History Main / AwfulTruth

* Poor, poor Phillip of ''KamenRiderDouble''. First he found out that his family is really the mafia providing people the {{Transformation Trinket}}s needed to transform into the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]], then he found out that he's DeadAllAlong.

* The DannyPhantom / VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia crossover fic ''Netherworld Nightmare'' has the BigBad constantly messing with Danny's head by dropping hints about the Awful Truth Caleb has been hiding for aeons. [[spoiler:Caleb is the technical reincarnation of Mithos Yggdrasill, the BigBad of VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia.]]

* In ''CyanideAndHappiness'': ''[[http://www.explosm.net/comics/1354/ it's not the tooth fairy!]]''

* In ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'', Zulf was an ambassador of the Ura in Caelondia before [[CataclysmBackstory the Calamity]], and was working in an apparently successful effort to promote peace between the two peoples. He was also HappilyMarried, but then the Calamity happened, which killed his wife and all but destroyed Caelondia. He was almost DrivenToSuicide after TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, but then you come along, and you and Rucks give him some hope that you might be able to fix things. [[Spoiler: But then he finds Zia's father's journal, which fleshes out the Calamity's true purpose. The Caelondians]] ''[[spoiler: built it,]]'' [[spoiler: as a weapon of mass destruction with which to wipe out his people, meaning all of his past work promoting peace was effectively useless. He also finds out that Rucks was one of the people spearheading the project. He promptly flips his shit and does a FaceHeelTurn.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Bastion'', Zulf was an ambassador of the Ura in Caelondia before [[CataclysmBackstory the Calamity]], and was working in an apparently successful effort to promote peace between the two peoples. He was also HappilyMarried, but then the Calamity happened, which killed his wife and all but destroyed Caelondia. He was almost DrivenToSuicide after TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, but then you come along, and you and Rucks give him some hope that you might be able to fix things. [[Spoiler: But then he finds Zia's father's journal, which fleshes out the Calamity's true purpose. The Caelondians]] ''[[spoiler: built it,]]'' [[spoiler: as a weapon of mass destruction with which to wipe out his people, meaning all of his past work promoting peace was effectively useless. He also finds out that Rucks was one of the people spearheading the project. He promptly flips his shit and does a FaceHeelTurn.]]

* ''VideoGame/NieR'''s main mooks are called Shades. The game is designed in such a way that you'll probably have killed several hundred Shades (it can feel like a lot more than that), and you don't really give it much thought. The main character eventually develops a psychotic fixation in killing them as a response to the tragedies that plague his life. Towards the very end of the game it is revealed that [[spoiler: the shades are actually the remnants of the real humans who underwent a process to clone their bodies which were being dissolved due to a mysterious disease, and the people you thought were humans this whole time were just clones of them; the main antagonist of the game, the Shadowlord, is actually the original NieR who wants the exact same thing you do. It's implied somewhat in the first ending, but subsequent playthroughs explicitly show that most of them are entirely sentient...which basically makes you a mass murderer. Supplementary materials and WordofGod also reveal that by the end of the game your actions have doomed the human race.]]

* Towards the very end of ''VideoGame/NieR'' it is revealed that [[spoiler: the entire population of the world are actually duplicates of the original humans, who were doomed to extinction by a supernatural disease. The real humans eventually became the Shades, which you've probably slain by the thousands at this point without giving it much thought. Subsequent playthroughs make this worse, with the revelation that the Shades are sentient and you being privy to their individual tragedies, showing how a lot of the conflicts in the game were just misunderstandings due to the language barrier. It gets worse still, with the supplementary materials (as well as the game itself, albeit more subtly) confirming that Nier and co. basically guaranteed that humanity would die out fairly shortly after the game's events.]]

