates who has no idea that Chloe has run away from home, questions why Chloe's so important to him, Goh gives this:
    Yeardley: What's there to know about her? She's quiet, doesn't talk much, eats lunch by herself. Why is she so important to you anyway?
    Goh: SHE'S MY FRIEND AND YOU GUYS ONLY CARE ABOUT HER LIKING POKEMON AND HER WANTING TO BATTLE ASH AND NOT THE FACT THAT SHE'S GONE?!
  • Chapters later, after Yeardley and some of Chloe's other classmates reveal that they're envious of the privileged life they presumed she was living as the daughter of a Pokémon Professor, their teacher asks whether they really want to trade places with her.
  Miss April: So, let me repeat what you all just said to me and what I've observed. You all want to have the life of the girl who was never allowed to speak her mind, to be the girl who you all liked to call 'Klutzy Chloe' behind her back or make fun of whenever she had to read something or do an example of a math question on the whiteboard and then you want to be the girl who ran away from home because she felt like no one understood her and let her family worry about her when they found out she's gone and all of her fellow classmates don’t even care if she got injured or died?
  • When Ash hears from Trip that Goh must never know of the Infinity Train, else risking his already obsessive nature to go search for it and potentially enter it:
    Ash: How could you say such a thing?!
    Trip: How could you just sit around and not do anything when Chloe clearly didn't want anything to do with the Alola League Champion and instead just wanted someone who just cared about her?
  • On a lighter note, in their stay at the Hotel Crayola, Chloe tells Lexi and Atticus that she wishes she could just be herself (passionate in her love of the macabre, with friends, happy, cheerful):
    Lexi: Well, what's stopping you from being who you truly are?
• Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily: During Gladion and Lillie's fight over how the former had every chance to help his sister but just walked away under the pretense of getting stronger:
  Gladion: I don't have to hear any of this. I'm just glad that it's all over.
  Lillie: Glad that I'm all right, that Mother is recovering, that karma finally caught up with Faba, that Nihilego can never hurt us again or that you can stop playing pretend of being a knight in shining armor?
• When Ned Stark refuses to give his approval for Daenerys Targaryen's assassination in Joffrey from Game of Thrones Is Replaced with Octavian from Rome, Octavian in Joffrey's body asks him if he would choose his honour over his children's lives. When a furious Ned wants to know if it's a threat against his daughters:
  Octavian: No, of course not. It was a hypothetical question. What I was going to say was that if you were prepared to sacrifice your honour for the sake of your children, would it be truly honourable to be prepared to let the children of another man die for it? Countless children of countless men in this case.
• Lelouch of the Wings of Rebellion:
  • Leila/Bishop gives Lelouch one in Chapter 19 after he beats her in a chess match. As the two discuss the game, she asks him if he would sacrifice the Black Knights just as easily as he did his chess pieces if it secured him victory. Lelouch can't really offer an answer.
  • She does the same in Chapter 37 when she gets him to admit that he actually returns Shirley's feelings despite deciding to pursue a relationship with someone else. Leila should have considered the time and place a bit better because his girlfriend was not happy to hear him say that.
  • He returns the favor in Chapter 40. Lelouch asks Leila point-blank whether she's romantically interested in him after noticing that she didn't try to correct her butler from mistaking him for her boyfriend. The sudden question catches her so badly off-guard that her Luminescent Blush and pained tone of voice immediately give her away.
• The Light of Abyss: In Chapter 9, when Alador is starting to go Papa Wolf on Eda regarding Amity's safety while under her care, Eda snaps back by asking when's the last time he actually talked to her, which completely undercuts Alador's anger.
• In The Lightning Strike, when Harry and Natasha learn the price that must be paid for the Soul Stone, Harry stops Natasha's protests that she's willing to sacrifice herself by asking "What about Lily?", reminding Natasha of their unborn daughter who was one of the casualties of the Snap; if Natasha dies on Voromir Lily will also be lost, whereas if Harry dies Lily will "return" to Natasha's womb.
• Used in The Lone Traveler, frequently by—or at the direction of—the eponymous Traveler.
  • In one universe he hits Amelia Bones, director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, with a whole barrage of them.
  • Talking to Colonel Klink about the recently departed SS Major Hochstetter.
    Harry: Do you want to live in a world where that horrible little man who just left has the power of life and death over you and your loved ones? ...A world where the Gestapo and the SS are the ideal which children strive to be? Do you want to see that creature (points at picture of Hitler) achieve his dream of 'Aryan Superiority'?
  • In one chapter, Snape uses Lucius Malfoy's interest in breeding Abraxans to point out how inbreeding to keep bloodlines pure is destroying the very magical culture he wants to preserve.
  • Ron Weasley's loud antipathy towards Slytherins is entrenched canon. The Traveler (or someone operating on his advice) can shut down Ron's brain and mouth by asking him if he really hates his Gran that much, then—when confusion stalls the rant—point out that Arthur Weasley's mother was born Cedrella Black, and was, therefore, not only a Slytherin but from one of the most Slytherin families in Britain.
  • In the side story Here Comes the Marine Barty Crouch Sr. gets hit with one from Dumbledore and Arcturus Black in front of the entire Wizengamot: "Why is Sirius Black in Azkaban?"
• Lost in Camelot;
  • After Morgana learns about Merlin's magic and the reason he didn't tell her the truth earlier, he is unable to answer when she asks what he'd do if he was put in a position where he believed she would be a danger to his "destiny" with Arthur again.
  • When Morgause meets with Morgana again, she asks what Morgana would do to protect Bo from Uther's plans, prompting Morgana to affirm that she'd do "anything" without thinking about what that might be.
• In MagicTale, Louise tells Undyne to give her one reason why she shouldn't consider herself Undyne's master and Undyne her servant.
  Undyne: Asgore's a good guy, but do you think he'll be jolly to hear you tried to make yourself my master?^note Since Undyne is the captain of Asgore's guard, such an action could be considered a declaration of war
• In Lost Latte, Mashiro asks if her and Tsubasa's help meant anything to Sora, catching her off guard.
• Mirai SMP: After Cooper's death, Techno refuses to check his phone out of fear. He is taken aback when Connor asks him:
  Connor: Is it because you think your friends died?
• In the EQUESTRIA GIRLS/Transformers fanfic, More Than Meets the Ear, the former Decepticon, Blackbolt, was sent on a mission to assassinate Optimus Prime, which she failed, but he spared her life. Before leaving her, Optimus asked Blackbolt a question that caused her to have doubts about the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
  Optimus Prime: Why do you serve Megatron?
• In My Hero Academia: Hero Time, Izumi, Izuku Midoriya's younger sister, recounts a time when a bigoted old man accosted Izuku and said to him that even though he has an Omnitrix, he still lacked a quirk, and was therefore still useless.
  Izuku: I'm doing something to help people and improve society. That's far from useless. What have you done?
  (The old man gets lost in thought and eventually walks away with his head down)
• In My Little Denarians, Fluttershy does this to Fallen-possessed Rarity. She asks Demon-Rarity, despite her lightning powers, mind-control abilities, and a freaking lightsaber:
  Fluttershy: Why haven't you killed me yet?
• In Necessary to Win, there are a few, often delivered by Miho herself:
  • In Nodoka's Interlude, Miho and Nodoka discuss Nodoka's decision to try to convince her father to let her stay at Oarai if she wins the tournament. In the course of telling her story, Nodoka realizes that she has passively gone along with everything her father has asked her to do, in spite of how unhappy it has made her, until now, and Miho's question helps change that.
    Nodoka: All my life, I've been doing everything my parents have told me to do. Tankery is the one exception, but now that I think about it, while my father doesn't like it, he has never actually told me to stop.
    Miho Would you stop if he told you to do so?
    Nodoka ...no.
    Miho: I thought not. There are some things we simply must do, no matter who opposes us. I may not be the strongest-willed or bravest person in the world, but even I have realized this.
  • Just before the finals, Teru approaches Miho to ask if Saki is still on the team. Miho's question, while simple, forces Teru to ask herself why she has not talked with Saki about many things.
    Miho: Why don't you ask her yourself, Teru-san?
• In Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!, Izuku unintentionally asks Tenya one when he helps the latter in the midst of the U.A. Entrance Exam. It doubles as an Armor-Piercing Response.
  Tenya: (after Izuku flattens a robot attacking Tenya) Why were you here at all?! I was going to get up eventually, and there's no way that these machines would have done any lethal damage, yet you decided to get yourself involved!
  Izuku: Well, yeah. You looked like you were in trouble, so I just decided to help you.
  Tenya: Because I looked-are you an idiot?! We're in the middle of an exam! You can't waste time worrying about other people!
  Izuku: But isn't a Hero supposed to save as many people as they can? (flies away as Tenya looks on in Stunned Silence)
• At one point in Origin Story, Wonder Man turns to Tony Stark and asks, "Why are we hunting this girl when she's done nothing wrong?" Tony has no better answer than "Because the law requires we do so."
• Raise Yourselves Up (We're Done):
  • After managing to raise just under $6,000 for their school trip, Lila and the rest of the class attempt to brag to Marinette and Chloé about how well they did... only for the two to share a glance before Chloé asks "So you're not going to New York?" Then she asks them what their fundraising goal was:
    Alya: Goal?
    Marinette: Goal. The amount you needed to fund the entire trip to New York?
    Rose: We didn't have a goal.
    Chloé: (after a Beat) What airline are you using? How much do the tickets cost?
    (nobody answers)
    Chloé: What hotel are you staying at?
    (more silence)
    Chloé: Did you get your passports yet?
    (still silence)
    Marinette: Have you made any reservations? Any down payments?
    Chloé: Did you at least get approval from the school board to clear the trip?
    Kim: We need them to approve it? Why? It's our trip?
    Marinette: Safety and legal concerns. It takes weeks to get approved. Permission slips have to be signed and turned in. Chaperones found.
    Mylène: Miss Bustier's our chaperone.
    Marinette: Fine, but with a class this size, you need at least two more. Maybe three.
    Chloé: How were you getting to New York? What were your plans? Did you book any tours? What were you going to do in New York?
    (more silence, driving home just how little they'd considered any of these things)
  • Shortly afterwards, Alix yells that the two of them should have helped the class with their fundraising efforts. Chloé simply asks "Why?" and is met with the whole class falling silent again. Everyone present knows that the two "outcasts" had no reason to help raise money for a trip they'd been banned from attending; Alix and the rest simply don't want to admit that they screwed up.
• Shadows over Meridian:
  • When Tynar tells the Guardians and Elyon the truth about Jade/Kage, Elyon blames herself, and when the others tell her it's not her fault, Tynar disagrees to their shock. Tynar then tells them that Kage said they attacked her without letting her explain herself and asks if it's not true that Elyon acted like her brother. All the girls can do is stay silent in shame.
    "Your Highness" he started "Queen Kage mentioned that you and the Guardians attacked her first without provocation the moment she arrived at this kingdom" his gaze harden "that you don't give her even a chance to talk before almost mortally wounded her and then ship her out to a cell in the infinity city without judgment or cause" he looked directly at the queen "could you please tell me these accusations are false and that you didn't act in a way your brother would and have done in the past?"
  • When Elyon tells the Guards that she's planning to make up for her blunders and be the Queen that Meridian deserves, Erec tells her to be careful with her words and asks how much she really knows about the kingdom to know what's best for it. This question makes Elyon decide to do active research in order to become a real ruler instead of a figurehead.
  • The captured Vathek attempts to invoke this as he tries to reason with Jade in Chapter 24; while he concedes that his side has made mistakes and hurt innocents, he asks if she can call herself better while she's helping Phobos take the throne back. They get interrupted by the alarm warning about the Frostbiter attacking Vera's team, and Jade decides their conversation is deferred for now. Before leaving though, she answers Vathek's question by stating that she's aware her decision has consequences, but she has made an effort to minimize the damages by taking precautions. She then asks if he and his friends did the same when they put Elyon on the throne. As she leaves, Vathek is the one who's left with a more shaken resolve.
• In A Song of Ice, Fire and Heart, Oberyn Martell asks Catelyn Stark a series of questions pertaining to her negative view of bastards that she can't honestly answer, chief among them being "What has Jon Snow done to personally earn your ire?", "Are you afraid of Jon Snow?", and "What if Roxas was a bastard?". The last question is especially poignant because she admires and respects Roxas for his heroism, and as far as the people of Westeros know, Roxas is an orphan who never knew his parents, so the chances of him being a bastard aren't as low as Catelyn would like to believe.
• In the Marvel Cinematic Universe/Harry Potter crossover Strange Potter, when Doctor Strange first meets Snape and is informed that he acted as a spy who saved many lives, Dumbledore is left unable to respond when Strange asks him to actually name anyone saved by Snape's actions, making it clear that Snape never actually saved anyone.
• Subverted in Stories of the Lone Traveler when the Vorlons ask Harry Potter, "Who are you?" and he gives the correct answer without thinking: "I am myself."
• When Midoriya correctly guesses that Kaminari and Mineta are only becoming Heroes to pick up women in The Tick Vs My Hero Academia, he relays to them the story of Captain Celebrity (a humongous Jerkass who got into trouble because of his lecherous actions, among other issues) and caps it off by asking the duo if they want to be like him.
  Midoriya: So lemme ask you two this: In ten years, do you want to look in the mirror and see a hero that everyone adores for his actions? Or a perverted loser with three restraining orders that has to tell his neighbors that he's on a particular registry?
• When Ritsuko tries to explain in Thousand Shinji why Shinji's ideas for modifying the simulation program might be a bad idea, Shinji stops her with a single question.
  Ritsuko: Increasing the strength, speed, and durability are fairly easy, but actual learning and the mutation factor would take quite a bit of time to program. Not only that, but if we increase the durability too much then the Angel could become immune to conventional weaponry even if you neutralize its AT field.
  Shinji: And that would be unrealistic how Dr. Akagi?
• In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer/The Chronicles of Narnia crossover To the Ground Buffy basically asks one to Aslan; when she learns that he is planning to send the Pevensies back to England, she correctly deduces that this is a test of the children's faith in him and asks him to consider if he actually needs to do this. Encouraged to think about his own faith in the siblings, Aslan realises that he truly doesn't doubt them, prompting him to grant them permission to remain in Narnia if they genuinely don't want to go back to England.
• In Told That Devil to Take You Back, Dean and Castiel each deliver one to Ida Marie, the representative of the British Men of Letters ‘assigned’ to them, Dean asking how the Men of Letters can have such faith in their ability to protect Britain when a crossroads demon managed to approach Bela Talbot when she was a teenager and Castiel asking exactly how the Men of Letters justify killing psychics just because of what they are.
• Quite a lot of these in A Triangle in the Stars.
  • The first one in particular, by Steven to Bill, occurs in Chapter Seventeen. It leaves Bill almost speechless, due in part that he thought Steven wouldn't stick around to ask this:
    Steven: Then... I can only ask... why did you spare me?
  • In Chapter Forty-Four, Bill, after a quiet, self-deprecating speech, asks Steven this, which shocks the boy:
    Bill: WHY DON'T YOU WANT ME DEAD LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE?!
• In Uchiha Potter, Harry delivers an epic one to a young Gaara:
  Gaara: Existence can only be proven by being stronger and killing those stronger, their deaths make me stronger.
  Harry: Once they're all dead, what will you do then?
  Gaara: Stop... stop screwing around with my head!
  Harry: I'm not. It's a simple question. Once you're the strongest, what will you do then? How can you prove your existence if all those who had once been 'strong' are dead?
• In The Vigilante Boss and His Failed Retirement Plan: Bakugou hated Izuku for a decade because he perceived Izuku's genuine attempts to help him as looking down on him and saw having to need help as weakness. Aizawa flips the already shaken Bakugou's worldview with one question:
  Bakugou: I always get annoyed when he tried to help me... petty things like offering a hand when I fell. (bitter laughter) When I think of it now... the guy wasn’t thinking at all and I get worked up and accuse him of looking down on me.
  Aizawa: Bakugou... all heroes help people, even All Might gets help from Recovery Girl and other heroes. Does it make him weak? Or do you think heroes look down on people we protect? Is that what you think of us?
• In What the Cat Dragged In, Tony outright refuses to believe SHIELD stayed away from Ladybug and Chat Noir's civilian identities. To make him understand, Natasha asks him how old is Ladybug. When he finds himself unable to answer, she reveals both of the vigilantes use a glamour to keep the curious away.
• In White Devil of the Moon, when Luna is aghast that Nanoha has no intention of claiming her birthright as Princess of the Moon, Nanoha asks her if there is even anyone outside the room they were in that even heard of the Moon Kingdom. Only Yuuno was able to say yes, and it was always in the context of dissertations discussing Vestigial Empires that had become defunct, justifying Nanoha's decision to let the Moon Kingdom stay dead.
• In Wizard Runemaster while the group discusses the possibility of raiding Karazhan and all the horrors likely found within, Fleur Delacour brings up a question no one considered.
  Fleur: You said that the protections may be failing. What if the protections aren't one-way?

Ace Attorney

• In Dirty Sympathy, Phoenix is trying to convince Apollo that the public would trust him and Klavier for the Vera Misham and look up to them, Apollo responds with this:
  Phoenix: The public loves you both already, you know.
  Apollo: Like they used to feel about you and Miles Edgeworth?
  • When Trucy is trying to motivate Apollo into working harder for Vera Misham and trying to call out his treatment of the case.
    Trucy: It's different! You ignored Wocky because of the dumb stuff he said and that was fine. You're ignoring Vera because she's easy to ignore. And you of all people should know what that's like—
    • This nearly ends up backfiring as it nearly sends Apollo into a Heroic BSoD instead of motivating him to get his act together.

Arrow

• The Cutting Edge:
  • When Nyssa asks Laurel why she gives criminals second chances, she asks Nyssa why she gave Sara a chance. Nyssa doesn't answer but also stops asking Laurel why she believes in helping the people of her city.
  • When Helena Bertinelli objects to the idea of her joining Canary's team full-time, Laurel prompts Helena to acknowledge that she wants a life after she's dismantled her father's operation by pointing out that surviving his arrest would be the best kind of revenge.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

• In The Stalking Zuko Series, Aang gets kicked out of a meeting discussing what to do with Ozai now that his followers are planning on returning him to power after Zuko gets tired of Aang's stubborn refusal to even consider killing Ozai. As Aang begins wallowing in self-pity and complains that Zuko never listens to him, Hakoda asks him several such questions- why Aang thinks Zuko should listen to him, whether Aang thinks his opinion should matter even if he's wrong, and whether Aang's been listening to Zuko.

