Basic Trope: A character is ordered to do something wrong; when he refuses, he is told he passed the test.
- Straight: Jack and Tom Katigurn are in a race, which is a test for becoming a warrior. Tom is injured; Jack helps him on, resulting in their being the last two to complete the race. Jack is still chosen to be a warrior, because in the battle, you must rely on each other and not leave behind your team.
- Exaggerated:
- The Grand Wizard orders Jack to kill a little girl in order to become his apprentice; Jack refuses, and the Grand Wizard accepts him as the new Grand Wizard.
- Jack is tasked by an alien Emperor to eradicate humanity because Humans Are "Allegedly" The Real Monsters. At the end of his journey, Jack turns on his communicator and tells his emperor that he refuses, saying that Humans Are Good, and the Emperor praises him by telling him that Rousseau Was Right and that the biggest threat to any empire, both primitive and advanced, is Fantastic Racism.
- Downplayed: The exact criteria for success are never explained, and/or the Secret Test appeared to have no connection to what he was doing. It's never flat-out said that his refusal to compromise his morals is what granted him victory, but it is implied.
- Justified: The character trait will prove vital in whatever he is being tested for.
- Inverted:
- A wizard orders Jack to save a little girl to become his apprentice; Jack refuses, and the wizard accepts him as an apprentice, because he is an Evil Sorcerer.
- Jack is ordered to steal something to become a wizard; he steals it and is accepted, because an apprentice must obey his master wizard implicitly at all times.
- Conversely, Jack gives the wizard a chance to harm him. Only when the wizard refuses does Jack ask to become his apprentice.
- A warlock asks Jack to save a little girl in order to become his apprentice. He praises him for doing it and notes specifically why he isn't fit to be a warlock. It is a path of inevitable corruption and even he refuses to start it for someone who isn't already on the downward spiral and advises being a straightforward hero instead.
- Subverted:
- A wizard orders Jack to kill a little girl in order to become his apprentice; Jack starts to refuse and then realizes that the little girl is a demon, so it's just a test of skill and power.
- Jack is given the chance to cheat during his test. He refuses to cheat and is not given the position because he must be as opportunistic as possible.
- Jack is ordered to steal from the royal treasury. When he refuses, he is nominated for and then receives the post of Royal Treasurer — which, it turns out, is entirely nominal, with only ceremonial duties.
- The test only has valid answers that determine what path is to be taken. Berserkers are supposed to charge ahead without regard for the fallen. Guardians are supposed to rescue them. Cheaters become Agents.
- Double Subverted:
- But she's a demonic little girl, and Children Are Innocent, so he still refuses and becomes a student that way.
- After the council informs Jack that they're not giving him the position because he didn't cheat, he calls them out. This causes them to give him the position because he proved just how moral he was.
- When Jack complains about this, he is given a real position for demonstrating his unwillingness to back down.
- Not everyone is going to be suited for battle, and would even turn down participating, but there are positions for them as well.
- Parodied:
- Sally orders Jill to break a window to become her student. Jill decides Sally is too silly to be worthy studying with, and Sally instantly says she's the very paragon of perfection she's been looking for.
- Everything Jill refuses to do turns out to be one of Sally's secret tests of character. "You aren't going to sleep with me? Good, because no lesbian can be a Warrior of the Third Light."
- "This was a test to see if you would take a life simply to attain a position of power." "Actually, I only refused to kill that girl because I wanted to see if your self-esteem was low enough that you would give up your job to someone just for demonstrating basic compassion."
- "You aren't going to sleep with me? Good, because you won’t sacrifice your integrity just to get a job."
- Zig Zagged: Tom orders Jack to kill a little girl to become his student. When Jack refuses, Tom salutes him and offers him the place. Jack says it was a test to see if Tom would pull some such silly stunt to see if he was worthy of being his master, and leaves, and James appears saying he was looking for a student who could see through Tom.
- Averted: No one tries to order someone to do something wrong as a test.
- Enforced: "You have to show that he wasn't just chosen for his skill."
- Lampshaded: "Is this the point at which I nobly throw my chance away and end up winning?"
- Implied: Wizards always mention 'that old man' when asking how they started on the path to being a wizard.
- Invoked: "I'll just leave this money here, and see if she returns it to me. Then, I'll know what she's made of."
- Exploited: "Okey, if you want to rob the guy's house, you'll need to pass his test of character. He'll leave some money on a counter, and if it is still there when he get back, he'll hire you. Then you can rob him blind."
- Defied: Jack tells the tester than he doesn't want his reward; he doesn't trust him.
- Discussed: "I am going to leave a fake hundred dollar bill on the counter. If it is still there when I get back, than I know that Jack is trustworthy."
- Conversed: "Seriously, has anyone ever won a race in real life by stopping to help everyone else?"
- Deconstructed:
- Once Jack learns about the test, he is disgusted that they would mess with him in such a drastic way and asks why they did something so dishonest if they were concerned about morality.
- The cunning Deceptive Disciple figures out he's in a Secret Test of Character, and passes it with flying colors, while the Good Is Not Nice Anti-Hero fails it.
- Jack would ordinarily never dream of doing what the tester is asking of him, but does so because he thought that following their demands would get him what he wanted.
- Reconstructed:
- But he comes in time to realize that this was an effective way to gauge the morals of their students.
- The mentors in question agree with Jack that the idea is distasteful but make him acknowledge both the dire need for moral candidates and the need for deception to accurately test said morals.
- By questioning their hypocrisy, Jack passes the real test.
- The issuers of the test want to keep their enemies close, and issue further tests to give other candidates another chance.
- The issues eventually hire both the Deceptive Disciple and the Anti-Hero: The former is good for outside the box thinking and finding loopholes, while the latter is good for keeping the former in line.
- The tester already arranged it to be something that was actually harmless, knowing enough about Jack that even if he went through with doing something he doesn't normally do, it would also prove his loyalty.
Now, go back to Secret Test of Character
That was a test, and you suceeded. You may now go back to Secret Test of Character
