History Main / Blackmail

* [[VisualNovel/SuzumiyaHaruhi Haruhi Suzumiya]] blackmailed the Computer Club President into giving her the ''most modern computer'' of their club with pictures of him grabbing Mikuru's boobs. An event ''Haruhi'' forcefully orchestrated. The President was an innocent ''stranger''.

* Sae of ''PeachGirl'' staged a fake attempted rape (Momo wasn't actually raped though) and took photos to blackmail Momo's boyfriend into dating her.

-->'''Crane''': ... would you like to see my mask? I use it in my experiments. Probably not very frightening to a guy like you, but these crazies, they can't stand it.

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* In MarciX, a senator danced to her opponent's music, and her son filmed the dance.

* In {{Don Bluth}}'s ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'', when Chanticler learns that his boss Pinky has captured his friends, he refuses to work for him anymore, only for Pinky to threaten the lives of his friends.

* In the 1929 AlfredHitchcock film ''{{Film/Blackmail}}'', Alice kills the man who was trying to rape her. Then an acquaintance of the dead man starts hinting that he knows what she did, and could be...persuaded to keep quiet.

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* In ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorney Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations]]'' [[spoiler: the motive for the second case is blackmail. It's rather complicated. First, Luke Atmey (yes that's his name), a self-proclaimed ace detective, investigates a recent theft by [[GentlemanThief Mask]]* [[AntiVillain DeMasque]]. He quickly figures out who Mask* DeMasque is, and blackmails him (the threat being ratting him out)... [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment intoe stealing more stuff.]] And giving it to him. Through a safe-deposit box to hide his identity. In return, he gives a small fraction of the revenue to the thief. The head of a large security company, Kane Bullard, finds out about this through the guards he dispatched to the various heists. And sends a blackmail note to Mr. Atmey, calling him to his office and telling him to bring $50 000 else his dirty crime be revealed. Upon reading this, he forwards the letter to Mask* DeMasque. The vague contents of the letter make him think ''he's'' being blackmailed, so he goes to Kane Bullard's office. What happens when they're there is a story for another trope page.]]
** This is essentially Redd White and Bluecorp's method of doing business. When Marvin Grossberg gave information on Misty Fey to White, the police suspected someone leaked it, and White blackmailed him into paying him money, later using his influence over him to prevent him from defending Maya when she was charged with killing Mia, something White himself had done. The revelation that many of White's victims had been DrivenToSuicide easily puts him over the MoralEventHorizon. In a karmic twist, [[spoiler:Mia, her spirit channeled by Maya, tells him that she will release a list of his victims to the press if he does not confess to killing her]].

* [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential You can do this]] to a [[HellIsWar Blood War]] veteran in ''PlanescapeTorment'' - threaten to spread the word of how he sold out his comrades to save his own skin. "This is blackmail, old man..." He'll [[WhatTheHellHero tell you that you're disgusting]] but capitulate.

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-->-- "Hiruma of [[EyeShield21 Eyeshield 21,]] the god of blackmail."

While the words 'blackmail' and 'extortion' are used interchangeably, this is not strictly true. Blackmail is a form of extortion where what the blackmailing party is threatening to do would otherwise be legal. For example "I have your loved one hostage, give me the MacGuffin or they're done for" would be extortion as taking hostages is a crime. However, "I have pictures of your loved one committing a crime, give me the MacGuffin or their reputation is toast" would be blackmail as otherwise releasing the pictures would be legal. (Assuming the there is no reasonable relationship between the threat and the demand. If a store refuses to honor a contract or compensate the other person, threatening to reveal it is legal. Likewise, if parents do not take reasonable steps to control their deliquent child, threatening to reveal evidence of crimes is not blackmail.) One side note is that the word originally did in fact mean simply extortion; rent or taxes was called "mail" in Scotland therefore taking it illegally(by threatening to burn down a neighboring clan's huts for example)was blackmail. The modern meaning shows how language evolves.

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* In the anime/manga ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'', Nabiki Tendo did this on a regular basis. One manga story opens with her standard dating technique - get a boy to buy her dinner, take her to the movies, and get her presents, then give him a handshake and a goodnight and have him never darken her doorway again. In addition, the poor sap would have to pay serious money to keep love letters he wrote Nabiki from becoming public, which would embarrass him in front of his peers and make any subsequent girlfriends very upset.

* [[SuzumiyaHaruhi Haruhi Suzumiya]] blackmailed the Computer Club President into giving her the ''most modern computer'' of their club with pictures of him grabbing Mikuru's boobs. An event ''Haruhi'' forcefully orchestrated. The President was an innocent ''stranger''.
** Oh, it gets even better: when the president points out that his club witnessed the incident and would stand up on his behalf, Haruhi cheerfully exclaims "I'll just say that [[RefugeInAudacity the whole class was planning on f*** ing her!"]]

* ''YuGiOh5Ds'': Divine, creator of the Arcadia Movement (an army of psychics who want to take over Neo Domino), gains legal immunity from Director Goodwin by threatening to say that [[spoiler:Goodwin was a Satellite-born]].

-->'''Chanticler''': "That's blackmail!"
-->'''Pinky''': "That's ''showbiz''".