Batman

• Nobody Had to Die: "You're just an ordinary kid, aren't you, Oliver?"

Ben 10

• Many of the Original Characters in the Ben 10 fanfic series Hero High: Sphinx Academy which often has a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome deconstruct Ben's view of seeing himself as a comic book logic of the ways of a superhero and show that War Is Hell and Grey-and-Grey Morality. Word of God states that he did this so as to link as to why Ben is so cold in the Time Skip episode in the series.
• Dark Mirror: While at first embracing a stint of lucky coincidences while unknowingly trapped in a Lotus-Eater Machine, Ben eventually asks himself an Armor-Piercing Question when Grandpa Max and Vilgax, former friends turned bitter enemies turned very reluctant allies, happily rebuild their friendship that makes him see A Glitch in the Matrix.
  Ben couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He never thought he would ever see them become friends again. This day was incredible. What were the chances that everything would come together so perfectly?
  The smile slowly slid off his face. Really, what were the chances?

Bleach

• Hogyoku ex Machina: Ichigo has traveled back in time (to the end of the Soul Society Arc) from near the end of the Deicide Arc. Ishida is more than a little disturbed by Future/Ichigo's vehement desire to kill Aizen, wondering what happened to turn him:
  Ishida: Kurosaki. When did this become some kind of grudge match between you two?!
• A Protector's Pride: Zangetsu uses this as an indirect Quit Your Whining/Trickster Mentor question to Ichigo.
  Zangetsu: What makes a person a monster?
• In Sight, Sakanade rips Shinji a new one when Ichigo gets Shinji to talk to her for the first time in a century.
  Sakanade: You cannot hear me anymore! You can sense my presence within you but you cannot hear me! What good is a bond like that? You've completely shut me out after what happened! The Hollowfication was not my fault so why are you punishing me for it?!

Brightburn

• In A Monster's Nature, most of the time Brandon can deflect any attempt by Caitlyn (here his active girlfriend) to talk him out of killing people by focusing on the 'evidence' of his own superiority. However, the idea of Caitlyn leaving or getting killed forces Brandon to verbally confirm that she's important to him, as well as a tentative concession that not all humans are worthless to assure her that she does have value to him despite his superiority.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

• In Gray Matter's Marching Orders, Xander has chewed Buffy out for trying to feed the then-rogue Faith to Angel as part of a cure for a magical poison, saying that the truth was, Angel was a monster, and you never intentionally feed people to monsters, even the evil people. Later, Buffy tries to justify her actions to Oz, saying that it was Angel, and she'd have done anything to save him because she loved him. Oz thinks about it for a minute, points Willow out to Buffy, and asks the question that stops Buffy cold: "What if it was witch's blood that was the cure and not slayer blood?"
• In We Can Be Heroes, Dawn Summers asks Buffy, Willow, and Faith a series of questions about Xander and Cordelia after seeing a Birds of Prey poster that appears to have Cordelia on it. Eventually, the trio realizes that the only information they have about the two is that they live in New Mexico; not the city, not if they have kids, where they work, anything.

The Chronicles of Narnia

• Across the Worlds sees Susan and a group of allies, including scientist Elias, travel across various alternate worlds to oppose the Great Darkness, an entity seeking to create a "perfect" world even if that means the loss of free will. One reality they encounter is a world controlled by Marcos, a former colleague of Elias who believed that humanity could only achieve perfection if they were controlled by a "superior mind" such as himself. Marcos attempts to prove this by putting Elias in a position where he instinctively killed an innocent woman in self-defence, but as Marcos talks about how his world has reached a state of perfection even at the cost of thousands of lives, Elias challenges Marcos to prove his claim that he can stop his own evil by killing himself. As Elias observes, Marcos's world can't need him if he was able to spend the last few hours talking with Elias, so either he is a perfect god who can step aside now that he is no longer needed or he is a flawed being who has created a flawed system. Marcos attempts to proclaim that he is a god, but this essentially gives Elias "permission" to kill him.

Code Geass

• In Code Geass: Cornelia of the Defection, Schneizel asks Lelouch if he's talked to Nunnally at all about his revolution, causing Lelouch to backpedal, realizing things are all for naught if he doesn't have Nunnally's approval.
• In Code Geass: The Prepared Rebellion, right before Cornelia and Euphemia are about to basically order a nationwide search for Lelouch and Nunnally after Jeremiah showed them sufficiently solid evidence of their half-siblings' possible survival, Lloyd Asplund asked them "What if Prince Lelouch has no desire to be found?" This makes them realize that, if Lelouch and Nunnally are indeed alive, the fact Lelouch never tried to contact the Royal Family most likely indicates he's actively hiding from them — and given who their father is, it wasn't hard for them to guess the reason — meaning that any overt attempt to look for them would only push Lelouch to go deeper underground.
• Lelouch as Zero asks Kallen several questions in God's Gambit to make her realize more than the Japanese despise Britannia.
  Zero: How many people attending Ashford Academy would like revenge on Britannia for wrongs done to them?
  Kallen: Only me. There is no one els-
  Zero: You're not that special. In fact, I could name at least three lives at that school that were destroyed by Britannia. Not to mention, you have to wonder how many have fond memories of a time where they were friends with Japanese children their own age, as twenty-eight of them were here before Britannia invaded.
  Kallen: That's not true. I would know if anyone there wanted to fight.
  Zero: Like they know you do?
  Kallen: Of course not. I can't let them find out or else...
• At Zero's urging, Kallen in The Whiskey Revolution asks the Black Knight the one question they should've asked themselves before trying to execute him.
  Kallen: If Lelouch was controlling all of you Geass, how are you capable of betraying him and working with his brother to perform this coup? (Beat) God he's right, you're all fucking idiots.

Danganronpa

• In Danganronpa: Last Hurrah, Nao hears that the second killer sought to be recognized by his parents, having lived in his older brother's shadow until then. Nao then asks a series of questions about whether the killer's parents abused him, all of which get a no answer. He then caps off a "The Reason You Suck" Speech with the following question.
  Nao: If your parents found out you killed an innocent little girl, do you think they will be proud of you?
• Hope on a Distant Mountain: Naegi has a natural knack for this. It helps that he's got extra insight on his classmates from his experiences in the Unwinnable Training Simulation, though the way they were portrayed there wasn't always accurate.
• I'd Trade My Life For Yours: Kaito gets one against Kaede late in the game, when she insists that they need to hold a trial and see Maki executed for what she did.
  Kaito: Akamatsu... haven't you killed enough people already?
• New Hope University: Major In Murder:
  • After the first trial ends, Lucina confronts Saya, the protagonist, about how Saya withheld important evidence from her classmates, and by pretending to get things wrong, convinced others that they'd come up with the ideas that she was trying to guide them towards. Lucina then asks Saya the following question.
    I appreciate and respect how you were able to figure it all out. But you enjoyed it, didn't you?
  • Late in the fifth trial, Saya has a private discussion with the culprit, Lucina, again, who is fully willing to confess to the murder. The culprit compares the reasons behind the killing to those of the second killer (namely that both of them killed for the person they love). Saya vigorously denies that the fifth culprit is anything like the second, and starts to say how JP Laettner was different before one two-word question from the culprit leaves Saya at a loss for words.
    A murderer?
• In System Restore, Sonia tries to call out Togami for being willing to sacrifice himself but gets this in response. It becomes somewhat Harsher in Hindsight later on, when Sonia murders Pekoyama to prevent Koizumi's death and, in the revised version, mentions that she wants to get home to her people.
  Sonia: This cannot be sensible in any situation!
  Togami: Any situation? I’m surprised you’re reacting this way, Sonia Nevermind. As the princess of Novoselic, I would think that you, more than anyone, would understand. Under the right circumstances, wouldn’t you be willing to die for one of your people?
• In Three-Point Shot, after the second trial, it turns out that Kokichi, by giving Tenko and Kiyo each other's motive videos, is indirectly responsible for the murder. In response, he asks the following question.
  Kokichi: Tell me, are any of you honestly upset that Shinguuji-chan is dead? And I don't mean generally upset that a person is dead at all, I mean him specifically.

Death Note

• In Alternative Gods, a Cyberpunk AU, Light and L have an arrangement where L is killing criminals for him, but L does not really approve and is trying to get Light to reconsider:
  L: How does Light-kun feel about death? Death, Light-kun. What is it like to die?
  Light: I don't know, I haven't died yet.
  L: This is a lie.
  Light: (laughing) So I'm dead?
  L: Mostly, yes.
  Light: Really?
  L: Let me ask it another way then, is Light-kun a God?
  Light: Yes, I am a God.
  L: But before you became a God, you were just a man. As a man, you have died, and now you are a God. So I am asking Light-kun what it is like to die.
• In Death Note Chaotic, a What If? Fic, Calikarcha is trying to persuade Teru Mikami to kill Kira and asks him a series of questions to accomplish this.
  Calikarcha: Are you loyal to Kira, the man, or to the world he is trying to build?

Disgaea

• Tyrantly Ever After:
  • Hugo hits Artina with three in a row after she asks him three questions of her own:
    Hugo: And the third... I feel I should be the one asking you that. Were you not one of God's most devoted servants as a human? Why are you now questioning a system you have previously had so much faith in?
    Artina: (freezes, silently stunned by the reminder)
    Hugo: Do you not have that faith anymore, Artina?
  • Emizel blindsides Fenrich with one after learning about how he's acting as a go-between for Valvatorez and Artina while things are awkward:
    Fenrich: Just while they avoid one another, until these matters are figured out.
    Emizel: How are they going to figure them out if they’re avoiding one another though?
• Wolf in the Streets, Sardine in the Sheets:
  • During their first meeting, Artina hits Valvatorez with two of these in rapid succession:
    Valvatorez: Because I'm the Street Tyrant Valvatorez! That's who I am!
    Artina: And who are you if you stop being the 'Street Tyrant'?
    Valvatorez: (comes to a shuddering stop, taking some time to respond) ...Valvatorez?
    Artina: Don't you know who that is?
  • When Etna dismissively describes herself as 'just some street kid' that only King Krichevskoy saw any value in, Valvatorez galvanizes her by asking whether she wants to prove everybody who dismissed her right.
  • When Killia vows to make Void pay for the pain they caused for Goldion, Lieze and Christo, Valvatorez comments "And to you?"

Digimon

• Ryo from the Tamers Forever Series often uses friendly versions of these against Rika to covertly tease her about her relationship with Takato.
  • Chaos is on the receiving end of several from Takato and Ruki.

Doctor Who

• In Don't Blink, the Doctor is wrongly suspected of murdering a man at one point. He briefly freezes up during an interrogation by a police officer when the officer asks him out of the blue "Are you a killer?", as the question causes him to flash back to his actions during the Time War.
• Rite of Passage is an alternate 'origin' storyline for the Thirteenth Doctor, written when all that was known was the first trailer. During this fic, the Doctor encounters Elton Pope ("Love and Monsters"), now working for a group tracking the Doctor in the belief that she is "dangerous", but the Doctor is able to arrange for UNIT to capture the entire group. When Elton attempts to protest that he joined the group to sabotage it and he has the right to be her new companion, the Doctor cuts him off by asking for the last name of Ursula, his former lover, shaming Elton into acknowledging that he doesn't care enough about people to be a good fit for life with the Doctor.

Doki Doki Pretty Cure

• In A Diamond Under Pressure Sharuru asks Raquel if he's really content wearing tight and uncomfortable clothes. This gets him to admit his father made him.

Dragon Ball

• In Legend of the Monkey God, when Goku hears Bulma's plan to wish for the perfect boyfriend, he pokes several holes in her idea, including that it seems wasteful to use a magic wish on something you can get yourself. His final question is what truly stops her when he asks:
  Goku: I mean, even if the dragon grants your wish... what if he doesn't like you back?

The Familiar of Zero

• In Enslaved, Derflinger reveals what the Familiar runes are doing to Saito by asking him a series of questions about his life back in Tokyo. When Saito can't answer a single question, not even his parents' names, he learns that the runes are changing him to accept his new life.
  • Given that Derflinger later asks Saito and Louise more, it seems to be a specialty of his.
• Saito deliberately asks Louise one in Soldier of Zero:
  Saito: If I'm going to act in your interests I first have to know what they are. What do you want? What are your goals? What fate do you want to avoid?

Fate Series

• Fate/Harem Antics: Shirou Emiya declares he wants to end the Holy Grail War without any bloodshed. Bazett asks him how he plans to do that and satisfy all the Masters and Servants who want a wish that they can only get by killing everyone else. When Shirou can't answer, she berates him for his half-assed resolve.

Fire Emblem

• Corrin Reacts: Felicia asks one of these that directly forces Flora to quit ignoring the question of her burgeoning feelings for Corrin.
  Felicia: .....what do you see in Jakob of all people?
  Flora: He became my friend when nobody else was, helped me even when I hurt him and even when I wasn't worth it. He makes my life worth living, because I know that if I keep on living, I'll get to see him again, even if I can't stand with him like Azura can. He's...
• In Chapter 7 of An Eagle Among Lions, Edelgard and Dimitri discuss the difference in inheritance rules between Adrestia and Faerghus, with Edelgard telling Dimitri that she'd still be ineligible to inherit the throne if she lived in Faerghus since one of her older brothers has the same Crest of Seiros that she bears. When Dimitri tells Edelgard that those in Faerghus with Crests have a responsibility to be the swords and shields for those who cannot protect themselves, she objects to the idea that leaders are meant to be tools and vessels for others, and asks him two questions about what he sees in his future that shock even her:
  Dimitri: In Faerghus, those with Crests have a noble and sacred duty to be the blades and shields with which the kingdom protects its people. We are weapons and vessels for the greater good…
  Edelgard: (coldly) Is that what you believe, Dimitri? Do you have any hopes and dreams of your own, or are you resigned to being only someone else’s tool?
  Dimitri: I… suppose… (pause) I have not had dreams in a long time, Edelgard.
  Edelgard: If you're a sword, then whose hand grasps your hilt?

Frozen (2013)

• In Frozen Hearts (Sakume), when Hans' brother Heins is talking with Kristoff, who doesn't trust Hans because of what he did, he (Heins) asks this question about Hans. The person being asked the question is forced to admit to never having officially met Hans and becomes slightly more receptive to what Heins has to say about him.
  Heins: ...how long have you known him?

Fullmetal Alchemist

• In build your wings on the way down, Edward asks Roy if the military knew about Tucker using his wife to make a chimera and would he even go to jail.
  Mustang: Of course we didn't know. That's disgusting.
  Edward: I believe that you didn't know but are you sure the military didn't?
• When Edward in My Master Ed explains what Roshan was doing when he took some of Van's blood for an experiment.
  Edward: You respected Roshan even after what he did to you?
  Van: Um...well, yes...
  Edward: How can you?
  Van: It wasn't a big deal...Just a cut.
  Edward: He hurt you for a selfish reason and didn't ask you for permission.
  Van: Permission? He was my Master.
  Edward: See? This is exactly what I'm talking about! Such blind obedience. Do you truly believe he had any right to do that to you, Van? Do you really think that you deserve such treatment? That anyone does? Do you think people should treat each other like objects?

Girls und Panzer

• In Boys Do Tankary, Vincent does this to Maho, although he and the author don't seem to understand that Maho is pretending to be a jerk and is striving to be a perfect heiress for Miho's sake.
  Vincent: Is it true that you have failed to see what is most important to you?
  Maho: No.
  Vincent: Then why have you pushed your sister so far away? You know nothing about true family.
• In Steel Carnage, Asuka gives Momo a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Momo regarding her poor aiming skills (and to a degree, everyone else for not helping her improve), resulting in Miho and some of her teammates stepping up to defend her. Asuka asks Miho if she has faith in Momo, and when Miho says yes, Asuka asks whether Momo was on the gun during the match of the tournament. Given that Anzu had taken over the gun on the Hetzer at the midpoint of the previous battle, Miho is unable to respond and later concedes that as harsh as Asuka is, she is correct.

God of War

• In The day I leave, as Heimdall is singing Odin's praises in an attempt to sway Atreus to the Aesir's side, Atreus asks why, if Odin is so great, he never tried to help Baldur's condition. Heimdall, who has never so much as thought about this, is left shaken. As the end of chapter author's notes put it:
  Heimdall: Ask me any questions about Asgard and the all-father
  Atreus: Okay, if the all-father is so great, why doesn't he help Baldur?
  Heimdall: Brain throwing up the blue screen of death

Godzilla

• Abraxas (Hrodvitnon):
  • After Mariko fills in the gaps in Vivienne Graham's knowledge of the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) after she was killed, including Mariko's own reasoning for releasing Behemoth at Outpost 58, Vivienne chides Mariko for getting her colleagues killed, and she renders Mariko silent with this question:
    Do you... even care?
  • Then in Chapter 6, Vivienne gets right under Alan Jonah's skin by asking him this about the death of the one human being he might have cared about:
    Did Ash know you let him die?
  • When Vivienne is in a panicked state in Chapter 15 and wants to join the fight but is in no fit mental state for it, Godzilla gets her to stop and calm down by asking her this question about her current state:
    WHAT CAN YOU DO BEYOND FRIGHTENING MANDA?
• Abraxas Recursive Fanfiction "Shi AU" notes:
  • Vivienne, after being assimilated as Ghidorah's fourth head and being told by San that Ichi (the middle head) is their leader, asks San a question which renders the latter silent, and later comes back to San when he joins Vivienne in rebelling against Ichi and Ni:
  "But what if he [Ichi] wants to go somewhere you don’t want to go?"
  • When Mark Russell is urging Serizawa to make the call to speed up Godzilla's healing in order to stop King Ghidorah's apocalyptic rampage, Serizawa, still overwhelmed by the realization that Ghidorah's new fourth head is actually Vivienne, loses his temper and snaps at Mark, "If it was Madison in there, would you be so eager, Mark?!" Mark is rendered silent and can't answer with a yes at all.