* In the manga version of ''ChronoCrusade'', part of what inspires Aion's EvilPlan is the AwfulTruth he found out about his origins [[spoiler:(that is, that the demons are really aliens, and the current HiveQueen was a human woman pregnant with twins (Chrono and Aion) before she was turned into a demon)]]. He also goes to great lengths to hide the truth from Chrono, saying he "doesn't need to know"--but Chrono finds out in the end and takes it rather well, actually.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Just as [[AloofBigBrother Sesshoumaru's]] finally getting used to the idea that [[InfinityPlusOneSword Tessaiga]] was meant for [[TheHero Inuyasha]] and [[HealingShiv Tenseiga]] was meant for him, he learns the [[AwfulTruth truth]]: [[spoiler: Tenseiga is merely a cast-off piece of Tessaiga, separated from Tessaiga so that Sesshoumaru could master the Meidou Zangetsuha technique and then transfer it back to Tessaiga, meaning that the attack form he earned due to his compassion for [[BrokenBird Kagura]]'s [[TearJerker death]] isn't his to keep - it's destined for Inuyasha's use.]] Sesshoumaru takes the news badly, concluding it's proof he was the [[TheUnfavourite outcast son]] and that his father was [[ParentalFavouritism training Inuyasha to kill him]]. Even Inuyasha and his friends think this was [[AbusiveParent far too cruel]]. [[spoiler: Sesshoumaru does eventually calm down enough to realise his father's [[GoodParents true]] [[CruelToBeKind intention]] was for him to [[BigBrotherMentor guide]] Inuyasha not be killed by him, and therefore [[SinkOrSwimMentor decides]] to [[DieOrFly sacrifice his claim to both swords forever]] as part of a HiddenPurposeTest to see if Inuyasha is [[OnlyTheWorthyMayPass strong enough to handle the technique]].]]

* The AwfulTruth [[ForBetterOrForWorse Elly Patterson]] kept from her family because she feared ostracism in ''FanFic/TheNewRetcons'' is [[spoiler: she has an illegitimate daughter she gave up for adoption.]] Elizabeth and April took it rather well. Michael and John did ''not''.
** Michael had an additional AwfulTruth he didn't take well. [[spoiler: John isn't his biological father.]]

* The DannyPhantom / VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia crossover fic ''Netherworld Nightmare'' has the BigBad constantly messing with Danny's head by dropping hints about the AwfulTruth Caleb has been hiding for aeons. [[spoiler:Caleb is the technical reincarnation of Mithos Yggdrasill, the BigBad of VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia.]]

* In the Korean movie ''[[Film.{{Oldboy}} Old Boy]]'', Dae-su is kidnapped, imprisoned for 15 years, and then released with no explanation. After finding and confronting the man responsible, Dae-su finds out the AwfulTruth isn't "Why he was imprisoned" but "Why he was released." He [[GoMadFromTheRevelation goes mad from the revelation]] and [[spoiler: cuts his own tongue off with scissors]].

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', when Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort wanted to kill him in the first place, Dumbledore's response is more or less that Harry is not yet ready to hear the AwfulTruth, but at least makes clear that he has the intentions to tell him some day. Intentions being the key word here, as Dumbledore puts this off until [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix the fifth book]] and only tells Harry then because [[spoiler: Dumbledore's keeping the truth from Harry backfired rather badly, leading to Sirius's death. Dumbledore, to his credit, does at least acknowledge that this was pretty dumb.]] This isn't the only instance, but probably the most significant as much of the plot revolves around adults trying to protect Harry from the awful truth.
** This also plays a rather large role in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban the third book]]. First with Cornelius Fudge's insistence that no one tell Harry that Sirius Black is out to get them because it might scare him. Proving that not all adults are complete idiots, Mr. Weasley planned on telling Harry anyway, telling Harry to be careful and warns him not to go looking for Black. But he also falls into this trope by refusing to answer when Harry asks why would he be stupid enough to looking for someone who wants to kill him. Harry finds out anyway, but proves Mr. Weasley's fears correct because the AwfulTruth in fact makes him want to kill Black. [[spoiler: However, in this case, the AwfulTruth isn't even the Truth at all because [[MindScrew Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black is responsible for his parents deaths and Sirius escaped Azkaban to kill Peter Pettigrew, not Harry]].]]
** The AwfulTruth is in fact so awful that Dumbledore only reveals it in fragments; first, at the end of ''Order Of The Phoenix'', [[spoiler:he tells 15-year old Harry ''[[AllUpToYou he'll have to kill Voldemort personally.]]'']] Then, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', he tells Harry that [[spoiler: Voldemort is ''immortal'' unless [[GottaCatchEmAll five random objects, each anywhere in the world,]] are destroyed.]] Finally, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry learns that he[[spoiler:, ''himself,'' is actually the sixth object (yep, there is one bonus) that need to be destroyed. In other words, ''[[SomeoneHasToDie he has to let Voldemort kill him]]'', or Voldemort will remain invincible. He gets better]], but as he ''didn't know that'', it was still pretty Awful.
*** This was all necessary for Dumbledore's plan to work. In the first place, he wasn't even sure that [[spoiler:Harry would survive, though he had guessed Harry might due to events in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire,'' and as he himself has said, his guesses are usually right]]. But even if he had hard evidence that [[spoiler:Harry would be able to survive]], he couldn't have told him, because if Harry didn't think [[spoiler:he was going to die, how could he sacrifice himself]] for everyone in the castle? So in this case, it was more revealing the AwfulTruth while hiding the Wonderful Truth that accompanied it.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' book ''Literature/GreyKnights'', renegade inquisitor Valinov seems to refer to Chaos as the AwfulTruth:

* In the ''EndersGame'' book ''Shadow of the Hegemon'', Bean learns from a posthumous letter the AwfulTruth about his own birth: That his increased intellect has a side effect in that [[spoiler:he will never ''ever'' stop growing, and will ultimately die young of the SquareCubeLaw because either his heart will not be able to maintain a body his size or his huge body will crush his spine.]]

* In Ursula K. Le Guin's short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas", a child is brutally tortured to maintain the prosperity of the eponymous city. At some point in their lives ''every'' citizen of Omelas sees the child and learns of the connection between the child's suffering and the city's wellbeing. The title refers to the people who can't live with the AwfulTruth anymore and leave Omelas forever.

** Chaos is the prime example of the AwfulTruth. The Inquisition is quite willing to sterilize and relocate anyone who ''might'' have learned about it to forced labor camps for the rest of their lives. If this isn't practical, the Inquisition will just kill everyone. This policy can be applied to entire worlds with billions of people on them, and is still considered the ''humane'' solution compared to what might happen otherwise.

** Besides, indiscreet revelations of the AwfulTruth behind Spira can backfire ''spectacularly.'' [[BigBad Look]] [[OmnicidalManiac at]] [[DarkMessiah what]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation happened]] [[MercyKill to]] [[NietzscheWannabe Seymour]].

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' pulls a complicated AwfulTruth on the protagonist. Solid Snake has started to show indications of accelerated aging; by the time the game starts, he's going on 41 years old, and looks older than his parents (who should be over 80 by then). Otacon explains that it seems like a classic case of Werner's Syndrome, except the tests for the condition say that Snake doesn't have it. They speculate that it's because Snake isn't "normal," meaning that there must have been some fluke in the cloning process that created him, possibly exacerbated by the nanomachine-based artificial virus he was injected with to assassinate certain people by coming into contact with them. In fact, his brother Liquid even suggested as much, saying that the problem arises from the genetic sample that created them being taken when Big Boss was old himself, in his 50s. When Snake finally finds someone who can figure out what's going on, the truth is ''much worse'' than any of the speculation: [[spoiler:the premature aging is ''natural,'' it's an intentional alteration made during the cloning process to ''give him an expiration date,'' which means there is ''no way to fix it'' and he will die of old age within six months, probably before turning 42. Worse, the nano-virus in his blood is ''being damaged'' by Snake's aging, and unless he kills himself long before he dies "naturally," the virus will lose its ability to differentiate between the people it was coded to kill and the people it was not, meaning Snake will cause an ''epidemic.'']] The second problem is solved [[spoiler: so Snake doesn't have to kill himself to stop the epidemic,]] but the first problem is most assuredly not, and the only reason we don't watch [[spoiler: Snake die on-screen]] is because the ending fades to black instead of fast-forwarding six months.

* In ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', Templars of the Templar Order are convicted criminals who are tortured to "cleanse" them of their sins and then [[LaserGuidedAmnesia mind-wiped]] so that they can be turned into weapons against the darkness with purpose and clarity. When Kormac, your follower who hails from this order, comes across the journals of Jondar, a turncoat Templar who you help him kill when you recruit him, and reads the "key words" that act to restore his memory, the AwfulTruth is revealed. [[spoiler:It turns out the Order doesn't really give a damn about the guilt or innocence of its initiates, and will gladly pile false sins upon an innocent, as they did to both Kormac and Jondar, if they deem him to be a worthy asset to the Order]].

* Subverted in the first ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' game near the end of case four: [[spoiler:Edgeworth reveals to Phoenix the reason he's become so bitter over the years is that he accidentally killed his own father as a child. Phoenix, however, can't believe that, and soon proves the killer was someone else (in fact, it was Edgeworth's adoptive father, making what should have been an AwfulTruth for Wright into one for Edgeworth instead.)]]

