Verbal Backspaces in Video Games.
- Rendain from Battleborn gets one in the Prologue mission when he gets so mad he drops the sophisticated act: "Deande, I'm disappointed, no, no, I'm pissed, we're upgrading to pissed. Do you have any idea what you've done?!"
- Early in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun's Brotherhood of Nod campaign, you get a hint that CABAL might have some ulterior motives when he advises you to rescue another Nod commander who may possess "information vital to my... your movement."
- The Darkside Detective: When a witness mentions having visited a strip club called Belle's, Dooley remarks that he has happy memories of the place, then clocks McQueen's disapproving reaction and backtracks, claiming he has no idea what the witness is talking about. Something about bells?
- Cole from Dragon Age: Inquisition does this sometimes; his purpose in life is to ease people's pain, and since he's not really human, sometimes he says the wrong thing to a person and has to try again until he finds the right way to put someone at ease. The difference between him and most examples is that due to his ability to make people forget him, he can 'erase' his failed attempts and start over from scratch each time.
- Two examples in The Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown. The first happens in the pre-boss cutscene in "Get a Clue", after discussing how Oberon and Titania had to sell all their treasure once they ceased to be royalty.Cosmo: Aww, how sad, not being filthy rich anymore. Please.
"Ghost": (really just Oberon and Titania in a poorly-mode monster suit) Intruuuudeeeerrrrrs.... Bewaaaaaaaarrrrreeeee...
Cosmo: Eek! I'm sorry! Rich people are great, and this treasure room is really impressive! Please don't haunt me!- The second is in the opening cutscene in "The Great Esc-ape" Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda learn that Timmy's mom has been kidnapped by an evil ape king.Cosmo: Ohh, how will we get our banana bread now?
Wanda: (Death Glare)
Cosmo: I mean, we better rescue mom and get that flour back.
- The second is in the opening cutscene in "The Great Esc-ape" Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda learn that Timmy's mom has been kidnapped by an evil ape king.
- In Fire Emblem Engage, when Yunaka spots the thief who stole Micaiah's Emblem Ring from her, Alear compliments her on being able to see something from as far away as she did. Yunaka chalks it up to having "a killer's eyes" before quickly correcting herself and telling Alear that she meant to say "killer eyes." (This is one of many things she does and says to try to cover up her shady past as an assassin.)
- A few nights into Five Nights at Freddy's, "Phone Guy" will give you a call to congratulate you on your progress.Phone Guy: Hey, you're doing great! Most people don't last this long! I mean... y'know. They usually move on to other things by now. I'm not implying that they died. That's not what I meant.
- The Game Dev Tree: The description of lectures says "you should be able to start hiring Teacher Assistants to take advantage of" with "take advantage of" crossed out, followed by "help you out."
- Done repeatedly in Golf Story, such as when the protagonist initially calls disc golf "frisbee golf" or when Coach doesn't want the protagonist to call him Coach. The way this is conveyed is by having the text appear as usual only for it to be erased as if it was literally being backspaced in a word processor.
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars: During a random encounter, Huang meets a real estate agent who previously asked Huang to drive him around.Huang: You still don't have a car?
Real Estate Agent: Why do I need a car when I've got a buddy like you to drive me around?
Huang: I'm not your buddy.
Real Estate Agent: Come on, I'll pay you good!
Huang: So where are we going, buddy? - In Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy and Talanah encounter Ahsis taking on a Thunderjaw.
- In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Anju's grandmother pretends to be a Scatterbrained Senior in order to get out of eating Anju's cooking. She nearly lets the facade slip at one point:Granny: Oh, Tortus. I've already had lunch.
Anju: Grandmother... I am Anju! Tortus was my dad... And you haven't had lunch yet!
Granny: I've already had lunch. Now be quick and take that away.
Anju: Not eating is bad for you. Please eat...
Granny: Didn't I say that I already ate lunch, Tortus?!? Impossible child!
Anju: Then don't eat my food. I give up...
Granny: Whew!
Anju: "Whew?"