Harry Potter

• In Disrespect Authority, Harry unwittingly delivers one to Snape when criticising how Snape has hated Harry on the basis that Harry is like his father when Harry asks if Snape is anything like his father.
• In Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, the Sorting Hat tries to deliver one to Harry: "What happens if you fail?" But even though it goes on to spell out the answer, Harry still refuses to hear it.
• In Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin, Harry's unusual intelligence and maturity just seem to be an example of the OP Harry common in Slytherin!Harry fics until Chapter 69, when Luna points out that regardless of how smart he was, Harry simply never would have had the chance to develop an adult vocabulary while living with the Dursleys. "For someone who was actively prevented from getting a good primary education, you know lots of things. Do you know how you know them?" It’s Harry's first clue as to the existence of Bob.
• In Hermione Granger and the Goblet of Fire, Professor McGonagall observes a crucial flaw in Hermione's desire to create S.P.E.W.; she set out to reform the wizarding world's treatment of house-elves after witnessing exactly two house-elves being poorly treated by their masters, which is far from a sufficient number to form such a judgement about the entire species.
  McGonagall: “Miss Granger, while not wishing to deflect your crusading zeal, may I enquire on what basis you made your judgements?”
  Hermione: Well, there was Dobby, of course, Then there was Winky - Mister Crouch’s house-elf. Oh, she was such a sad case…
  [...]
  McGonagall: Two elves? You based your attack on the Ministry - no, on wizarding society - on a statistical basis of two elves!
• An accidental one occurs in Hitting the Tomes when Harry Potter and some others make their own newspaper. Remus suggests Harry write a human interest piece and asks what his passion is. After several minutes, the best Harry can come up with is that he's passionate about staying alive, before realizing he doesn't really have a life or hobbies beyond fighting Voldemort.
• In The Lightsaber, Cornelius Fudge orders several Aurors to arrest Harry for using Sorcery (which is very, very illegal). While the Aurors try to incapacitate him in the middle of Hogwarts, Harry calls them out for using such dangerous spells around innocent bystanders, causing a couple of Aurors to lower their wands.
  Harry: You really are reckless law enforcers. Using so many spells where so many innocent bystanders are in danger of being hit. What would happen if I didn't try to protect them from your stupidity?
• Harry asks one accidentally in Petrification Proliferation after Remus is outed as a werewolf in St. Mungo's when he asks why everyone is so worried if the full moon is over a week away.
• In Play to Your Strengths Harry uses knockout gas on the dragon in the First Task and Ron and Hermione accuse him of cheating by using Muggle methods.
  Hermione: This is a magical tournament and therefore you should only use magic to win.
  Harry: So I should pretend to be something that I'm not. I should pretend not to be Harry Potter, half-blood raised in the Muggle world. Tell me Hermione do you pretend that you don't have two Muggle parents who are dentists, who love you very much? Do you do that in order to fit in among people who would look down on them because they're Muggles?
• The Power of Seven sees Hermione find a way to purge the horcrux from Harry without killing him if he forms a soul bond with seven witches. Since this involves him forming a romantic relationship with the aforementioned witches, Ginny anticipates that her mother may accuse her of being a scarlet woman and cuts off such accusation by explicitly asking Molly if she wants Harry to die just because she disapproves of his sex life.
• The Rigel Black Chronicles: After "Rigel" is outed as a half-blood and flees from Hogwarts, Pansy finds Draco pointlessly moping around and thinking in circles.
  Draco: You weren't there, Pansy. I caught him erasing traces of himself in our dorm room. You didn't hear what he said—
  Pansy: Forget what he said. Honestly, Draco. You find out your best friend has lied to you for four years and then you decide to believe everything he says? Is Rigel Black a liar, or is he not?

Infinity Train

• Infinity Train FANFIC: After One-One reveals that he's been more-or-less Obfuscating Stupidity, he muses that his goal on the train is the same as Tulip's; he's Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life. When Tulip rejects One-One's claim that she's subconsciously searching for a purpose rather than truly trying to leave the train, the robot points out that there are several methods of escape that she's never once attempted, ending with the below line.
  One-One: Just ask yourself this Tulip. Is it really the truth that you couldn't get off the train... or is it more like you wouldn't?

Invader Zim

• Invader Zim: A Bad Thing Never Ends: In Chapter 17, when Tak once again gloats about being superior to Zim, Lex questions why if that's the case that she constantly feels the need to prove it, which stops her short for a moment before she angrily shakes it off.

Jackie Chan Adventures

• Ages of Shadow:
  • During Trace's Final Battle with Jade/Yade Khan, all the Sun Souls side with him, except for Brenner. That is, until Trace asks him if his Lost Lenore (whose death drove him down the path that led to allying with Jade) would have wanted this. Realizing that she wouldn't have, he turns on Jade and helps Trace beat her.
  • Trapped in a Lotus-Eater Machine by Drago, Jade's subconscious tries to wake her up by manifesting as Jackie and trying to point out all the things wrong with it. While Jade starts to believe him, she still hesitates, until he asks her what her child's name is, and she realizes that she doesn't know it.
• The Ultimate Evil:
  • When Shendu gives Valerie a threat about what will happen if she chooses another man over him in the 23rd chapter, she throws him for a loop by asking if that's what happened between him and Lo Mei.
  • During the Demon World arc, Jade gives one to the rewritten world's version of Valerie about Shendu's oppression of humanity by asking if it's enough for Val to try and convince Shendu to ease off while they're married. All she gets in response is silence.
  • Shendu receives in the sequel from Valerie a question that renders him responseless when he says that his actions with the rewritten reality were motivated by his love for her.
    Valerie: If you love someone, you're supposed to care about them, about their feelings. You're supposed to trust one another, be happy with and for one another. It's not a selfish game of possession. Love is selfless. About giving up everything about yourself to see someone else happy. How could you understand that?
  • When Nat demands Valerie to stop trying to familiarize with her Other powers, the blonde asks if the demon slayer will kill her if she doesn't obey. The suggestion of killing her friend horrifies Nat.

Katawa Shoujo

• In Weekend at Hisao's, Hisao is having a phone conversation with Misha about a fight that he had had with Shizune earlier that day because he refused to go over to a party that his friends at his old school were planning that night, because Iwanako, the girl he confessed to, was going to be there. He explains that the reason he did not want to go was that he could not stand to be pitied by his old friends like he was after he had his heart attack, and he recalled them looking at him and Shizune with what seemed like pity. Misha responds with two of these questions:
  Misha: Why didn't you tell any of your friends that you were going to be in town? Are you ashamed of Shicchan?

Kim Possible

• Other Side of the Mirror brings Kim and Ron's evil doubles into this reality, followed by their enemy Doctor Andrew Lipsky, who attempts to help Kim and Ron stop their counterparts. When he ends up facing Drakken and Shego as Kim and Ron fight their other selves, he is ultimately able to convince Shego to help him stop Kim and Ron by revealing that her counterpart in the other world has a daughter, the revelation of her counterpart's child prompting Shego to help Andrew stop the evil Kim and Ron.

The Legend of Zelda

• In Tales of Termina, the Moon Children dig deeper and deeper into Link's fractured psyche with personal questions and by the end, Link is in horrified tears.
  Moon Child: Your true face...What kind of...face is it? I wonder...The face under the mask...Is that...your true face?

Love Hina

• An Alternate Keitaro Urashima:
  • When the Hinata Girls are trying to convince Keitaro to come run the Inn, Keitaro asks Shinobu if she thinks it's right to force somebody to do something against their will. Though he extends this question to the rest of them afterwards, Shinobu is the only one seriously shaken by it, leading to her Character Development.
  • Earlier on, the girls suggest beating up Keitaro if he tries to kick them out of the inn. When Shinobu asks if they'd do the same if it was a woman who was kicking them out, all of them fall silent.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

• In born of hell('s kitchen):
  • When Malcolm confesses his personal life is an utter mess, Jessica asks him a very simple question: "What do you want?" Malcolm outright bites his tongue when he almost blurts he wants Jessica.
  • Also, Trish is outraged to learn Jessica found the baby who was taken from her seven years ago yet didn't bother to inform Trish about the fact. When Jessica fires back her reasoning for not doing it so, Trish is noticeably shifty and tries to avoid a direct answer:
    Trish: So-so you got him back and you were just never going to let me see him? You were just going to hide him from me and let me think I'd lost my nephew forever?
    Jessica: You lost any right to call yourself his aunt when you're the reason his grandmother is dead. Who knows? You might decide that his mother is dangerous one day, too. Gonna shoot me in front of him, Trish?
    Trish: She was dangerous! She was hurting people and she was your mother! You couldn't see how dangerous she was!
    Jessica: YOU SHOT HER IN FRONT OF ME! She was gonna turn herself in. She wanted to have one last good day with me before they locked her in the Raft for the rest of her life and then you came, high on that self-righteous attitude, because Trish always knows what's best, and Murdered. Her. In. Front. Of. Me!!
    Trish: I...
    Jessica: What's gonna happen if you decide that I'm dangerous too, huh, Trish? You gonna shoot me in front of my son?
    Trish: That's different. You're-Jessica, you're you. You wouldn't hurt somebody. You're not a killer, Jess.
    Jessica: Oh, well we both know that's a lie.
• In Dream a Little Dream Of Me, Wanda basically asks herself such a question when she realises that the Darkhold tried to stop her realising that the alternate Wanda she was watching in her dreams had help from the version of Peter Parker that existed in her world at a crucial moment. When Wanda realises that the Darkhold deliberately stopped her from realising that there was more to her other self's life than her children, she starts wondering why the Darkhold "hid" that fact from her, and starts to acknowledge that it's possible for her to have a life in this universe as becoming Peter's friend is something that is still possible in this reality rather than something only possible if she travels to another world.
• In The Endgame Protocol, Nick Fury shuts up the rants of the just-captured Quentin Beck by forcing him to face the major flaw in his plan to make himself a hero; even if Beck had succeeded in becoming an Avenger, the first time he faced a true threat, rather than one he created himself, he would have been completely destroyed because he would have had no way to cope with a genuine enemy.
• If I Could Start Again;
  • Odin's quiet response to Loki's ranting about why he and Frigga would adopt "an unwanted wretch like him" stops Loki cold.
    Odin: Do you think the love of a parent is something one must earn? Have I failed all of my children?
  • Darcy asks multiple to Fandral when his hatred for the Jotun colors his perception of Loki. It's enough that he's left in stunned silence when she finishes asking him.
    Darcy: Just tell me this. Have you met any Jotnar besides Loki?
    Fandral: Of course not.
    Darcy: Uh-huh. And... how much has Asgard interacted with Jotunheim in your lifetime?
    Fandral: It hasn't.
    Darcy: Okay then. Are you really going to let this stuff dictate what a guy you grew up with should be like? Does any of it weigh more than the centuries of first-hand knowledge you have about him being kind of an asshole but reliable when it counts? Like are you really that shitty of a friend?
  • When Loki demonstrates his magic for Tony, he naturally gets very excited and begins asking questions about how it works, such as whether or not the laws of conservation of mass still apply. It's the exact last response that Loki was expecting, largely because it makes him realize that, in spite of how many magical skills he's mastered and spells he's created, he's never once wondered how it actually works.

Marvel Universe (non-MCU)

• A Crooked Man: Subverted. Quentin Quire tried to provoke Johann by asking why he didn't bother resurrecting the mutants killed in William Stryker's attack after having resurrected Genosha's population. Johann nonchalantly reply that he can bring them back right now and he didn't have the chance then because no one asked him to.
• A Prize for Three Empires:
  • It happens when Carol Danvers questions Iva Kann’s reasons for fighting her to death.
    "Have you ever questioned Ronan, or his superiors? Have you ever asked yourself if they had your best interests in mind?"
    "I have asked questions of Lord Ronan when things were unclear to me," she said. "As for having my best interests in mind, I repeat: I enjoy my present status in society because of obeying his orders."
    "So far," said Carol. "But what happens when they feel you’re just another piece of meat to throw to the dogs?"
    Iva now definitely looked confused, and somewhat angry. "Explain yourself."
    "Look at it this way. They’ve probably thrown a lot of sparring partners at you, just to see how fast and how well you could kill them. Correct?"
    "Substantially, yes," said Iva.
    "Now they’re matching you against me, just for the pleasure of the big boys," Carol continued. "Just for the pleasure of seeing me killed. Isn’t that right?"
    "The basic idea of it is correct," Iva agreed.
    "This has all been done to make you into the perfect fighting machine. Would you agree with that?"
    Iva looked as though she were being drawn into a trap, but couldn’t bring herself to avoid it. "Not in those precise words, but the gist of it is valid."
    "So what happens when they want an even more perfect fighting machine, and throw you to her as a sacrifice?"
    Iva’s jaw was open. No sound came out.
    "The Kree are very functionalistic," said Carol. "You’re only good to them until they can get somebody better. Once they do, or they think they do, they’ll see you as nothing but meat for the grinder. And somebody else will be using you as a hamburger."
    She doubted that Iva knew exactly what a hamburger was. But she got the meaning of it. Iva was furious. For some reason, that heartened Carol.
    "In the arena, you will beg me for your destruction," hissed the blue woman. "That is when your agonies will only have started."
  • Carol gets one from her mother which makes her consider she judged her ex-teammates too harshly.
    Carol reached out for her mother. Marie pushed her hands away. "No, you don't. You're not hugging me until I'm finished. And I've got a lot more to say yet."
    "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Avengers are made up of the dumbest, most cowardly people on the face of the Earth. Am I right? I think I am. They maybe should have known what was going on with you and Marcus. But they didn't. Maybe they couldn't. All they saw was you, acting like you wanted to go with him, and you did. That's the information they had to go on. Honestly, Carol, do you think they would knowingly have let you go off with a rapist?"
    "No," said Carol, snuffling.
    "Well, then," she said. "We have established that they were dumb, yes, or maybe just deceived. But not malicious. Can we agree on that?"
    "I didn't say they did it deliberately," Carol said. "I just said they should have known."
    "Maybe they couldn't have, Carol," said Marie. "If they didn't know you were being controlled, how could they have known?"
    Silence.
• No One Breaks My Heart Like You: When Barbara can tell that Mary Jane is unhappy in her marriage to Peter, Mary Jane tries to assure her that they're just going through a rough patch. Barbara is not fooled, and Mary Jane admits her marriage troubles to her. While Barbara agrees that Peter's not a bad man, she asks Mary Jane if either of them is happy.
• In The Spider, Peter prevents Otto Octavius from becoming Doc Ock by asking about his experiment's safety features, causing Octavius to recalibrate his experiment beforehand and preventing the catastrophic failure that killed his wife.
  Peter: Did you account for the increase in the sun causing an exponential increase in magnetic disturbance?
  Otto: Excuse me?
  Peter: Well you are going to increase the size of the sun right? Then won't the magnetic attacks against the shields also increase in size? Would the shields be able to handle the sudden stress?

Mass Effect

• On the Shoulders of Giants: "What exactly is a soul, and what is it good for?" Not as Earth-shaking as some of the examples on this page, but philosophers and religious leaders the world over still don't have a difinitive answer to it.