* Played for laughs and subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Brother's Little Helper". When GuestStar Mark McGwire admits that Bart was right and Major League Baseball ''is'' behind a conspiracy that is watching everyone, and they ask him why, he replies, "Do you want to know the terrifying truth, or do you want to see me sock a few dingers?" They choose the latter option.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': In ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', when Harry asks Dumbledore why Voldemort wanted to kill him in the first place, Dumbledore's response is more or less that Harry is not yet ready to hear the AwfulTruth, but at least makes clear that he has the intentions to tell him some day. Intentions being the key word here, as Dumbledore puts this off until [[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix the fifth book]] and only tells Harry then because [[spoiler: Dumbledore's keeping the truth from Harry backfired rather badly, leading to Sirius's death. Dumbledore, to his credit, does at least acknowledge that this was pretty dumb.]] This isn't the only instance, but probably the most significant as much of the plot revolves around adults trying to protect Harry from the awful truth.
** This also plays a rather large role in [[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban the third book]]. First with Cornelius Fudge's insistence that no one tell Harry that Sirius Black is out to get them because it might scare him. Proving that not all adults are complete idiots, Mr. Weasley planned on telling Harry anyway, telling Harry to be careful and warns him not to go looking for Black. But he also falls into this trope by refusing to answer when Harry asks why would he be stupid enough to looking for someone who wants to kill him. Harry finds out anyway, but proves Mr. Weasley's fears correct because the AwfulTruth in fact makes him want to kill Black. [[spoiler: However, in this case, the AwfulTruth isn't even the Truth at all because [[MindScrew Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black is responsible for his parents deaths and Sirius escaped Azkaban to kill Peter Pettigrew, not Harry]].]]
** The AwfulTruth is in fact so awful that Dumbledore only reveals it in fragments; first, at the end of ''Order Of The Phoenix'', [[spoiler:he tells 15-year old Harry ''[[AllUpToYou he'll have to kill Voldemort personally.]]'']] Then, in ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', he tells Harry that [[spoiler: Voldemort is ''immortal'' unless [[GottaCatchEmAll five random objects, each anywhere in the world,]] are destroyed.]] Finally, in ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', Harry learns that he[[spoiler:, ''himself,'' is actually the sixth object (yep, there is one bonus) that need to be destroyed. In other words, ''[[SomeoneHasToDie he has to let Voldemort kill him]]'', or Voldemort will remain invincible. He gets better]], but as he ''didn't know that'', it was still pretty Awful.
*** This was all necessary for Dumbledore's plan to work. In the first place, he wasn't even sure that [[spoiler:Harry would survive, though he had guessed Harry might due to events in ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire,'' and as he himself has said, his guesses are usually right]]. But even if he had hard evidence that [[spoiler:Harry would be able to survive]], he couldn't have told him, because if Harry didn't think [[spoiler:he was going to die, how could he sacrifice himself]] for everyone in the castle? So in this case, it was more revealing the AwfulTruth while hiding the Wonderful Truth that accompanied it.

* In the manga version of ''ChronoCrusade'', part of what inspires Aion's EvilPlan is the AwfulTruth he found out about his origins (that is, that the demons are really aliens, and the current HiveQueen was a human woman pregnant with twins (Chrono and Aion) before she was turned into a demon). He also goes to great lengths to hide the truth from Chrono, saying he "doesn't need to know"--but Chrono finds out in the end and takes it rather well, actually.

* In ''VisualNovel/UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'': Hey, Ange? You know how you're pretty sure that your AxCrazy aunt killed your beloved parents and brother? Well, it turns out [[spoiler:that your aunt [[SilentScapegoat just sorta went along with it]] because she didn't want you to find out that ''your parents'' were the Ax Crazy murderers who killed everyone, your brother went along with it, and your aunt only killed your parents in what was more or less self-defense. Oh, and they never cared about you. Or Did They? [[UnreliableNarrator Bernkastel]] (the one responsible for all your misery) says they didn't, who knows?]] [[StoicWoobie Hope that cheers you up a little]]!

* Subverted in the first ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' game near the end of case four: [[spoiler:Edgeworth reveals to Phoenix the reason he's become so bitter over the years is that he accidentally killed his own father as a child. Phoenix, however, can't believe that, and soon proves the killer was someone else (in fact, it was Edgeworth's adoptive father, making what should have been an AwfulTruth for Wright into one for Edgeworth instead.)]]

* ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'': In Komari's route, [[spoiler:that she had an older brother whom loved her but who died when she was little.]] In Refrain, [[spoiler:that the world the characters are in doesn't exist - it was created after a terrible bus crash left nearly all of them with fatal injuries and was designed specifically to make Riki and Rin strong enough to be able to handle the truth and live on their own afterwards.]]