Granny: Er... W-W-Whewwwould you like me to read you a story? - Bowser Jr. does this in the email he sends to Beep-O and the party in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle:Good job! You found one of the relics. Hopefully, it was extremely unpleasant. Er, unpleasant for your enemies I mean!
Also, when I wrote "muhahahaha" the second time I meant, er... "You guys are really cool and I like you a lot and definitely don't wish you any harm." - In Mass Effect 2, you can bring Legion to the Citadel. When a none-too-bright C-SEC operative brings up geth infiltrators, Legion protests the geth do not infiltrate. When said operative calls him a personal synthetic assistant, he quickly amends his statement: geth do not intentionally infiltrate.
- Entrants in Papers, Please will occasionally state a duration of stay that doesn't match their papers. If you point out the discrepancy, they'll always respond with this trope. Amusingly, this satisfies the Sinister Surveillance and you won't receive a citation for it, no matter how absurd their initial statement was.
- In Persona 4, Kanji Tatsumi resolves to start being a better person in the second level of his Social Link, only to then threaten to tear apart the restaurant that he and the protagonist are in, Aiya's, when Aiya claims not to have heard his order. He then realizes what he just said in light of his new resolution...Kanji: Oh, uh, well... I'm gonna tear it apart and rebuild it twice as good! I-I'm gonna RENOVATE your ass!
Aiya: ...Sounds good to me. - In Persona 5, Sadayo Kawakami, the protagonist's homeroom teacher, moonlights as a maid because she needs the money to pay off the parents of one of her students, who died in an accident. If you call her over to do your laundrynote , she'll say the following.Kawakami: Thanks for calling m- Wait, laundry!? Did you really have to call me for that? I mean... That'll be 5000 yen!
- Speaking of which, Morgana gets one in Persona 5 Strikers. Upon their first meeting, the following exchange occurs between Sophia and Morgana, with Sophia getting the wrong animal, and Morgana inadvertently pressing his own Berserk Button:
Sophia: ...A raccoon?
Morgana: Try a cat! ...Wait, DON'T try a cat! - Sam & Max: Freelance Police uses this in "The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball" to Double Subvert The Three Trials:Ted E. Bear: Before I can make you members of the ursa nostra, I have these two tasks I need you to perform.
Lovey Bear enters.
Lovey Bear: The original Meatball Sandwich has been stolen!
Ted E. Bear: I have these three tasks I need you to perform. - Happens in Sleeping Dogs (2012) when Wei and Old Salty Crab vandalize Two-Chin Tsao's mansion.Old Salty: You're pretty and talented.
Wei Shen: What?
Old Salty: (quickly) I said you're pretty talented. - Features in the interrogation of a hapless guard in Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow:Guard: I... I don't speak English!
Sam Fisher: I'd be willing to bet your neck that you do.
Guard: I speak a little English! - The player can make it happen in the Macbeth level of Star Fox 64. Shortly after the boss fight begins, the train conductor says "Step on the gas!" If the player shoots the switcher to change the rails, the train gets sent at full speed towards the fuel bunker, prompting the conductor to scream "No! Hit the brakes!"
- In Tales of Monkey Island Chapter Four: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood, this exchange takes place between Guybrush and a human and apparently reformed LeChuck.LeChuck: My name is LeChuck, and I can tell you exactly what Guybrush did.
Guybrush: Don't listen to him!
LeChuck: You see, Your Honour, the Pox is all my fault!
Guybrush: Listen to him! - Undertale:
- Flowey introduces himself by trying to share LOVE with you through "little white friendliness pellets". Dodge them twice, and he'l get upset, urging you to "RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!". As soon as he realizes what he said (By looking at the speech bubble next to him, mind you), he replaces "BULLETS!!!" with "friendliness pellets".
- In one of the optional phone conversations with Undyne and Papyrus, this bit of dialogue shows up:Undyne: I'll make everyone's wishes come true!!
Papyrus: I WISH I HAD EIGHT LEGS SO I COULD WEAR FOUR PAIRS OF HOTPANTS.
Undyne: I'll make most people's wishes come true!!!