Miraculous Ladybug

• In Back To Us, Chat Noir/Adrien gets a couple of these, though it takes a while for either of them to really take effect.
  • When Chat talks with Marinette while she's patching him up in the middle of the Bari-Star attack, he tries to justify his approach by claiming that akuma victims have something inherently dark in them that draws Hawk Moth to them:
    Marinette: ...Seven years ago, my best friend was akumatized. Hawk Moth took advantage of her when she was at her lowest point, and I knew that. Even afterwards, not once did I hold it against her. She's such a spirited and compassionate person, always concerned with truth and justice... and if it weren't for her, I honestly don't think I'd be the person I am today. Are you telling me someone like that deserves to die just because a supervillain used her for his own schemes, once upon a time?
    Chat: ...Is she really so great, if she was willing to go along with the schemes of a supervillain?
    Marinette: She was feeling trapped. She was in a moment of weakness, with nothing and no one to turn to. And then someone came along and offered her power beyond her wildest dreams, the power to change her life. Are you really so arrogant that you can claim you wouldn't jump at such a chance immediately? (Grabs his hand and holds it up to his face) How can you sit there and judge anyone for wanting the power to change their life with this ring on your finger?
  • Later, Ivan brings up the same point in a therapy session with Adrien, when he admits that Chat Noir scares him:
    Ivan: I don't know what happened to change him... but the guy saved my life, once. I thought he was the coolest guy ever. But now, how do I know that he wouldn't rip right through me if he saw me on the street? Or... Or what if Mylene ran into him in a dark alleyway? What if, instead of us, he only saw the akuma we once were?
  • Adrien is torn between thinking "I would never do that!" and "Once an akuma, always an akuma," and he immediately recognises his hypocrisy. The above conversation then comes back to him, with Marinette's question being described as a seed of doubt that's taking root despite him trying to dig it out.
• From Bring Me Back Home:
  Bridgette: You knew about Cat's curse the whole time and didn't tell me?
  Rikki: It wasn't my place, Bridgette.
  Bridgette: Yes, it was! You knew what I was going through. If I had known, Rikki-
  Rikki: If you had known, would you truly have done anything differently?
  She began to snarl a response, but was caught – lurching back and pausing. Because the truth was… if she had known – they may never have even considered each other as partners. She may have been stubborn enough to refuse him, without understanding the cost of what she was doing.
  And if she were being honest with herself – even after all they'd gone through, she would never have wanted to turn back and erase their friendship. As false as it may have been – as much as her heart had been shattered that day, no part of her regretted the days when they fought for each other and for Paris.
  Bridgette deflated, conceding the point.
• Cat Out of the Bag: Plagg gets hit with several of these in rapid succession:
  • First, Luka recognizes that he's accusing Marinette of cheating on Chat Noir by relying upon other heroes, and asks him if that's why Adrien chose not to show up to the fight. Plagg then attempts to talk his way out of it, but reveals too much:
    Plagg: I tried! I told him to prove that he was the best—
    Marinette: So you're saying he had to be convinced?
    Luka: You think she was excluding Chat on purpose?
  • Luka then asks Marinette if Plagg already knew her Secret Identity. When she confirms that, he points out that Plagg could have brought his concerns to her at any time, yet never bothered to do so. Plagg's response to this is to hiss angrily, recognizing that he's been cornered.
• In Cheshire, when Trixx tries to convince Marinette to meet Master Fu - who attacked her the moment they met and is selecting holders to beat her and retrieve her Miraculous - to resolve the situation, she replies:
  Marinette: How would I resolve the situation with someone who believes the cat to be nothing but evil?
• ChaoticNeutral's Confrontation revolves around Adrien and Marinette calling out Alya and Nino's efforts to push them together during the class trip to New York. Alya insists that Mari needed to be pushed into confessing, but is caught off guard when Adrien asks why she couldn't have just told him herself if it mattered so much.
  Adrien: If she couldn't tell me and you two weren't going to tell me, then WHY BOTHER WITH THIS AT ALL?! What was all of THIS supposed to accomplish that simply telling me yourselves wouldn't?
  Alya: We... I was just trying to help.
  Adrien: If you wanted to help, you would LISTEN to your best friend when she tells you what she wants! She just said she wanted to move on! She wanted to NOT have to confess! She wanted to just try and be friends! And yeah, I'm shocked and a little frustrated that I never caught on to any of her feelings before now, but that's because I'm a teenage boy who's new to feelings and I didn't know about hers! (glaring at Alya) What's your excuse?
• Feralnette AU:
  • In Enough Rope, Marinette counters Hawkmoth's Breaking Speech by laughing at his assertation that she's friendless and asking what happened to Mayura, his Only Friend.
    Marinette: Calling me friendless, what a joke! Where's Mayura, Hawkmoth?! Where's your only friend in the whole world? Did you think nobody would notice how sick Mayura was? How weak? How frail? Supposedly I'm the friendless one, but I'm not the one destroying my loved ones. God, but I bet you didn't even care about her! She was so sick! Is what you're doing really worth it?!
  • Felix's calling out of Alya for her treatment of Ladybug and everyone else around her culminates in him asking her something that strikes her silent:
    Felix: If you've hurt her using her own personhood, hell, if you've hurt her on any aspect, it is not your call to prove her wrong. It's your job to apologize and promise to do better. It's your job to admit that YOU were wrong.
    Alya: ...even if she was wrong?
    Felix: Alya, we're not friends, but— would you treat anyone else like how you treat her?
  • Played for Laughs when Lila keeps pestering Marinette to reveal what Felix does after school:
    Marinette: Pfft, do you actually think that any harmless information should be open to the public?
    Lila: Obviously! Only guilty people hide things! I bet Felix isn't really in a club and he's in some shady gang.
    Marinette: Hey, Lila, when did you last have your period?
    Lila: (after gaping at her in Stunned Silence) Why would you need to know something like that?!
    Marinette: Why not? It's harmless information. Why, are you hiding something, Lila?
  • While trying to help find a club for Lila to enroll in, Rose learns about Felix being in a ballet troupe. Felix, Kagami and Marinette all ask Rose not to let Lila know about this, as she has been harassing them, even threatening to blackmail Felix with their own gender identity. The moment Marinette and Kagami leave, however, Rose starts texting Lila, ready to bring her up to speed, spurring Felix to call her out on her hypocritical reasoning for ignoring their wishes:
    Felix: What are you still doing here, and what are you texting, Rose.
    Rose: O-oh, I'm... I'm about to, uh...
    Felix: You're texting Lila.
    Rose: Well I-! I don't want to let her down!
    Felix: So it's okay to let down Marinette? Even when she asked you to restrain herself?
• From Ashes to Embers: After failing to force Marinette to share her secrets with them and getting akumatized together, Alya and the Girl Posse try to convince Marinette to let bygones be bygones... and include Lila in their group. Marinette bluntly asks if they expect her to happily let them take advantage of her again. After a tense silence, Alya leads most of the girls out; only Alix remains behind to apologize.
  Alya: Please, Marinette, we only want to make this right.
  Rose: Yeah, Marinette, we can put all this behind us. And all of us, including Lila, can be friends again.
  Juleka: Plus, it would be nice to see Luka smile again. He misses you.
  Mylene: We just want things to go back to normal.
  Marinette: You mean the normal where I just did everything for all of you? Where I was running myself ragged, tryig to constantly make everything perfect for everyone else, and got nothing in return? That normal?
• Juleka vs. the Forces of the Universe:
  • When Alya orders the Girl Squad via text to report to the park, Marinette is resigned to being forced into yet another Zany Scheme against her will... until Juleka asks her "Do you want to go?" Followed by asking "What do you want?", making clear that she actually cares about Marinette's opinion.
  • Luka insists that he needs to give Marinette the time and distance she needs to decide what she wants, only for Juleka to point out that he's effectively making the decision for her:
    Juleka: How can she choose you if she doesn't know you're an option?
  • When Master Fu mindlessly praises Ladybug and Chat Noir's 'teamwork' after the Shipper debacle, Juleka calls him out on his Selective Obliviousness, pointing out that Chat Noir outright refused to help deal with the akuma and demanding "What kind of team is that?"
• The Karma of Lies deliberately subverts this several times with Adrien in order to underscore how he truly doesn't CARE about the perspectives of others:
  • When Adrien suggests that there's nothing harmful about letting Lila's claims go unchallenged, Marinette tells him outright that "I'm hurt, and I'm not happy," asking whether or not that matters to him. He completely blows her off, sending her into a Tranquil Fury.
  • Plagg points out that while he comes from an incredibly rich family and can easily afford to replace things, not all of his classmates can say the same. Like Juleka, who donated the nicest clothes she had to Lila's Fake Charity drive. He asks Adrien what happens if she can't afford to replace what she donated; again, Adrien blows him off, suggesting that Marinette will just make her something for free.
• LadyBugOut effectively starts with a pair of these. After taking a picture of Ladybug and Chat Noir Kissing Under the Influence of Oblivio's Laser-Guided Amnesia, Alya posts it on her blog over Ladybug's protests. This leads to trouble when Markov realizes that since she and Nino were Oblivio, they can answer a very simple question:
  Markov: Oh! Actually, the two of you would be able to confirm when this happened. Did they have their memories at the time or not?
  • Both Alya and Nino know that they didn't; however, Alya attempts to give a Non-Answer. Nino attempts to support his girlfriend, only for Marinette to speak up:
    Nino: Look, it — it's no big deal! Chat loved it, so—
    Marinette: What about Ladybug? (looking straight at Alya) How did Ladybug feel about it? You keep talking about Chat and how he liked it, but what about her?
  • In response, Alya effectively declares that Ladybug's feelings don't matter because she's a public figure, and thus should just expect to have her feelings ignored. This leads to Marinette/Ladybug deciding to start her own blog so that people who are willing to lie for the sake of a "good scoop" don't have full control of her story.
  • During Retired and Replaced, Ladybug asks Alya point-blank whether she would trust Chloé with the Bee Comb again. Alya balks, recognizing the trap inherit in the query: Alya can't declare that Chloé's self-centered behavior disqualifies her from being given a Miraculous without condemning herself, as she's acted just as selfish.
• Marinette's Week Off: In the sequel, Marinette's Life (After the Week Off), Alya rants about how she'll NEVER forgive Marinette for how she (supposedly) bullied her "bestie" Lila. Then she sees her on the red carpet for the premiere of The Embers of Pirates and Mermaids, sparking the revelation that her former friend is a rising star in Hollywood. She immediately starts trying to contact her, leading to this exchange:
  Alya: Seriously?! No one! UGH! I can't believe that girl. Not giving her bestie her new number?
  Juleka: I thought you'd never be friends with her again?
  Alya: (freezes up momentarily) I mean-, yeah, but I'm willing to forgive her if she gets me an interview. I mean it would be the least she could do, right?
  (Nino and the rest of the class regard her with disgust)
• Miracle Queen Aftermath: After an extensive argument with Adrien wherein he repeatedly attempts to guilt-trip Marinette and all of his other classmates into helping Chloé, Marinette sums up her position succinctly. And when that still doesn't break through to him, Alya does when she demands to know why, if he considers this to be so important, he's shunting that off onto everybody else rather than trying to help her himself:
  Marinette: I have given Chloé more than three chances. I have done nothing BUT give her chances. And clean up after her. And just... try to help her. At no point has she been grateful. At no point did she ever apologize. Or show the slightest bit of remorse for anyone she hurt. Or just... try to do better. So tell me, Adrien. How much more am I supposed to do? What miracle am I supposed to achieve to help Chloé to be a better person that I haven't already done?
  Adrien: You can just try. Chloé's alone. She has no one in her corner. You've given her chances before! Can't you find it in your heart to give her another chance this time?
  Alya: Why haven't you?
  (Adrien recoils in shock)
  Alya: If you're so certain Chloé is the victim in all this, then why aren't you stepping up to help her? Why are you pushing Marinette and the rest of us to do it?
• At one point in Miraculous: Adventures of Chat Noir, Hawk Moth has akumatized a villain named Lead Role, who can turn into fictional characters. The characters have their own personalities, which Chat Noir exploits by asking Judge Dredd what his authority is.
  Chat Noir: On what authority are you trying to arrest us?
  Judge Dredd: By my authority as the Law!
  Chat Noir: Do you even have jurisdiction in 21st century France?
  Judge Dredd: You are lying.
  Chat Noir: Am I? Why don't you try to contact your HQ then? Or simply take a look out of the window?
  (Judge Dredd looks out the window and realizes he's out of his jurisdiction, forcing Lead Role to dismiss his form.)
• Miraculous Ladybug Salt-Shots:
  • What Makes You Think I Still Love You?: Upon their mutual reveal, Adrien expects to hook up with Marinette despite how she's already dating Luka and Kagami, insisting that they have to get together because "We're Ladybug and Chat Noir, we're meant to be together!" Marinette points out the obvious flaw in his reasoning:
    Marinette: I could give someone else my miraculous — then that would make you both meant to be. It doesn't matter who has them, as long as someone's wearing the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous, they're meant to be, right?
    Adrien: Well—
    Marinette: If I gave Lila the Ladybug Miraculous, then you're both meant to be, right?
    Adrien: I—
    Marinette: If Alya had the Ladybug Miraculous, then you're both meant to be, isn't how that works?
  • The "High Road" Doesn't Work On Everyone: After learning about his Betrayal by Inaction, Alya stuns Adrien by asking if he enjoyed watching Lila string everyone else along:
    Alya: Answer me honestly, Agreste. Do you get some sort of twisted pleasure from watching us listen to the bullshit coming out of her mouth, completely aware of her lies?
    Adrien: W-what, no—
    Alix: It sure seems like it.
    Alya: Did you laugh behind our backs because we're so gullible? Or do you just not care? As long as you have friends, and you're not included in frame, everything is okay.
  • In Reflection'', Ladybug deals with a crowd of persistent LadyNoir shippers by pointing out that none of them know who she is beneath the mask:
    Ladybug: I could be anyone. I could be your sister. I could be your mother. I could be your boss. Your coworker. Your wife. Your best friend. Your daughter. How would you feel if someone close to you were getting shipped with a person that they said they had no romantic interest in?
    Nadja: I—
    Ladybug: You'd be disgusted, right? Angry, even. You just don't understand why people keep shipping her with someone that they don't like. Why people keep pushing them to be a couple when the feelings are clearly one-sided. Even when she says no. (smiling sweetly) But it's fine. It doesn't matter that we don't know the ages of either hero. Since one hero is clearly interested in the other, they're meant to be. Right? If I was your mother, anyone close to you, and you knew my identity — would you still continue to ship us? Even if I have a relationship of my own. Would you still ship us and tell me to get together with him even when I don't want to date him and see him strictly as a partner?
    (Nadja and the rest of the crowd fall silent)
    Ladybug: (pulling out her yo-yo) End of interview. Bug-out.
• Missing:
  • When Ladybug observes that Marinette might have run away, Chat Noir protests that she never would have done that. Ladybug then asks "How would you know?", causing him to trip over his own tongue.
  • After Ladybug informs them that she's never been friends with Lila, only knowing her as somebody she's occasionally had to de-akumatize, Alya tries to reason that she might have been lying. Nino points out the big flaw in her logic:
    Alya: You know that Ladybug wouldn't have been able to say anything. It'd be too much of a risk!
    Nino: But Lila could? Despite the danger?
  • After Adrien confesses to having known the truth about Lila all along, Nino asks him why he never said anything.
    Adrien: I-I thought she could be convinced to be a better person.
    Nino: And that mattered more than warning us so we wouldn't be hurt in the process?
  • Alix and Nino each land one against Lila in rapid succession during the class's confrontation with her:
    Lila: She was lying!
    Alix: Just like Alya was, right? And Marinette. Tell me, Lila. How many people are suddenly going to become liars if they point out holes in your stories?
    Lila: She was just trying to protect me!
    Nino: If you needed to be protected, why announce your friendship and make yourself a target in the first place? Wouldn't a real friend of Ladybug's not put her in that position?
• In Off Guard From the Hen House, Kagami counters Alya's claims that she's been 'helping' Marinette by forcing her towards Adrien by asking where she was before her intervention, forcing both Alya and Marinette to realize that her attempts to aid her have been inadvertently sabotaging her instead.
  Alya: Marinette wouldn't get anywhere with Adrien if it wasn't for me!
  Kagami: Where was she before?
• The One to Make It Stay:
  • When Ladybug confronts Alya about posting a heavy edited version of Chat Noir confessing how he feels on the Ladyblog, Alya summarily blows off most of her concerns, making clear that she doesn't care how hurt or upset Ladybug was by this. But one thing manages to pierce through her stubbornness: the suggestion that Hawkmoth may follow her blog, looking for any information he can glean about the superheroes. And if he's convinced that the two of them are dating, just what's going to prevent him from trying to use that to his advantage? This throws Alya off-balance, and it's the only thing she actually apologizes for.
  • After calling Chat out on refusing to listen to her again, Ladybug leaves in order to give him a chance to think about what she said. Once she detransforms, Tikki questions how she handled the situation, only for Marinette to hit her with the rapid-fire version and cause her to realize what she's doing:
    Tikki: Are you sure it was a good idea to not listen to what Chat might have had to say? What if he gets akumatized?
    Marinette: I'll deal with it. And maybe I should have dealt with it better. But Tikki, how many times do I have to tell him to get him to leave me alone? What if I end up akumatized because he won't leave me alone? Is it really fair to prioritize his feelings over mine?
• Recommencer:
  • After Master Fu forcibly retires Chat Noir, giving Adrien the Bee Comb instead, his new kwami advises him to stand up for himself more. When he balks at the idea, she reminds him that his refusal to do anything about Lila led to Marinette transferring to another school:
    Pollen: Remember that your avoidance of conflict caused you to lose a dear friend. Are you willing to make such a mistake again?
  • When Principal Achthoven asks to see the threatening texts Lila falsely claims to have gotten, Lila stammers that she deleted them all. Achthoven then declares that they can't move any further with the investigation due to Absence of Evidence; when her classmates protest, the Principal poses a question that forces most of them to reconsider the whole situation.
    Acthhoven: Did anyone physically see these texts before Lila deleted them?
    • Played With in that Alya claims that she did long enough to recognize Marinette's number. But when she rattles it off from memory, the Principal informs her that that's not her number (as she changed it to curtail harassment from her former friends). Thus, Alya only succeeds in clearing the names of the falsely accused.
• Weight Off Your Shoulder:
  • While discussing recent events, Eagle reveals that the United Heroez are concerned about how many patrols the new Ladybug has been making, asking her "Are you neglecting your civilian life, or do you even have one?" Ladybug promptly turns away and leaves.
  • When Future!Alix tries to convince the Girl Posse that they should help her "fix the future" by revealing that Marinette and Adrien were going to get together in the original timeline, Juleka disgustedly asks "Is this all just a shipping thing?" She then pointedly reminds the other girls that Marinette seems perfectly happy with Luka, wondering if they're seriously prioritizing making their ship sail over all other concerns.
• In Your Lack of Foresight is Not My Problem, Lila tries to con her way into first class by claiming her tinnitus is acting up, and that Marinette (who paid for her own ticket) should switch seats. When Miss Bustier attempts to guilt-trip her 'star student' into giving in, Marinette hits her with one of these, pointing out their teacher's flagrant hypocrisy:
  Marinette: If her comfort is so important to you, why don't you give up your business class ticket?
  Bustier: I... uh... but... I... you can't just ask me to give up my seat.
  Marinette: But it's perfectly fine to pressure me into giving up mine?
• In this What If scenario where Felix is part of Marinette and Adrien's class, Felix hits his cousin with one when he asks him point-blank, in front of the whole class, "Is Rossi or is she not lying?" As he spells out for all present, this is effectively forcing Adrien to pick a side and stick to it — and he gets another one on Nino in the process:
  Felix: This is a moment of truth, Agreste. No take backs. No halfway "I'm on your side but". Has Lila Rossi been telling lies? Yes or no?
  Adrien: I... I... I-I mean, of course—
  Felix: Bear in mind that you won't be coming back from this. If you say she isn't a liar, and then it's eventually revealed that she is everyone will remember this and will remember that you defended her and lied to them yourself to protect her. And I'm not sure they will forgive you for that. I know I won't.
  Adrien: I...
  Felix: But if nothing else, at least Marinette will know where you stand. She will know that you aren't a friend in any meaning of the word.
  Nino: Or he'll show that he's just not willing to put up with such mistreatment of one of his friends!
  Felix: (shrugging) That would be news to me. Tell me, when did he ever defend you from Bourgeois? Or anyone, for that matter?
  (silence as Nino and several other students look nervously at each other or towards Adrien)

Monster Rancher

• Phoenix's Tear: Reignition:
  • While discussing Melcarba, Hare notes that their AI may have been deliberately limited so that they couldn't recognize their situation and potentially rebel. He then hits Suezo with a barrage of these when he questions his logic:
    Hare: ...That'd be the kinder way to do it, anyway.
    Suezo: Kkt... kinder?! What's kind about that?!
    Hare: If you were going to be used as nothing but a weapon, would you want to know that? That there was more to life, but you weren't meant to experience it? That so far as they were concerned, you just... existed to serve them? To fight and die for a cause you never chose, because they said so?
  • After learning that Hare made himself look older with an illusion, Genki gestures at him while asking "This isn't... you...?" Hare hesitates, unsure how to answer.
  • During their reunion, Tiger and Gray Wolf get into an argument about his leadership, with the latter snarling out a question his older brother chokes on:
    Gray Wolf: Face it, Tiger – you've always needed to be the strongest. Your damned pride wouldn't let you settle for anything less than being the best... even if that meant surrounding yourself with weaklings. You held me back. Held us all back.
    Tiger: That's not true, I wanted you all to get stronger, to survive—
    Gray Wolf: Then why does everyone around you keep dying?