* In ''Legacy of the Rasengan'', Sakura learns what Naruto really thinks about her after she steals someting personal from him and he confronts her about it.

* '''UNLESS IT IS IN VITRO FERTILIZATION!!'''

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Dr. Marco refuses to tell Ed how the philosophers stones are made [[spoiler: [[PoweredByAForsakenChild from using live humans]]]].
** Far worse in the manga and second anime. Along with the fact that [[spoiler: the Elrics didn't even bring back their mom]] the government's true intentions are so dark that even the [[spoiler: [[SerialEscalation president's son, the borders of the nation, and the layout of the capital have a malicious purpose.]]]]

-> ''"What I'm about to tell you, you might not want to know. Even so, you absolutely must hear it. [...] Given who you are and how you've lived, what I have to say may tear at your hearts..."''
--> '''Leder''', ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''

* ''MetalGearSolid4'' pulls a complicated AwfulTruth on the protagonist. Solid Snake has started to show indications of accelerated aging; by the time the game starts, he's going on 41 years old, and looks older than his parents (who should be over 80 by then). Otacon explains that it seems like a classic case of Werner's Syndrome, except the tests for the condition say that Snake doesn't have it. They speculate that it's because Snake isn't "normal," meaning that there must have been some fluke in the cloning process that created him, possibly exacerbated by the nanomachine-based artificial virus he was injected with to assassinate certain people by coming into contact with them. In fact, his brother Liquid even suggested as much, saying that the problem arises from the genetic sample that created them being taken when Big Boss was old himself, in his 50s. When Snake finally finds someone who can figure out what's going on, the truth is ''much worse'' than any of the speculation: [[spoiler:the premature aging is ''natural,'' it's an intentional alteration made during the cloning process to ''give him an expiration date,'' which means there is ''no way to fix it'' and he will die of old age within six months, probably before turning 42. Worse, the nano-virus in his blood is ''being damaged'' by Snake's aging, and unless he kills himself long before he dies "naturally," the virus will lose its ability to differentiate between the people it was coded to kill and the people it was not, meaning Snake will cause an ''epidemic.'']] The second problem is solved [[spoiler: so Snake doesn't have to kill himself to stop the epidemic,]] but the first problem is most assuredly not, and the only reason we don't watch [[spoiler: Snake die on-screen]] is because the ending fades to black instead of fast-forwarding six months.
** In ''MetalGearSolid3'', Naked Snake's mission is to kill The Boss, his EvilMentor who [[TurnCoat had defected to Soviet]] and instigating nuke detonation in Russia. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed by EVA that [[FakeDefector The Boss only defected to gain Volgin's trust,]] to gain access to [[MacGuffin Philosopher's legacy,]] so she can bring it back to America, The nukes is important to gain Volgin's trust, but [[DidntSeeThatComing nobody had foresee]] [[AxCrazy that Volgin will used it on his homeland.]] Because of this, to prevent World War III, [[TheScapegoat The Boss must die.]] [[SilentScapegoat She knows it,]] [[HeroicSacrifice and willingly go along with it.]]]] Then, in ''MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:Operation Snake Eater is just one ploy to get [[TheParagon The Boss]] [[UnusualEuphemism out of equotation,]] since [[UngratefulBastard they (CIA)]] fearing [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels her charisma.]] Said ploys including denied her helps for spying Russian space-faring development, sending her to space with half-baked equipments, denied her supports when she's on mission on Pig Bay, [[LetsYouAndHimFight forcing her and The Sorrow to fight each other....]]]] No wonder [[FutureBadass Big Boss]] is such a bitter man.
* ''MassEffect'' pulls some good ones. First, the set-up; all spacefaring races get into space by use of Element Zero, which, when hit with electricity, alters the mass of matter temporarily (the eponymous mass effect.) Interstellar travel is based on the [[PortalNetwork mass relays,]] giant mass-effect devices left behind by {{Precursors}} who vanished fifty-thousand years ago.

* In the first DarkTower novel "The Gunslinger", when the Walter makes the town drunk return from the dead, Walter says "If you tell him the number 19, he will tell you what lies beyond death." When one woman does this, despite Roland's urging, she GoesMadFromTheRevelation and begs Roland to kill her.

* People have known and admitted to the issue of bullying and have been hard pressed to stop it for years. Yet when bullying does occur in front of their faces, [[AdultsAreUseless it is quite often shrugged off as "natural"]].