My Hero Academia

• Actions of a Hero has Inko note to her son that "Bakugou has always wanted to be a hero, Izuku, but... when was the last time you can think of him acting like one?" Izuku falls silent, unable to come up with a single example. It has a similar impact upon Nezu and Aizawa, especially when she adds "And is that ever going to change at this rate?"
• An Attempt To Fly Under The Radar: When shown irrefutable proof that Bakugou is not who he seems to be, Aizawa still blames Izuku for being unable to control his Quirk and that he should've learned to stop going overboard and his self-sacrificing tendencies under control. Midnight shuts him down by asking if Izuku should've let himself and Koda die at the hands of Muscular. Aizawa has to do a Verbal Backspace after that.
  Midnight: Are you saying 'that kid' was supposed to let himself and that five year old with him die at the training camp?
• When All Might tries to apologize to Izuku (who's a villain) for when he said that he couldn't be a hero in Apotheosis, Izuku angrily retorts that he's not actually sorry about what he said, he's only sorry that his actions were the catalyst for Izuku going From Nobody to Nightmare, asking whether he would've spared him a single thought otherwise. All Might finds himself unable to answer.
  All Might: I'm sorry Midoriya! I truly am!
  Izuku: No you're not! You're not sorry for what you said to me! You're sorry about the end result! If I didn't become a villain, would you be here apologizing to me?! Did you even once think about me again after our first meeting?!
  (All Might looks away in shame, knowing Izuku is right)
  Izuku: That's what I thought.
• Cain:
  • One of the ways Toshinori tries to break through to Katsuki is by asking him questions that directly confront his contradictory reasoning or otherwise challenge him. Such as asking him just what he would have done had he managed to break into the Midoriyas' home. Sadly, they don't have the intended impact; at best, they only succeeded in making Katsuki shut up momentarily when he can't come up with an instant counter.
  • When he learns that Katsuki was banned from U.A. after trying to murder him, Izuku tries to defend his former friend, asking if he can talk to the others involved and tell them that it was all a misunderstanding. Toshinori gently asks "Izuku, was it a misunderstanding?" Izuku can't bring himself to reply.
• A Clear Pattern of Behavior: After Katsuki attempts to kill Izuku during their first training exercise together, Toshinori tries to convince Aizawa that they should be lenient with him, especially after working out how some miscommunications on their part led to said exercise. Aizawa shuts him down with one of these:
  Toshinori: Ah, Young Aizawa? Shouldn't — in light of the mistakes we've made, shouldn't we be more accommodating of Young Bakugo's mistakes. He is still learning.
  Aizawa: A mistake is one thing. Attacking a classmate with lethal force is another. As a hero, shouldn't you be aware of the difference? There's such a thing as being too forgiving, you know?
• Crimson and Emerald: When Riv senses something odd about Izuku's quirk, she drops this bombshell to Inko:
  Riv: Are you 100% sure your husband had a firebreathing quirk?
• Disciplinary Action:
  • Attempted and failed by Katsuki; when confronted about his use of excessive force against Izuku during the battle trial, he angrily attempts to pass the buck right back to All Might:
    All Might: Do you not understand? You could have killed your classmates!
    Katsuki: Yeah? Why didn't you stop me then, sensei? Isn't that your job?
    Nedzu: (calmly) It is, and he should have. All Might will not be allowed to teach a class again without supervision, until such a time as he has the credentials and experience to know when he should intervene and deescalate a situation.
    Katsuki: Okay, then what's the problem? Why do I have to be here to deal with his fucking up.
    Nedzu: All Might's mistakes do not cancel your actions. And your actions warrant expulsion from U.A.
  • Toshinori later gets one of his own when he points out the obvious flaw in Katsuki's Doublethink:
    All Might: Young Bakugo, are you implying that young Midoriya is in control of you? I couldn't hear you clearly, but it seems to be the gist of it.
    Katsuki: Fuck no! Deku doesn't control me! No one controls me!
    All Might: Then how can your actions be his fault? Either he controls you and what you did is his fault, or you are in control of your actions, and you bear the fault for them, and the consequences.
• Haigha: While driving the League out of the USJ, All Might declares that Heroes will always be there to defeat the Villains. Shigaraki coldly asks just where All Might was back when Izuku was kidnapped, striking a nerve.
• (Not) Everyone Wants To Be A Hero: Aizawa, Present Mic, and Principal Nedzu all assume that Izuku will naturally be thrilled to get transferred into the Hero Course after he swept through the Sports Festival. After all, it's an incredible opportunity for somebody who's Quirkless, and there's absolutely no way he wouldn't be interested, right? When Izuku asks "What if I don't want-", Aizawa cuts him off in an incredibly condescending fashion, but gets knocked off balance by his irritated query:
  Izuku: What if I don't want—
  Aizawa: This is obviously a dream come true for someone of your status, so I'll forgive the lack of excitement. I promise it's real; you can even read the Hero Course Contract for proof.
  Izuku: So do you plan to force me to go to the Hero Course Classroom? Do you plan to chain me up in the seat you chose for me?
• Naomosa asks Izuku a couple in Remaking regarding his Quirk. According to Izuku, his Quirk lets him convince others he's making changes to objects (in other words, create illusions). Naomosa asks if Izuku is convincing others he's made a table turn white or if he actually turned it white. When Izuku tries again, by making an illusionary door, Naomosa asks if Izuku could "convince the wall there's a door there". Upon trying, Izuku creates a door to the Bakugos' apartment down the street, causing everyone present to realize Izuku is a Reality Warper, not a Master of Illusion as he had assumed for the last decade. This is especially poignant because Izuku had previously "convinced" All Might's body that it wasn't injured, fully healing the injuries dealt to him by All For One years prior.
• The Sleeper Hit AU revolves around Midoriya Izuku becoming the titular hero after Aizawa expels him after the Quirk Assessment test. After Shinsou learns about this, he confronts Aizawa and learns that he fudged the results so he could boot the Quirkless kid out and keep the Hagakure around, and create an opening so Shinsou could join his class. Aizawa further defends himself by revealing that he sent out an anonymous recommendation to the school Midoriya wound up attending instead:
  Shinsou: ...Oh, I see. You admit he had potential. Just not enough for UA. Not enough for you.
  Aizawa: In case you've forgotten, UA isn't some community college that'll accept just anyone. I had the right to be selective about who got to stay.
  Shinsou: He DID pass the entrance exam for the Hero Course, did he not? Even I didn't manage that. If I'd passed the exam, and there was another Gen Ed student with a quirk you thought was more useful than mine... would you have expelled me too?
  Aizawa: ...I don't know.
• In Sucker Punch, Midoriya has been kidnapped by the League of Villains because they saw him as a potential recruit due to his excessive methods. When the rest of 1-A debate on whether it's a good idea to rescue him since a few students are somewhat convinced that Midoriya will turn by bringing up the fact that he was running what was basically UA's Mafia, Bakugou (who's all for rescuing Midoriya, even if he is being a Tsundere about it) asks them the one question that truly stumps them...
  Bakugou: Do you really want him as your enemy?
• In Unique Perspective, Inko gives Aizawa two of these during her What the Hell, Hero? speech in regards to his teaching methods and of how he refused to scold Bakugo in the past for his bullying due to favouring him for his skill in his proficiency in his Quirk (resulting in Bakugo getting Izuku kidnapped instead of him).
  Inko Mitsuki told me that you paid her a visit as well. She said that you found that Katsuki bullied Izuku at Aldera and continued to do so into UA. Apparently, you observed Bakugou's behavior these last few months, yet did nothing to correct it. Was this because he was easy to teach? Because he was such a prodigy that he didn't need to be taught?
• Whispered Tribulation: While defending Midoriya, All Might asks Aizawa why, if he's been giving his notes to the League, not a single one of the heroes whose Quirks he's analyzed has turned up dead.
• In With Confidence, the main premise of the story is Izuku being hit by a confidence-boosting Quirk, which allows him to do this to different people:
  • After writing down the three top answers his classmates have to the question "What makes a hero?"^note A strong quirk, an interesting personality, good looking and/or unique costume, Izuku goes through and systematically asks each of them how they intend to meet the criteria they listed. None of them could give anything resembling a good, or even an adequate, answer.
  • Izuku hits Principal Akashi with one when the man tries to tell him that it's not his place to tell his classmates what to do, immediately asking the man a question that exposes his hypocrisy.
    Akashi: Aspiring to become a hero is an admirable dream for anyone!
    Izuku: An admirable dream for anyone but me. Isn't that what you mean?
    • He also summarizes the flaw in the Principal's plan to piggyback off of Bakugou's success with one simple query:
    Izuku: Where did All Might attend middle school, Principal Akashi?
  • There's this exchange between Izuku and All Might regarding his belief that quirkless people can't become heroes:
    All Might: I know what I said is harsh, but I cannot in good conscious give people false hope. What if they try? What if they fail?
    Izuku: And what if they succeed?!
  • Inko shows herself capable of this too when she asks Katsuki if he would have left her son alone if he hadn't dreamed of being a hero. Katsuki sullenly admits that no, he would have continued harassing him because he disliked the idea of Izuku 'looking down' on him.
    • She gets another one against him in the same conversation when she admits that she honestly didn't believe in her son:
      Inko: I didn't think he could do it, but I never stopped him from trying, and I never tried to make him pick another path. And you know what, Katsuki?
      Katsuki: What?
      Inko: (smiles sweetly) He already proved us both wrong, didn't he?
• Words May Hurt:
  • Downplayed when the president of the Hero Commission is grilling Aizawa about his recent decisions. After Aizawa declares that Midoriya should have better control of his Quirk, since he's had it since he was four, President Saito gives him an incredulous look and asks "Eraserhead, did you actually bother reading your students' files?" Her reaction immediately tips him off that something's wrong, but he doesn't realize just how bad things are until she explains how Midoriya's file included the critical information that his Quirk had only just come in on the day of U.A.'s entrance exam.
  • Endeavor poses one of his own shortly after the above. When Aizawa insists that Midoriya is a Martyr Without a Cause who shouldn't be permitted to stay in the Hero Course, Endeavor asks him if he really thinks that somebody like that will opt not to try and help others regardless of whether or not they've been trained for it. Aizawa is unable to answer.
• Yesterday Upon The Stair:
  • During their match, Midoriya hits Todoroki with one in response to his rant about wanting to rise to the top without any help from his father's power:
    Midoriya: Without his power? You're kidding me, right? It's a little late to be saying that, don't you think?
    Todoroki: I will not—
    Midoriya: Oh, I'm sorry! Remind me — which one of us got in on whose recommendation again?
  • Midoriya gives one to Okumura while deconstructing his motives for hurting Todoroki.
    Midoriya: Then why are you trusting [Endeavor] to make you feel better?
  • Aizawa gives one to Bakugou after the events of the End of Term Exam Arc.
    Aizawa: Why not be a villain?
  • Midoriya gets another one in Chapter 40:
    Midoriya: Where's your doctor, All For One?
  • In Chapter 55, Midoriya hits Sir Nighteye with several in rapid succession after learning how he views his Quirk:
    Midoriya: No, I've spent my entire life talking to ghosts and you think I don't care when people die — you think I don’t lose anything? You think people die and I'm just fine with it? What the hell do you think makes a ghost in the first place?
• In this untitled one-shot, Izuku rejects the idea of working with Katsuki for their final exam, pointing out that the only time U.A. has punished him for his bad behavior was during the Sports Festival.
  Izuku: He literally had enough of a hissy fit during the award ceremony that you guys deemed it reasonable to chain him to a pole and gag him. All because Todoroki wouldn't use his fire during their match after using it in ours. What exactly makes you think Kacchan won't attack me during the exam?

My-HiME

• Perfection Is Overrated:
  • Mariko, opposing the rest of the SUEs' plan to reshape the world, tries, but The Usurper responds with his own Armor-Piercing Questions to argue that she depends on her powers as much as the rest of the SUEs do.
    Mariko: But what makes you think that you're much better than they are to make that decision? And if they make mistakes, shouldn't they at least be their mistakes, and shouldn't they earn the negative and positive consequences of their actions?
    The Usurper: Have you ever considered, Mariko, how much you have earned yourself? What if everything you ever had- your beauty, your grades, your maturity, your popularity and everything else- were given to you by someone else, for the sake of using you to enter another world and sway it to that person's will?
    Mariko: Th-that's impossible. After Mother and Father died, life was often difficult, even with the wealth they left behind. I had to try hard to get by after that, and if I have many things, it's because I earned them!
    The Usurper: Tell me, Mariko, can you recall a time when a person disliked or disagreed with you?
  • She does this more successfully, albeit with the help of her powers, once the SUEs set out.
    Mariko: The question we should be asking ourselves, more than how we plan to go about doing this, is should we be trying this?
    Shizune: What do you mean, Suou-san?
    Mariko: In order to win, we must potentially sacrifice 10 more innocent victims, while potentially giving up our own lives, as well as the lives of those we cherish the most. And for what? Do our goals mean so much to us that we'd risk everything and cause harm to others for them?
  • In the main story, Yukino asks one of Shizuru, when proposing that the rest of the student council be informed about what is going on. She says that although they may not have powers, their help may prove necessary. Yukino asks this question that causes Shizuru to reflect on what she did for Natsuki before she realized she was also a Hime, and then goes on to say that Haruka's determination may be what they need to face the SUEs.
    Yukino: And, what would you do if, for example, Kuga-san were a Hime and you were not?
  • Toward the end of the story.
    Natsuki: I have to wonder- was this the moment I've been hoping and working toward all those years? Everyone involved with my mother's death is now dead. They deserved it for serving the Obsidian Lord, even if I did not have a more personal grudge against them. But my mother is still dead, and this triumph seems hollow, and I'm not sure if I got what I wanted in the end.
    Nao: What do you want, Natsuki?

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

• In Alicorn, Rainbow Dash is revealed to be Celestia's daughter after she unexpectedly grows an alicorn's horn. Celestia recounts the story of how she gave her up for adoption, and expresses a wish to reconnect. Rainbow, not especially happy about the revelation, shuts her up by asking if she would have ever said anything if she hadn't grown a horn.
  Rainbow: This (the horn). Did you know I was gonna get this thing?
  Celestia: No. I didn't.
  Rainbow: And… if I hadn’t gotten it, would you have ever said anything to me about any of this? Or would you have swept me under the rug for the rest of my life and gone on not giving two bits about me?
• The question that shatters Jappleack's self-delusions in Ask Jappleack, after Apple Bloom's death, is a very simple one: "What's the point of growing apples?" When she can't come up with an answer, her entire worldview falls apart. It's worth noting that, near the end of the story and after much Character Development, someone asks the question again... and she comes up with an answer.
• In Asylum (Daemon of Decay), Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are among those at the titular asylum and at least at first, are the only friends each other has. So when Rainbow Dash continues to constantly exert herself at the risk of her health, prompting her therapist Scootaloo to ask her:
  Therapist Scootaloo: And if you get hurt, then what would happen to Fluttershy?
• Castling Cozy Glow:
  • While arguing over releasing Cozy Glow, Sweetie Belle points out how much more lenient Twilight was with Starlight. Twilight counters that Starlight showed regret and she let her prove she deserved a second chance. But then Sweetie Belle asks this:
    Sweetie Belle: And when could Cozy have earned her second chance!? When she was caught, the first thing you did was haul her into the darkest prison there is! How do you expect a filly to earn a second chance there? She did bad things, but you never gave her a chance to be anything better afterward, did you?
  • Afterwards, Twilight tries to dig in her heels on the matter and end the discussion, but can offer no actual rebuttal beyond that she personally saw good in Starlight but not in Cozy.
  • Ironically, Twilight asks one in Cozy's defense later, when Rumble is explaining to her how Cozy pretended to be Twilight's abused daughter to get him to help her escape:
    Rumble: I really had no idea it was her. Or I would never have helped her. You have to believe that; I hate her as much as anypony.
    Twilight: You hate her? Why?
    Rumble: (blinks) Of course I do. Everypony does, don't they?
    Twilight: Not me.
  • Cozy Glow herself is on the receiving end of several of this while laid up in bed at Rarity’s after her escape from Canterlot doesn't go entirely according to plan:
    Cozy Glow: You're really naïve then. I will never stop trying. Ever, until I'm a princess with so many friends nopony can deny my power. Then, like chess, I will have won. I will have so many pieces that nopony else can hope to win.
    Sweetie Belle: Is... that we are to you? Am I really just a chess piece? Rumble and Rarity too?
    Cozy Glow: (pause) No... not you three... Golly, there really is something wrong with me...
  • And after Twilight arrives and tries to talk Cozy into letting her help her:
    Twilight Sparkle: Do you really hate me so much that you would rather permanently give up your flight just to get out that door than let me help you make up with Sweetie Belle!?
    Cozy Glow: And why would I do that? Maybe I'd rather hide away and plot your agonizing downfall.
    Twilight Sparkle: But then why do you care about apologizing to Sweetie Belle? If you just plan to leave and never see her again?
• The Ending of the End - Love and Tolerance Edition:
  • Mean Twilight/Midnight Sparkle asks one of Twilight immediately upon meeting her. After overhearing the princess's reluctance to use necromancy and other forms of dark magic to fight Grogar. And after Applejack tries to but in and defend her friend, she gives one to the heroes as a whole:
    Midnight: I know all about the spells to raise the dead and make them puppets. That means you read those books, correct, Twilight? I imagine you at least considered casting them. Why shackle your own power? If an army of the dead would aid you, why not utilize it?
    Applejack: Now hold on a second, missy. You might be a copy of Twilight, but clearly you don’t know the first thing about her: she really cares about doing the right thing.
    Midnight: And the right thing is to save Equestria from Grogar’s reign, correct?
  • After Fluttershy learns that Cozy Glow has been actively helping fix the strife she and the other villains started because it benefits their current cause, we get this exchange:
    Fluttershy: So, you're all doing good... so you can do evil in the future?
    Chrysalis: I wouldn't call it evil. Merely revenge.
    Cozy: You can think of it like this: we make sure there’s an Equestria left, and then we figure out who's going to rule it.
    Fluttershy: What I mean is, you're already willing to do the right thing for selfish reasons. Do you think you’d be willing to for selfless reasons?
• Twilight Sparkle manages to do this to Prince Blueblood in Getting Back on Your Hooves during a "The Reason You Suck" Speech. After explaining how Celestia and Luna seek such a close relationship with their subjects, a stark contrast to the self-obsessed, high and mighty Blueblood, she asks him a question that, for once, actually makes him think about his actions. When we see him again, he approaches Applejack and apologies to her for being so rude to her at the Gala, implying it stuck.
  Twilight Sparkle: If they're the highest royalty in the land, Blueblood, what does that say about how you behave when you're so much lower than they are?
• Loved and Lost:
  • Right after the Changeling invasion has been stopped, Prince Jewelius calls Princess Celestia as well as Twilight's friends and brother out of their refusal to listen to Twilight's suspicions regarding Queen Chrysalis when the latter was impersonating Princess Cadance. He makes Shining Armor look bad by pressuring him to answer whether or not he can blame Chrysalis for all of his mistakes. Also includes a Shout-Out to The Lion King (1994):
    Jewelius: And you, Captain Armor! What possessed you to allow such a monster to walk through the castle right under your nose? Especially after receiving a warning from your own sister, whom you coldly dismissed!
    (the guards and wedding guests who are present gasp)
    Shining Armor: I... I can explain.
    Jewelius: Very well then, explain what came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important than your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the changeling that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?
    Shining Armor: (hangs his head in shame) No, I made my own decisions.
    Jewelius: Then you are guilty. You're a disgrace to the guard!
  • In the 12th chapter, the Mane Five, Shining Armor, Spike, and Celestia (now hated pariahs) attempt to tell Twilight and Canterlot's citizens that Jewelius (now Equestria's king) started the Changeling invasion to take control of Equestria. They get themselves refuted by a few questions from the angry crowd and Twilight who has been manipulated to give up on them.
    A mare: He and Miss Sparkle saved all of Canterlot from those vile creatures. He couldn't had been in league with them.
    Rainbow Dash: That's because he double-crossed them! Just ask Chrysalis herself!
    A stallion: You're telling us to ask a creature who lies and deceives ponies to clarify the truth?!
    Rainbow Dash: Oh.
    Applejack: Jewelius is nothin' but a self-servin' rat with no loyalty tah anypony but himself! And if ah'm tellin' you it's true, then ya'll know it must be. Ah'm the Element of Honesty.
    Twilight: So when you said we were best friends, you were being honest?
    Applejack: Of course, sugarcube.
    Twilight: And are best friends supposed to have each other's backs?
    Applejack: (getting nervous) Yes.
    Twilight: Then why did you all turn your backs on me when I needed you the most, after everything we've been through together, after learning a lesson in never taking a friend's concerns lightly? Or was I never your friend to begin with, just a means to an end?
    Applejack: I... I...
    Twilight: Sorry, girls. It was fun while it lasted.
    [...]
    Rainbow Dash: Okay, maybe we should've been a little more focused on other things besides the wedding planning. But you have to admit, Twilight, the way you were acting didn't make things any better.
    Twilight: My brother said that the wedding was 'something that obviously wasn't important to' me. Well, did it ever occur to the eight of you that this wedding was important to so many other ponies, not just you?
    (the prisoners are again at a loss for words)
  • The 12th chapter has also a subverted example when Fluttershy asks from the crowd who will raise the sun if Celestia is executed. The crowd turns thoughtful, but Jewelius quickly dispels their uncertainties with a New Era Speech about why they'll be better off without the alicorns to rely on.
  • In the following chapter, Twilight herself gets one from Queen Chrysalis who plants in her mind a seed of doubt about Jewelius and whatever or not Cadance is in danger. As Twilight tries to decide if she should shrink the escaped Changelings again or go to make sure Cadance is safe, the Changelings use their chance to bolt, so Twilight starts running towards the medical wing where Cadance is.
    Queen Chrysalis: What are you going to do, Twilight? Stop the evil changelings or save your old foalsitter? What if I'm not lying this time? You could be truly responsible for something horrible to happen to Cadance this time?
  • The final battle has another subverted example. Shining Armor asks his bitter rival Commander Hildread if she calls massacring the inhabitants of Ponyville protection of Equestria. Hildread looks uneasily around at the assault she wasn't okay with, but she quickly hardens her heart and takes comfort from her delusions.
• In Misunderstandings, a human named Peter Collins ends up in Equestria. A guard named Peppermint York has joined a conspiracy against him, thinking Peter is a dangerous monster although it is slightly understandable since Peter did seriously wound one of her subordinates, albeit accidentally. But each action the conspiracy takes against him only improves Peter's reputation. When the subordinate, Swift Wind, recovers and visits Peter for answers, York follows him. Even after seeing evidence of what Peter went through, York continues to ignore it and call Peter a monster. Swift Wind tells her off, saying that he has forgiven Peter for shooting him, and asks her: "Why do you hate him so much?" York wordlessly flies away and admits to her role in the conspiracy.
• In My Little Pony: Totally Legit Recap, Pinkie Pie catches her sister Maud trying to kill herself, after the latter realized she could no longer pretend she's okay with her loner existence but is too afraid to try making the effort of changing her life, prompting this exchange:
  Maud: I decided to end my life, rather than undertake the monumental task of salvaging it.
  Pinkie: But you're going die one day anyway?
  Maud: Obviously, what's your point?
  Pinkie: My point is that if death is certain anyway, then what's the harm in trying to live a little longer? At the very worst, you'll still end up dead like you wanted, but at best you might actually be happy.
  • After being subjected to a particularly harsh prank that made her think she killed everyone she cared about to teach her a lesson about acting out character by the rest of the town, Rainbow Dash asks them if that was out of character of them. Cue horrifying realization.
• In the Pony POV Series, the Dark World Series is fond of this:
  • A large part of the Father of All Alicorns' dialog to Liarjack consists of these. Justified, as Applebloom got his help in the first place to break Discord's control on Liarjack and reform her into Applejack.
  • Rarity gives one to Rainbow Dash to snap her out of her Heel–Face Turn-induced Heroic BSoD, asking her the one question Discord hasn't let her ask herself for a thousand years.
    Rarity: Dash... we all have a choice... Ours is to save the world... I've chosen to want you back as my friend... But what do YOU want to do?
  • Rainbow Dash later returns the favor after ripping out her own Element to snap Rarity out of her own self-delusion. Also a Call-Back to Rarity trying to forcibly take it when Rainbow was suicidal.
    Rainbow Dash: Not so hot when you have to do it the dirty and ugly way is it?
  • Twilight delivers one to the rest of the Dark World!Mane Cast to make them realize that attacking a defenseless, mortally wounded Discord was wrong.
    Twilight: What does hurting a monster who's already dying and no longer a threat to anything DO? Payback? Retribution?
  • Discord manages to do this to himself by proxy of asking the question to Twilight and hearing her answer, making him realize there's one choice he can make to stop Nightmare Paradox's "Groundhog Day" Loop plan.
    Discord: ...Twilight... what would you say if I said I never had a choice?
    Twilight: ...I'd say you were wrong. You always have a choice.
  • At the climax, Twilight asks The Nameless Passenger a question that forces it to drop its glamour and reveal itself, a question that said glamour should have prevented her from even thinking, let alone asking.
    Twilight: What are you?
  • Back in the main timeline, at the climax of the Wedding Arc, Applejack gets a big one on Queen Cadenza (Alicorn!Chrysalis), making her realize the Elements of Harmony gave her a heart and beginning her final Villainous Breakdown.
    Applejack: Ya say the Elements fixed ya so ya weren't half-baked? Tell me darlin', what so harmonious about an Alicorn who can't feel a thing for the ponies who love'er more than they love breathin'?!
• These come up every so often in the Quiververse.
  • Twice in one installment, Many Happy Reunions, sees original character Quiver Quill raising these to Twilight Sparkle regarding Princess Celestia and how she handled things with Sunset Shimmer.
    Quiver Quill: If she didn’t think you were ready to know the full details about the mirror, then why show it to you in the first place?
    Quiver Quill: Did Celestia know anything about [Anon-A-Miss]?...Then why didn't she do anything about it?
  • A later example in Contemplating Chaos has Fluttershy ask this of Discord regarding his past actions. Tellingly, he has no answer and simply leaves.
    Fluttershy: Do you regret it?
• In the fic Rainbow in the Dark, Mecha delivers one to Rainbow Dash after the latter accuses her of being Brownie's girlfriend.
  Mecha: If you don't have feelings for him, then why are you getting so defensive? And why are you acting jealous at the idea of him being with me? You wouldn't be doing this if you didn't have feelings for him. Admit it, you like him.
• In Twilight Sparkle, You're Being Ridiculous, When Twilight calls out Princess Celestia for not believing her about Cadence being Chrysalis, she acknowledges she was wrong not to believe Twilight but firmly asks this to her prized pupil. Twilight realizes she didn't handle the situation all that well.
  Princess Celestia: But let me ask you a question, Twilight: if my faithful student is screaming 'SHE'S EVIL!' in the middle of a wedding rehearsal, and my 'niece' has a logical explanation for her behavior, and she breaks down crying in offense, who am I inclined to believe?
• In The Undesirables, while it doesn't have much of an effect the first time she's asked, later on Starlight reconsiders and joins Luna's team after she remembers the question under different circumstances:
  Princess Luna: Does it ever occur to you what might happen if the Elements of Harmony, your friends, don't return one day? If they venture out to combat a threat and end up failing? What will you do if that day comes, Starlight?
• In What a Strange Little Colt, When Sandy Hills asks Twilight whether she would as eager to sacrifice Spike if it was his life on the line, Twilight is stunned into silence. Reflecting on it later, she finds herself still not quite able to come up with an answer.
• In Whispers Nightmare Moon attempts one of these, but Celestia shoots it down.
  Nightmare Moon: And what would father say, knowing that we... that you used his gift to do this to me?
  Celestia: Nothing. Father isn't here, Luna. He was never here.

Naruto

• Androgyninja's A Drop of Poison:
  • After Sasuke humiliates Sakura by calling her worthless Cannon Fodder, Mebuki gently asks Sakura if she'd really be happy in a relationship with somebody who makes her feel that way. This cements Sakura completely losing her former crush on him.
  • Played for Laughs when Zabuza taunts Kakashi over being injured by Raiga. Kakashi points out that Raiga was once a member of Kirigakure's elite Seven Swordsman; if Zabuza's claiming that Raiga was weak, what does that say about the rest of Kiri's forces?
  • When one of Wave's orphans rejects her offer of food, Sakura retorts "Even if you don't want the bars because of your stupid pride, are you really willing to let your friends go hungry because of it?"
• Danzo asks one of Kurenai in Danzo's Team after she insists Team 7 isn't ready for the Chuunin Exams.
  Danzo: Where are your reports?
  Kurenai: What?
  Danzo: The reports you must have written about your observations and analysis of Team 7 would make you more qualified than their commanding officer to judge what they're capable of.
• After her team's failed murder attempt on Naruto in The Darkest Light, Gai asks Tenten why she tried to kill him. When she answers that she was jealous of his skill with a sword and hated him for it, Gai's follow-up question further drives home her Heel Realization.
  Gai: Hated enough to kill?
• In A Drop of Poison, Naruto disabuses Konohamaru of his idea that defeating the current Hokage makes you the new Hokage.
  Naruto: Anyway, say you're right. You managed to beat Jiji somehow, and now you're Hokage... How long until someone else comes against you and beats you? Someone like me?
• Escape From The Hokage's Hat has Kakashi on the receiving end of a couple for teaching Sasuke way more than Naruto and Sakura. To elaborate: he only taught Naruto and Sakura one skill, yet focused more on Sasuke.
  Sakura: (Kakashi indirectly calls her weak in front of Jiraiya and Team 8 while she points out that he abandoned training her) What part of Those who abandon their allies are worse than trash do you believe?
  Jiraiya: (On why he didn't teach Naruto anything) You didn't want to teach him (Naruto) anything that would've pissed off the Uchiha right?
  • Tenten gets a rapid-fire version that lightly crosses with "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    Tenten: Then let me ask you a question Kakashi-san. Is it true that the only true technique that you taught Naruto and Sakura before the Chunin Exams was the ability to walk up trees with chakra? Or how about the rumor that Uchiha Sasuke started suddenly pulling new fire jutsu out of nowhere during that same period? The thing you should be asking yourself is not Where did I go wrong with the Uchiha?. It's What would have happened if I made the others stronger?. Would Sakura have been able to stop Sasuke from leaving in the first place? Would Naruto have been nearly killed twice because he couldn't go any farther on his own? It's because you're asking the wrong questions that you're not finding the right answers.
  • Naruto is told The Needs of the Many speech from every leader he talks with. Upon asking himself if he could do the same, he stalls when he realizes he might have to force a childhood like his on someone else.
• In Glaring Problems, Tenten had been stalked by the Kuno siblings who wanted to date her until Naruto posed as her girlfriend. After Tenten refuses to honor her promise of a favor and eternal friendship, Naruto poses as her girlfriend again and tells the Kunos that they've broken up and Tenten has been calling out for "Kuno" in her sleep. Tenten calls him evil for doing so.
  Naruto: More evil than to swear eternal friendship to a friendless orphan then pretending he doesn't exist?
• A Growing Affection: Nagato admits to Naruto that the main reason he is helping Gouki is that if Gouki succeeds in becoming ruler of the continent, he will have the right and authority to forgive Nagato for failing to protect Yahiko and the original Akatsuki. Naruto, who knows (thanks to Ino's Mind Transfer and Kakashi's deductive reasoning) that each Path of Pein contains part of the mind and soul of the original person, asks "What about Yahiko? Does he forgive you? Does he have the right to forgive you?"
• In The Hokage We Need, Kurenai begins to wonder if there was any other reason for Ino and Sakura to quit being friends other than the both of them being in love with Sasuke and questions Ino about it. The former begins to suspect that it has nothing to do with Ino being in love with Sasuke, but instead being in love with Sakura. Ino can only sputter and try to deflect the question in response, heavily implying that Kurenai was on the mark.
  Kurenai: Would it be possible that the person you love and broke up your friendship...would be Sakura herself?
• There have been quite a few of these in Kitsune no Ken: Fist of the Fox:
  • One of the earliest ones comes from Naruto when Kiba tries to fight him, ostensibly to restore Hinata's honor after her Accidental Kiss with Naruto sometime earlier. Fueling Kiba's anger is the fact that, earlier that very day, Hinata had rejected (albeit as kindly as she could) his own love confession. Naruto's response to Kiba's increased efforts to fight him gets Kiba to stop and think.
    Naruto: What was Hinata's opinion?
  • Later on, Hinata herself gives one to Ino, who's angry that Naruto is showing interest in Sakura instead of Hinata, when Ino has been trying to get the two together. Not only does Hinata reveal that she doesn't mind Naruto checking out other girls (since they're both taking the relationship slow by mutual consent), but her next question leaves Ino stammering (because she's got a personal quarrel with Sakura, which was another factor in her anger).
    Hinata: Are you angry solely because Naruto-kun has shown a crush on someone other than me... or is it because the someone in question is Sakura-san?
  • Tenten winds up giving one of these to Fuu when, during their fight, the latter begins a rant on how she hasn't gotten the honor she believes she deserves after all she has done for her country. The question stops Fuu in her tracks because, to answer it, she's going to have to admit she's a Kyuushingai and specifically the one most directly responsible, albeit accidentally, for Tenten's parents' deaths.
    Tenten: What have you done for your country that you haven't been honored for, Fuu?
• A more comedic example happens in Leftovers. While visiting Konoha's dairy farm to help out as part of a mission, Naruto asks Kurenai where all of the cows are, since he hasn't seen a single one since they arrived. That's when Naruto, Kurenai, and Sakura find out that all of the milk in Konoha comes from the very large-breasted farm hands.
• In Limit Break Naruto does the rapid-fire version to Kakashi, at the end calling him by his name showcasing that no longer sees him as his Sensei.
• In Making Uzumaki Naruto asks several of Kakashi after the latter explains why he won't help Rari, Kuri, and Mou become Konoha ninja (their clan was responsible for Rin's death).
  Naruto: You must really hate me, don't you Kakashi-sensei?
  Kakashi: What? How could you ever think that!
  Naruto: The Kyuubi. It took your sensei from you so you must hate me.
  Kakashi: No! How could you ever think that?
  Naruto: Well, it's the same isn't it? I mean Mou, Rari, Kuri, yeah, I get it their clan are a giant sack of dicks who did something really horrible, but were they even born yet? Even if they were, how is it their fault, they were just babies!
• Shikamaru asks one of Sasuke in Naruto and the Overpowered Academy Three that changes how the surviving Uchiha clan does things.
  Shikamaru: Well, the Sharingan copies every technique it sees, correct? And whatever technique the eye copies, the wielder can use with the same level of skill as the shinobi the technique was copied from, correct? Well, here's what I don't get. Why don't they copy from each other?
• Naruto: Asunder:
  Kakashi: You broke the deal! You were supposed to have him for 3 years and then I would take over!
  Jiraiya: That's because you didn't hold up your end.
  Kakashi: What?
  Jiraiya: I left Naruto to you so you could build up his basics but you were too busy giving the Uchiha prick everything he wanted instead of helping the rest of Team 7.
  Kakashi: B...B...But! You're pushing him too hard in his development!
  Jiraiya: Bullshit. The brat burned through everything I planned to teach so I had to do more. The Akatsuki is after him! Would you prefer I keep him weak so you can have your desire to train him?
  Kakashi: ... (solemn) Still, I wanted to teach him about his elemental affinity.
  Jiraiya: Well too bad. You had your chance and you pissed it away. Oh and another thing, why did you want to train him?
  Kakashi: He's sensei's son.
  Jiraiya: (scowls) That's your problem! You see him as something other than who he is! You see the Yondaime's (4th's) son, the villagers see him as a demon! I see him as a cocky if somewhat determined and loyal blond! Seriously, if he wasn't Minato's son would you even be training him?
  Kakashi: ...
  • After successfully bringing Sasuke back to the village, Naruto quietly tells Hinata that he doesn't really feel he accomplished much because it came down to "luck and coincidence" and he hates it. Hinata begins to probe him on this line of thought:
    Hinata: Naruto-kun, do you like the fact you met me?
    Naruto: Of course Hinata, why would you ask me that?
    Hinata: Would you have ever noticed me if I hadn't fought Neji-nisan in the chunin exams?
    {Beat}
    Naruto: (reluctantly) No, it wouldn't have been any different from any of the other academy students that I never knew what happened to.
    Hinata: And do you believe that fate was what did that?
    Naruto: What? No,I told Neji fate was crap.
    Hinata: So then it was luck that Neji-nisan and I fought.
    Naruto: Yeah bad luck, you almost got killed!
    Hinata: And if that hadn't happened, would we be talking here now? Would I be as strong and would the branch house nearly be completely unsealed?
    Naruto: (Stunned Silence) Man, I really am an idiot. How could I have not noticed someone as awesome as you until a few weeks ago?
• Naruto in NBH cuts off the Kyuubi's Motive Rant about not being some "nameless, pathetic little spirit" by calmly asking, "What is your name then?"
• When Hanabi complains to Hinata about how Konohamaru goofs off in class instead of behaving like someone from a prestigious clan should in Sinister Chakra, Hinata asks if there's anything wrong with that.
  Hinata: Why should someone from a prestigous [sic] clan not have fun in class?
  Hanabi: Well...because...that's the rules.
• In True Ninja, Danzo has Naruto interrogated by Root Agents posing an enemy ninjas who are trying to find out Konoha's secrets, with tactics ranging from brutal torture, to seduction, to the promise of a better life somewhere else. When Sarutobi finds out, he is naturally outraged and demands why Danzo would do this, to which he explains that he wants to find out how loyal Naruto is to Konoha. Sarutobi remarks that Naruto is already a loyal shinobi, and would never betray the Leaf.
  Danzo: Why? Why would-Why should this boy be loyal to this village?
  Sarutobi: I-It's his home.
  Danzo: What kind of home does he have here?
• True Potential:
  • In Chapter 39, Tayuya doesn't want to forgive Masakado for trying to kill her, Naruto, and Karin. However, she widens her eyes when Naruto asks her "What if I didn't forgive you? For all the work you did with Orochimaru?"
  • In Chapter 87, in regards to a possible war between Konoha and Iwa as a result of the Kamizuru Brothers being murdered by ROOT agents, Fū Yamanaka isn't as bothered by it as others, saying that it is Konoha shinobi's duty to die for the village. However, his brother Kanji asks him "You know I'd probably die in that war, right Fū-nii? Cause if we went to war, then even the genin would get deployed. And I'm sure as hell not qualified yet to fight in a war. Do you think it'd be worth it if I died?" In turn, Fū is taken aback by that and eventually concludes that it's not worth it.
• What You Knead:
  • After officially becoming Team Seven's instructor, Kakashi panics, lamenting to Iruka that he has no idea how to handle children. Iruka gently points out that he has more experience than he thinks:
    Iruka: Kakashi... you've been basically tutoring Naruto for nearly five years now. What did you think you were doing if not teaching him?
  • During his Battle in the Center of the Mind, Sasuke counters an assertation that they don't have to be afraid anymore by asking "Then why are you still terrified?"
  • While discussing her struggles to master her family's signature style with Lee, Hinata's stunned when he asks "Do you love the Gentle Fist style?" He goes on to suggest that she should focus on something she's truly passionate about, rather than something she's only learning out of obligation.

Neon Genesis Evangelion

• Advice and Trust:
  • In chapter 3, Asuka is trapped inside Leliel and Nerv's plan is throw all of their bombs at it. Dismayed, Shinji asks Misato if Asuka can survive the blast, and Misato evades the question (which was noticed by Shinji).
    Misato: Shinji? (...) Get ready. The bombers are on their way. We're five minutes from the mark.
    Shinji: Misato-san... I don't like this plan. How... how can we be sure Asuka can even survive the blast?
    Misato: Her batteries will be all but drained by now, Shinji. We have to try something before it's too late, or there'll be no hope at all.
    Shinji: (thinking) She didn't answer my question.
  • In chapter 7, Kaji finds out that Shinji and Asuka are having sex and he tries to dis-encourage them... with null success. When Asuka says Shinji has said he loves her, Kaji asks why she is so sure that it will last as long as she thinks. Shinji's answer shuts him up:
    Asuka: He loves me, Kaji. He's said it right to me. No one else ever has. Not even you.
    Kaji: It’s just words, Asuka. Words are easy to say. They’re a lot harder to really mean. How can you possibly know if it’s true, and will be for as long as you’re talking about?
    Asuka: I believe him.
    Shinji: (coldly) Just words, (...) Just words... have you said them to Misato-san?
  • Kaworu does a more heartwarming example in chapter 11 when Rei III denies any feelings for him because it was Rei II who fell in love with him.
    Kaworu: Do you love Shinji and Asuka?
    Rei: (Angrily) Of course I d-
    Kaworu: Who fell in love with them?
• The Child of Love:
  • In chapter 5 Gendo is rambling about his plans to further human evolution:
    Fuyutsuki: You're going too far, Ikari. Yui wouldn't approve what you're about to do. She would probably wonder what happened to the Gendo she loved and married... and how could you call that 'humankind's evolution?'
    Gendo: ...
  • In chapter 8 Asuka is furious with Shinji because he has lost his nerve and he has broken up because he thinks he is unfit to be her boyfriend and their child’s father and she tells she does not love him anymore. Misato does not buy it, though:
    Asuka: Shinji's a bastard. Nothing more.
    Misato: Asuka... tell me. Do you love him?
    Asuka: ...
    Misato: Do you love him...?
    Asuka: ...
    Misato: DO YOU LOVE HIM!?
    Asuka: N....
    Misato: (frowning) DO YOU LOVE HIM!?
    Asuka: (between little sobs) Yes... I...
• A Crown of Stars:
  • In the first chapter, Asuka's older self is trying to talk Asuka into taking up Daniel's offer:
    Older Asuka: You don't have to be afraid anymore. Of anything. And you're allowed to be happy now. Don’t miss this chance.
    Asuka: A month ago I took on an entire army and two Evas with nothing but a half-functioning Mass Production Unit that couldn’t produce an AT-Field and the Third Child. Afraid? I'm not afraid of anything already.
    Older Asuka: ...Right. Sleeping all right? No bad dreams? No little bad moods grabbing your attention?
  • And in the next chapter Asuka realizes her older self is wearing a ring on her finger. She cannot believe the implications (getting married to Shinji), but then her other self Asuka shouts:
    Older Asuka: And try this one out, "me"; did he ask you? Or did you ask him?
• Doing It Right This Time:
  • Shinji tries to hit his father with one of these in Chapter 1. Unfortunately, it doesn't have the effect he was hoping for. Turns out fellow time-traveler Rei stole his thunder a bit.:
    Shinji: Is there a reason I'm piloting the [Evangelion] that ate Mother?
  • Later on, Misato snaps Shinji out of a minor Heroic BSoD with another:
    Misato: Shinji, do you actually want to die or do you just not know what else to do?
• Evangelion 303: In chapter 12 Asuka is arguing heatedly with her subconscious:
  Asuka: Nobody understands what I’m going through!
  Asuka: Do YOU understand?
• Ghosts of Evangelion: Asuka tries to get Shinji stop blaming himself for Kaworu's death and Third Impact. So she asks him why Kaworu simply didn't leave if he had Free Will.
  Asuka: Who is this Kaworu person, anyway?
  Shinji: He was a good person, [...] He came to Nerv to be a pilot after you... went away. He was my friend and I killed him.
  Asuka: Why?
  Shinji: I had to, [...] If I didn't, everyone would have died.
  Asuka: Why?
  Shinji: He was an angel! [...] He was an angel who looked like a human. Like Ayanami, I guess.
  Asuka: Weird. So why did you have to kill him?
  Shinji: He said that humans deserved to live. He wanted me to live and be happy, so I had to kill him!
  Asuka: That's what he wanted?
  Shinji: Yes.
  Asuka: You're sure? [...] That's what he said?
  Shinji: Yes!
  Asuka: If that's so, [...] then why didn't he leave?
  Shinji: ... what?
  Asuka: If he wanted us to live, why didn't he go back to where he came from? If he was like Ayanami he had to live somewhere before he came to Nerv, right? Why did you have to do anything?
• HERZ: During the Grand Finale, Rei shows Kihl the Ikari family (Shinji, Asuka, and Akiko) like an example of true Human Complementation: two human beings loving each other and the fruit of that love. Then she asks him:
  Rei: Do you understand?
• The One I Love Is...: In episode 11, Shinji decides to regard Kaoru as his friend. However, a part of his mind asked "If she's your friend, then why did she leave so suddenly, without a word?"
• Scar Tissue:
  • Ritsuko is telling Misato how Shinji and Asuka’s health was recovering quickly after several months of deterioration:
    Misato: So what you're saying is that they're good for each other? I wish I could believe that, I really do Ritsu, but Asuka almost killed Shinji, with her bare hands, for touching her. She broke his fingers that time, too, I guarantee it.
    Ritsuko: Dislocated. She dislocated one of his fingers, she didn't break both.
    Misato: It doesn't matter! If they're so good for each other's health, how come this happened!? How come they've both been wasting away all this time?!
    Ritsuko: How should I know? I'm not their guardian, I'm their doctor.
  • Rei returns and tells Shinji that she will protect him from Asuka from now on. Shinji replies that whatever goes between Asuka and him is their concern and he does not like when someone else try to meddle. When she insists his safety is HER concern, he angrily retorts:
    Shinji: Then where the fuck were you!
  • Asuka later also uses this line during their fight.
• The Second Try: After Gendo discovers his son and Asuka's machinations, he interrogates them to pry their knowledge of the future out of them. Shinji demolishes him with a single line:
  Shinji: Do you really think she would come back to you because of that?

Odd Squad

• In All Mixed Up!, Carlos delivers one to Mariana Mag in order to stop her from attacking Otto and turning him into his own personalized anagrammed object. It works for a time, and although she starts to realize what's she's done shortly before performing a Redemption Rejection and going back to what she was doing, Otto manages to stop her while she's distracted via a Hoist by His Own Petard move, anagramming her using her own keyboard.
  Carlos: This isn't who you are. Remember when you used to visit me all those years ago? You were so happy, so hopeful, so young, so...innocent. Where did you go?
  Mariana Mag: But- Carlos, it's me! I'm right here! I came back, like I always said I would.
  Carlos: But at what cost?

One Piece

• Second Wind:
  • In Chapter 33, Luffy's answer to Smoker's question of why Luffy never killed him after beating him.
  Luffy: You need a legitimate reason to kill someone. So what makes you think I'm any different? What have I ever done that makes you think I need a reason to not kill someone?
  (Smoker is speechless)
  Luffy: You ask me why I let you live. My question is, why do you need my permission to live? A life isn't something I have rights to unless it's my own, and it's not something I'll take away just for the hell of it.
  • In Chapter 41, this is how Zoro dissuades Usopp from swimming in the White Sea - a sea made of clouds in the sky.
    Usopp: I just wanted to see if I could touch the bottom. I can hold my breath really well, so it shouldn't be a...
    Zoro: Bottom?
• This Bites!:
  • Near the end of Chapter 38, while Cross is letting Dorry and Broggy talk to their subordinates Oimo and Kashi, one of the guards tries to regain control by claiming that Dorry and Broggy are in Impel Down and it's all a trick of Soundbite's Voice Changeling powers. Cross proceeds to let the guard dig his own grave by clarifying that Soundbite could, indeed, flawlessly replicate Dorry and Broggy's voices just by hearing them once... and then asking when, exactly, could he have gotten into and out of Impel Down to get their voices?
  • At the end of Chapter 70, after narrowly being saved from Kizaru by Rayleigh, and learning that he failed to stop the War of the Best, Cross is confronted by Kuma alone, who bluntly tells him that he will not allow the entire Straw Hat crew to attempt a rescue mission, and will scatter them around the world as he would have done in canon. Unlike Enies Lobby, Marineford and Impel Down will not have lax security, and many of the world's top powers will be gathered there. If they attempt to attack as a group, chances are there will be at least one fatality, and the fault will lie solely on Cross's head for knowing that they're getting in over their heads. He ends it with a question that leaves Cross completely unable to answer, no matter how much he defiantly wants to: "Do you believe, fully and completely, that all of you as you are can survive a war between the most powerful forces in the world, and then proceed to the Emperors' domain and successfully claim Roger’s throne?"
• Twelve Red Lines: The talk with Smoker in Chapter 24 devolves into a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, starting around the point that Jones says this:
  Jones: Let me ask you this, Smoker- if you knew a greedy slimeball of a man was going to steal the results of eight years of hard work from Tashigi, would you do anything in your power to stop him?
  Smoker: (irritably) Of course. Tashigi may be a forgetful klutz, but she's a good soldier and one of my best friends.
  Jones: What if that man were a marine?
  (Smoker stiffens, unable to reply)

Persona Franchise

• In Continuance, Souji is highly suspicious about his mother, Izumi, claiming to have turned over a new leaf and wanting to reconnect with him, her brother Ryotaro Dojima, and her niece, Nanako, and bluntly says that visiting him on the way to visit the Dojimas is unlike her. She then takes him off guard with the following question, and while he's tempted to say that she can't, he realizes his personal experiences prove otherwise.
  Izumi: Do you believe people can change?
  Souji: What?
  Izumi: People. Do you think they can change if they realize they were wrong about something? I won't deny that my job has been important. It's been what I've wanted since I was younger than you. But I want to try to reconnect with Ryo and Nanako. I'd like to talk to you without us fighting. I've gotten three calls tonight, and haven't taken any of them. Tell me: do you think that people can change?
• Hours 'Verse: In Stars Shine Brighter without Sunlight, the cadet trio are questioning Goro about Ren's recent actions and demand to search his phone. Goro shuts them down by asking "Do you have a warrant to search my property?" and goes on to lecture them on going behind Anna's back and abusing their authority as part of the Defensive Line.
  Goro: You’re just here asking questions with no authority and no command! Just using your power and status to bully and corner a common citizen! Wouldn’t that be a great thing to get back to your boss, or even better the local news?
  Souji: That’s not… We’re not here trying to corner you, we just need answers.
  Goro: Not trying to corner me? I had to ask you to step away from the door! And now you want to look through my phone? Forget it. I have nothing to say to you or show you until you come back with a warrant or Apollo himself.

Pokémon

• Common Sense has Misty, who had declared herself Ash's rival over him being a better battler than her, begin to feel sorry for him after he fails to save Butterfree's mate from Team Rocket. She wants to help him, but Brock warns her against it since, after her previous attitude with him, he would see it as pity. When she defended her plan by saying it was what any decent person would do, Brock's next question led to her Jerkass Realization.
  Brock: Would you act kind to him if things had gone differently today?
• In A Pikachu in Love, when Pikachu is telling Pichi about his life with Ash and how he'll always be a trainer, Pichi asks Pikachu if he wants to be a sports Pokemon all his life. Though it stuns Pikachu for a few seconds while he tries to think of an answer, he eventually decides to leave it up to the future. Though, later on, he eventually starts asking this question to himself when he realizes Ash won't be young and a trainer forever...
• In The (Edit) War for Ash’s Freedom to not be Betrayed, a group of hipsters mocking Ash for never winning a League are stopped in their tracks when Ash asks if they've ever actually competed in a League before themselves.
• Quite a few examples in Pokémon Reset Bloodlines and its sidestories:
  • In the Gary Interlude, the title character meets a retired trainer named Casey Snagem, with whom he discusses his definition about what makes a Pokémon Master. A mental wave of them hits him in regards to his constant losses to Red:
    Casey Snagem: If you do win a league Red fights in, what if you never fight him? Perhaps he gets taken out by a spontaneous Magikarp evolution or something, is it really all that impressive if you don't overcome him? [...] Can you handle the idea that there may be scenarios you cannot overcome, no matter how many times you fight. Pokemon you've never seen before, legendaries, mega evolutions, does the end result nullify everything you've accomplished since? Every league, is there only one trainer who deserves to be treated with respect, and the rest with scorn for not being him or her?
  • In the Hala & Hau Interlude, Frax asks Hau who he actually wants to surpass, his father, or his grandfather.
  • In Chapter 27 of the main story, Gary and Paul have a heated argument, when the latter says that he plans to carry them both through while the former just stays out of his way making a minimal effort:
    Gary: What's that supposed to mean!? My Exeggcute didn't exactly do nothing in our last fight, and unlike you I have six badges!
    Paul: Sure, they actually performed acceptably, but what did your Growlithe do for us in the first round? And I've seen your six badges. Ignoring the fact one of your badges is a Cascade Badge, that still doesn't answer why I, someone with just four badges, am outperforming someone with 5 badges and a consolation prize!?
  • In the same chapter, while Ash is trying to decide what to do for the finals, he intends to win the tournament without using his Super-Empowering abilities because he considers it cheating, and he gets this from Pikachu:
    Pikachu: 'Perhaps you don't use your powers to win badges and Leagues. That's all fine and good, and I'm fully on board with that. We all are. But Ash... what happens if something is on the line? You may have a plan in case we lose tomorrow or the next day, but if it came between risking everyone's lives and freedoms breaking into the Safari Zone, or cheating to ensure that we keep all our Tauros, our safety, and our reputations intact... is cheating really the worse option?'
  • In the Red Two Island Interlude, the title character gets a threefold from Ultima: first in regards to not paying due attention to his Clefairy's Ax-Crazy behavior, then about whether he considers his Pokémon his friends or just the means to his ends, and finally, if he would actively go all out against an opponent with the intent to cripple them or worse.
• In Pokemon: Shadow of Time, Serena delivers the following to Misty regarding why all of the girls in Ash's life need to at least publically get along, considering that he's legally obliged to practice polygamy in his role as the heir to the kingdom of Rota;
  Would you like to explain to Ash's mother why he's depressed enough to jump off a cliff if we get into a fight somewhere down the line? Because he is on that knife edge right now. The only reason he's not marching towards it is because he thinks he's not worthy of any of us! I am willing to try and fall in love with any girl that's interested in Ash just to make sure my beloved lives to a ripe old age. Are YOU?

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

• The Soulmate Timeline: During a tense conversation between Candeloro and Homura about Homura's failures and how Homura nearly threw herself back into her self-pity until Madoka stopped her. When Homura says that she is taking responsibility for her mistakes, Candeloro stops Homura in her tracks with one simple question.
  Is that Homura talking, or is that the orphanage talking?

Ranma ½

• Adamantine Mist:
  • After learning that Ranma is now engaged to Kasumi, Ukyo confronts her about it. She accuses Kasumi of taking the engagement out of duty, rather than love for Ranma, prompting Kasumi to respond thusly:
    Kasumi: It is perhaps a trifle presumptuous of you to claim to know what I feel inside. Not that it truly matters. As for your own feelings, only you can know them and I will not ask for proof. But are you so sure? Tell me, would you dare to ask yourself on how many occasions you have put Ranma's needs ahead of your own?
  • Later on, Ukyo visits Ranma to try and talk him into breaking off the engagement and marrying her instead. When she insists that they'd be happy together, Ranma points out that none of his engagements were made with his happiness in mind, and then we get this:
    Ukyo: So you're just going to do what they want you to? Even if you end up miserable?
    Ranma: And how's that different from doing what you want?
  • Again when Akane can't believe Ranma is serious about training her in martial arts.
    Akane: Why haven't I ever been able to trust you?
    Ranma: Did you ever really try?
• Used by a therapist in Chapter 11 of Decode. Unlike most examples, this was done to help him.
  Do you have anything that's unrelated to martial arts that you're sure about? Just with life in general?
• In After the Fall of Giants, after Shampoo expresses her desire to kill any Amazon who would harm any child she might have with Mousse, Mousse gets her to calm down by asking if she's including Ling-Ling and Lung-Lung in that.

Real-Person Fic

• In With Strings Attached, the Hunter confesses to Paul that he's envious of the friendship between the four and that his life, while rewarding and exciting, has left him without anyone he could trust with his soul. Paul then asks him a series of probing questions about whether he actually likes his life, ending with, "Don't you think if you were really keen on your life, four days with us wouldn't've made any difference?"
• Paul gets to do it again when he devastates Spectrem with one of these in The Keys Stand Alone: The Soft World. Quite pissed off at Paul for refusing to do anything violent, Spectrem proceeds to attack him with various rays of power, in an effort to force Paul to take a swing at him. However, none of the beams damage Paul in the slightest. He proceeds to upbraid the astonished Guardian, and reduces him to a stammering wreck with the simple question: "What if you'd killed me?"

Reborn! (2004)

• In Bolt from the Blue, Xanna asking why he wants to rule over the multiverse sends Byakuran into a Villainous Breakdown of epic proportions.

RWBY

• Acceptance: Jaune meets up in the forest with Blake, making them partners, and reveals that he's half-Grimm to her, causing her to point her weapon at him and call him a soulless beast, even referring to him as "it" instead of "him" in her POV. When it's clear to him that it wouldn't work between them he turns to go back to the Wilds. Blake aims at his head and says she can't just let him go, but Jaune asks her two questions that hit her hard and make her refer to him as "him" again:
  Jaune: Kitty-Cat, tell me something. Do you honestly think Ozpin of all people doesn't know about me, or you for that matter? Hell, he's the only reason I'm not someone's rabid dog!
  (Blake's eyes widen)
  Jaune: Like I said, I'm Half-Human and Half-Grimm. I was hoping you'd at least listen, but I can tell that won't happen. If a Faunus that fears discovery won't listen to me, then what hope do I have with anyone else should I be found out?
• In Leader Change, Yang and Blake begin to rag on Weiss when they find out her suggestion for how to spend their "Team Day" is to go to the opera, but they stop when an angry Weiss asks them if they've ever actually seen an opera before. Sorta-Subverted when Yang and Blake decide to give it a chance, and the opera turns out to be as boring as they predicted.
• Played for Laughs in A Rabbit Among Wolves: Jaune manages an accidental one when he questions why a spider Faunus can shoot webbing from her hands, noting that spiders don't shoot webbing from their legs. The next day she's staring at her hands "like she'd just committed mass orphan murder and couldn't handle it" while asking herself why it comes out of her hands.
  • More seriously, Jaune asks Ilia how Adam's methods will actually bring about equality. Ilia can't really respond.
• RWBY: Reckoning has one where Cinder tells Darrel of Kimba's supposed motives, and with one question, completely destroys his trust in her.
  Cinder: Think about this, Darrel. I am in a position where I can fulfill my role as your protectorate. I have promised you a way home. Has Kimba offered you such a reward?

The Silmarillion

• In A Boy, a Girl and a Dog: The Leithian Script:
  • To a Feanorian kinslayer after he hit her:
    Maiwe: Your answer is the same as ever was, to them that refuse your tyranny — hard word, and harder hand. Was that not how it befell your own King at high Formenos, my kinsman?
  • Beren to Aegnor after the latter tried to give him a hard time:
    Beren: I'm sure it was more complicated than just family, but even with there not being all that many places to go, after the Sudden Flame, the thing I'm wondering is, if maybe you feel a bit guilty, since maybe you all being so tight with that crew had something to do with Finrod giving them such a warm welcome, if it was partly for your sake. —Just going on how things were in Dorthonion after it started getting bad, and the way people react, how it isn't all just what's the most reasonable thing to do.
    Steward: A most interesting question. —Is that the case, I wonder?
    Aegnor: (glowering) I do not choose to answer your unworthy speculations.
    Steward: I believe that you have quite well, your Highness.
  • Elenwe to Amarië as they are listening to the bit about Finrod’s doom:
    Elenwe: (to Amarie, puzzled) Art thou not much wrung, for thought of thy consort's fate?
    Amarie: (coldly) His own fate, he did him choose.
    Elenwe: Thou answerest not. —Why?
    Amarie: (sharp) Wherefore I answer not unto thee, kinswoman.
    Elenwe: Again thou answerest not.
• Lessons from the Mountain: Varda delivers a devastating question during Maedhros' judgement which causes the latter to reexamine his actions during the first Kinslaying:
  "You did not need the Valar to teach you that it was wrong to kill the Teleri and take their ships," Estë said sorrowfully. "You did know better, but in your reckless fear..."
  "We were not afraid!" he insisted.
  "Why your haste?" asked Varda, and then he knew, knew beyond any doubt, that she was right. A sickening feeling took his stomach, and he was glad he had not eaten in years.

A Song of Ice and Fire

• As Oberyn, in Chapter 35 of Robb Returns, muses on the recent changes Westeros has undergone, he has a big one for his brother Doran.
  Oberyn Martell: And... Stark is asking for information about the Others. Stark the pragmatist, Stark the practical, asks for information about a legend. And that, my brother, is what terrifies me. What if... in these times of magic... legends are real?

South Park

• After getting into an argument after their break up in Dead Man Walking, Wendy accuses Stan of never caring about her. And when he tries to argue against this, she asks him a few questions about his best friend Kyle. Which Stan answers easily, before asking what that proves. Then Wendy asks him to answer the same questions about her and Stan can only make a weak excuse in response.
• My Super Best Friend: Craig gives one to Butters that makes him realize the follies of pinning Cartman and Kyle against each other.
  Craig: Does [Kyle] look like he's working out his anger in a healthy way?

Star Trek

• In the Star Trek: The Original Series fanfic Retribution, Spock gets Kirk to give up his self-blame about the harsh things he said by reminding Kirk that Kirk forgave him for much worse in a similar situation.
  Kirk: Spock, you weren't in your right mind!
  Spock: And today, Captain, today — were you?

Star Wars

• Darth Vader: Hero of Naboo;
  • In a Jedi Council meeting, Vader vaguely alludes to the events of his fall. Yoda muses that he'd taken the easy path, infuriating Vader, who sneers that it was the hardest choice he'd ever taken. Unfazed, Yoda admits that the choice was insanely hard... but asks if so was the path. Grudgingly, Vader lets go of his wrath.
  • Shmi comes very close to discovering Vader's true identity, something that shocks him to the core, even if she didn't quite get it right.
    Shmi: He's you, isn't he? You see... who you used to be, in Annie, don't you?
• In My Mother, when Padme (frozen in carbonite for over thirty years) is talking with Chewbacca about Anakin, while Chewbacca wonders how she can forgive Anakin's actions, Padme asks if Chewbacca wouldn't do the same for his own mate; while Chewbacca counters that Malla wouldn't do anything to their son anyway, he can't respond to Padme when she asks him what he'd do if she did do something.
• In Shadows of the Future, Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent back in time from the moment he loses the duel on Mustafar to the moment when he first met Anakin on Tatooine. With his advance knowledge, Obi-Wan drops a few subtle but significant rhetorical questions to Anakin in the hope of stopping him being drawn to the Dark Side before it's too late. For example, when Anakin comments that it might be better if the Senate just had one figure with absolute power, Obi-Wan asks him if he'd really want a society that relied on just one man telling everyone what to do as it essentially amounts to a new form of slavery.

Steven Universe

• In Faded Blue, when Rose says that the Gems would never hurt a human, Greg replies with this.
  Greg: Really? So you're saying that if I'd come to you, two years ago and gone, 'Here's my son, he has the gemstone of a person you waged a war against', you wouldn't have thrown him in a cage?
• The World is Your Oyster, The Universe is Your Namesake has Steven asking these as the initiator of many arcs in the story - "I feel like we’re isolating ourselves from humanity. Why do we do that?"

Superman

• In Man of Steel fanfiction Daughter of Fire and Steel, when Zod pulls his coup, he tries to sway Jor-El over by showing how his own niece is on Zod's side. Jor-El snaps "Is this what you've become, Kara? Is this what Zor would want you to be?" While she keeps her emotions in check, Kara is inwardly affected by his words enough to later help ensure Kal-El escapes Krypton.

Tangled: The Series

• On Trial: Quirin states that some of Cassandra's crimes, such as kidnapping and drugging him, are hard to forgive. Varian states that, while what Cassandra did was wrong, he did things that were just as bad when he was a villain. He finishes by asking why he's worthy of forgiveness, and Cassandra isn't.

Thomas & Friends

• In Cruel to Be Kind, the Fat Controller gets David Rider to calm down and listen to his explanation of why he punished Emily and not Diesel by asking David what his (David's) deceased father would think if he could see David losing his temper.

Total Drama

• In Legacy, Courtney rants about her unfair elimination and thoughtlessly says that she should have been kept on instead of the recently murdered Gwen. Noah shuts her up by saying, "She would be here. Alive. And you?"
• In The Legend of Total Drama Island, the normally self-effacing Beth defuses an impending No-Holds-Barred Beatdown when she asks, "Hasn't there been enough blood today?" Coming on the heels of a challenge where an intern and a contestant were lost in separate incidents, Beth's question stops everyone in their tracks.
• Total Drama Comeback Series: Eva is angry about having been voted off second by the Killer Bass because of her anger issues, and primarily blames Bridgette for it, even though the other girl was only one of several Bass members who voted for her. Later, Eva angrily rants to her mother about how it was unfair that her team voted her off early, and how they could have picked someone else, like Bridgette. When her mother asks what reason they would have to vote for Bridgette, Eva doesn't have an answer.

Touhou Project

• Gensokyo 20XX:
  • Chen does this a few times. In her "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Yume Ni, she asks "If Reimu died, would you be happy then?!" and, earlier, in 20XXIV, she asks, "Is that what you want, to be quiet and act like everything is fine, while you stagger around in darkness, living in misery and sadness?" to Miko.
  • Later in 20XXV, she asks Yukari, "Damn! Don't you know how to make decisions for the best?!" She is rightfully silenced.

Transformers

• In the Beast Wars fic Dying Young, Megatron attempts to force the Maximals to surrender by offering them the cure for Cheetor's current terminal illness. While Rattrap, Airazor, and Optimus each muse that they would hate losing Cheetor more than they would hate surrendering to Megatron (Cheetor is currently undergoing treatment, and Rhinox and Dinobot were trying to find the cure), Tigatron prompts the other three Maximals to consider what Cheetor would want, prompting Optimus to recall Cheetor's past comment of "better dead than Pred".
• Eugenesis: Wheeljack asks Sygnet how he could work for the Decepticons, pointing out how they just use his inventions to kill. Sygnet coldly asks Wheeljack what he thinks the Autobots do with all of his inventions. Wheeljack is silent for a moment, then quickly changes the subject.
• In To What Subservience Leads, after dealing with Megatron's other personalities (It Makes Sense in Context), Starscream demands that Megatron tells him that he loves him. Megatron calmly turns the tables by asking if Starscream will repay him with the same words if he does so.

Trollhunters

• Changeling Jim in Becoming the Mask (Trollhunters) believes Gunmar will reward the Changelings for helping him escape the Darklands, and Jim plans to use his "reward" to ask for the safety of some humans he'd rather not see eaten by trolls. Aaarrrgghh, who once worked for Gunmar, insists Gunmar can't be trusted to keep his word. Jim argues until Aaarrrgghh asks him if he is willing to bet his friends' lives on it.

Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-

• In Shatterheart, Kurogane does this twice on R!Syaoran's behalf.
  • To Sakura:
    Kurogane: Look. I know everyone's gone through a lot of shit since Tokyo, but you're really not helping anything by hiding out by yourself. You need to talk to him (Syaoran).
    Sakura: This Syaoran—
    Kurogane: Why do you have to call him that? Why does it have to be 'this Syaoran?' Why can't you just call him 'Syaoran?'
  • To Fai, when he realizes that he's been horrible to Syaoran.
    Fai: What does this Syaoran like?
    Kurogane: Well for one, he'd like it if you'd drop the 'this Syaoran' bullshit and just called him by name.

The Twilight Saga

• In Mistaken Trust, after Jacob has raped Bella, at one point Billy Black comes to Bella's house to try and make Bella take back her "lies" about his son. However, when he starts trying to accuse Edward of being her rapist, Charlie directly asks Billy if Bella would really be so obviously comfortable around Edward if he was the one who raped her, forcing Billy to accept that his son really is the one responsible for Bella's assault.
• In Tough Love, Charlie asks why Bella even wants to be with the Cullens when she doesn't seem to like or even know anything about them. Bella doesn't react, but an eavesdropping Edward (who, incidentally, Charlie was aware of) hears it and realizes that Bella is only dating him to become a vampire.

Umineko: When They Cry

• Redaction of the Golden Witch: Karl firmly believes that the Sole Survivor of the Rokkenjima Incident must have been the culprit, repeatedly railing on and on about they were obviously guilty. After getting sick of his ranting, the 1996!Protagonist trips him up by asking whether he'd accuse the survivor directly of their supposed crimes if they were present.

Warhammer 40,000

• In the Warhammer 40,000 fanfic sequel to Secret War, Secret War: Upon Blood Sands, Attelus gives one to Marcel Torris. It's also a reference to Paarthunax's.
  Attelus: I'm not a good person. So tell me what means more, Marcel? Someone who's inherently good, doing good? Or someone who's inherently evil doing good, despite their ingrained nature?

Worm

• Dinah does this to Emma in Atonement, as part of her plan to induce a Heel Realization and trigger. She does have to break through Emma's lies to herself, but eventually she gets the right reaction.
  Dinah: Who was your best friend? And what did you do to her?
  Emma: Taylor. And I killed her.
• In Security, after Emma Barnes is caught red-handed bullying Taylor Hebert by the self-insert protagonist Mike Allen, the following conversation takes place during a meeting between the protagonist, Emma, and her father.
  Mike: Just because someone with a stupid fucking philosophy of life does you a huge favour does not make that philosophy right. It’s still fucking stupid. Sophia can't really help the way she is; her power fucked her head up. You don't have that excuse. You can change. It's up to you.
  Emma: But I did change! Sophia showed me how! I was weak, now I'm strong! I am!
  Mike: Yeah. So ... how's that working out for you, exactly?

X-Men

• Stars From Home has Chris Summers make excuses for beating his son—it happened once, he was drunk, and it was after the War. He acknowledges that it was wrong but doesn't take full responsibility until he realizes how Scott sees this.
  Scott: Did I deserve it?

Xenoblade Chronicles

• In Another Chronicle, when Mythra is shouting at Nia for freezing up in the middle of a fight after Dromarch's death, Rex asks a question which stops her rant cold and makes her realize that her anger is only hurting Nia worse.
  Rex: She'd just lost Dromarch. How was she supposed to react?
• Where We Don't Belong: Noah catches Riku off-guard with one after finding out about their current circumstances, forcing him to fess up about what he knows is currently off about the past.
  Noah: We're not just in our home worlds, split apart once more. Rather, we've all found ourselves transported into the past of them... we've gone backwards in time. But that's not news to you, is it Riku?

Yogscast

• During the first encounter in Yognapped between Sben and Griefer Alpha, the former constantly interrupts the latter's request for an alliance with taunts and cold derision. Frustrated, Griefer Alpha asks him about his reasons for waging war, which causes Sben to immediately lose all bravado because he's forgotten the answer.
  Griefer Alpha: You heard me, Sben. What motivated you to form Ironstorm in the first place? WHY do you want to destroy Minecraftia?

Yu-Gi-Oh!

• The Judgement of the World (5Ds):
  • Jack insists that he's no longer the person he was when he endangered Riley's life just so he could leave the Satellite and start a new life in Neo Domino City. Yusei asks him if he's even spoken to Riley since then.
  • When confronted by Yusei, Yugi Muto explains why he can't reveal anything about the possible futures he's seen, even if it may save lives:
  Yugi: Because you stop living your life, that's why. Some people with bad news give up, let it happen, and wallow in their own bad luck. Others strive to turn it around and make a better outcome. Your life is made up of choices. You make a choice and that choice results in an event. If I stop you and tell you what each event is, can you say you're living your life? Are you learning anything? Standing on your own at all? Then there's the mess of "What makes you so special, Yusei?". Why should I only tell you the future events and no one else? It's like children playing with dolls. Have you ever watched them? They put the dolls at the table in clothes they pick, act out whole conversations through the dolls. Does that make those dolls people? If not, why? What would make the living any different than those dolls if I spent all my time giving people a running commentary of what's about to happen?
  • Asuka begs Kara, a female Yugi from an alternate reality, to help her friends Junko and Momoe, both of whom were maimed by Yubel, with the latter's injuries likely being fatal. She's immediately left at a loss for words when Kara asks why she deserves to have her prayers answered more than the countless others who have had to endure worse their entire lives do.
  Kara: Yours is a timeline where there are no longer electric or gas bills, yet there are still people born into abject poverty. Murder still happens, rape still happens, human trafficking, mental disorders, cancers, people who are ostracized for their race or sexual identity or religious beliefs. And yet you think that just because you know how to reach us that you have the right to ask for boons that people far more deserving of you don't have access to?
• Stacking The Deck: Doubling as a Cliffhanger at the end of Chapter 18, Yarden to Chancellor Sheppard:
  Yarden: When are you going to let Alexis know that shadow games were being researched at the Abandoned Dorm and that's the reason why her brother disappeared.
• In the final arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Forever, after main character Yugo (Yugi's son) is angrily called out by Serenity and Yugi for making a two-edged deal with the Big Bad that will result in either his own death or the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians, all for the sake of trying to rescue Kaiba's mind-controlled son from said Big Bad, in despair Yugo asks his father one question:
  Yugo: Would you just stand by and do nothing while the bad guys took one of your closest friends away from you?

Fan Films

• In the James Bond Fan Film Property Of A Lady, the new M gives a lecture about their duty to the crown, right after he’s shot one of the captured mooks to get the confession from the other. Eventually, it comes to this, foreshadowing that M is the real Big Bad:
  M: Once we give everything to the service, we become property of a lady. We stay that way unless we get stolen.
  Bond: Sir, were you stolen?

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