* HogansHeroes keep Sgt. Schultz from revealing their plans by blackmailing him with the fact that if he tells, they'll tell that he knew about their earlier plans and didn't say anything. It's a bit cyclical.

* Spoofed several times on Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000, the best being a bit in PumaMan involving a fly and a hero trying to play dead...

* ''VeronicaMars'' uses blackmail as her default MO, but her GuileHero status isn't tarnished too much because the people she blackmails are often terrible.

* ''{{Retail}}'': Cooper once blackmailed Stuart into giving him extra hours on the job after discovering that he will lose his job if the inventory goes poorly.

* [[VideogameCrueltyPotential You can do this]] to a [[HellIsWar Blood War]] veteran in ''PlanescapeTorment'' - threaten to spread the word of how he sold out his comrades to save his own skin. "This is blackmail, old man..." He'll [[WhatTheHellHero tell you that you're disgusting]] but capitulate.
* GrandTheftAutoIV has this a frequent problem for Deputy Commissioner Francis McReary.

* In ''AnsemRetort'', Zexion blackmails Namine into shutting up when [[spoiler: it turns out ''she'' caused Sora's amnesia]]
* Webcomic/EvilDiva [[http://www.evildivacomics.com/?p=806 threatens her mother with revealing]] -- well, a vaguer than usual NoodleIncident.
* SquidRow [[http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=1749 How to get the day off]]
* In ''MinionComics'', Von Gernsbach and Mr. Magnum plot to blackmail [[http://www.meetmyminion.com/?p=878 various world leaders.]]

* 'Ricky does this to Hans, Cale, and Kerzach in ''DarwinsSoldiers:Pavlov's Checkmate''. [[TwoOutOfThreeAintBad It works with two of them]].

* [[TheFairlyOddparents Vicky]] has done this a few times, but that's just one thing among a sea of evil things she's done.

* ''{{Chowder}}'' did one episode where everyone in town was blackmailing Miss Endive with a picture of her [[spoiler:eating toe jam with a ''fork'']].

* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Bobby discovered that Kahn was bribing the water meter guy during a major Texas drought so he could have the only house in the neighborhood with a green lawn, and blackmailed Kahn so he could take baths in his house.

* In ''Literature/{{Grunts}}'', former {{dominatrix}} Magda Brandiman blackmails a representative of the Visible College to [[spoiler: keep on selling the Orc Marines [[AntiMagic nullity talismans]]]] by threatening to reveal their [[{{BDSM}} S&M]] proclivities.

* Charles Augustus Milverton in the Literature/SherlockHolmes story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" is a master blackmailer who causes Holmes more revulsion than any murderer he's previously tangled with.

* In {{Don Bluth}}'s RockADoodle, when Chanticlar learns that his boss Pinky has captured his friends, he refuses to work for anymore, only for Pinky to threaten the lives of his friends.
-->'''Chanticlar''': "That's blackmail!"

-->'''Pinky''': That's ''showbiz''.

* ''Series/Highlander'' had an episode called "Blackmail" where a guy caught Duncan on videotape beheading another Immortal. He threatened to give the videotape to the police ... unless Duncan killed his wife (he had been having an affair and had just left his mistress when he came upon them fighting).

* In LarryNiven's KnownSpace stories, the Puppeteers regard blackmail as simply another business transaction -- the two parties negotiate terms, and if agreement is reached the target pays the settled price and the blackmailer gives up the relevant evidence and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memories]].
* The Literature/InDeath series: A number of folks have used this. Some of them even tried to blackmail a ''murderer'', which qualifies them for the WhatAnIdiot award. All of these blackmailers ended up dead.

While the words 'blackmail' and 'extortion' are used interchangeably, this is not strictly true. Blackmail is a form of extortion where what the blackmailing party is threatening to do would otherwise be legal. For example "I have your loved one hostage, give me the MacGuffin or they're done for" would be extortion as taking hostages is a crime. However, "I have pictures of your loved one committing a crime, give me the MacGuffin or their reputation is toast" would be blackmail as otherwise releasing the pictures would be legal. One side note is that the word originally did in fact mean simply extortion; rent or taxes was called "mail" in Scotland therefore taking it illegally(by threatening to burn down a neighboring clan's huts for example)was blackmail. The modern meaning shows how language evolves.

* In ''MassEffect'', if a particular origin story is chosen (growing up as an orphan on the streets), a gang member your character used to know would eventually come to your character and try and blackmail him/her about his/her past. When playing as a Renegade for example, this meant the gang member thought that your character's past as a street gang member would harm his/her career more than the fact that he/she is "The Butcher of Torfan", who kicked dogs across the galaxy. In the quest, your character can point out that as a Specter, he/she is legally authorized to execute anyone he/she sees fit, including him. Alternatively, your character could just shoot him.

* A plot by the tin-pot little African country of Buranda in ''YesMinister'' results in the following [[SadisticChoice between a rock and a hard place]] exchange between the eponymous Minister, Jim Hacker, and the very black leader of Buranda:

->'''Sir Impey Biggs''': It's a crime crueler and infinitely worse in its results than murder. As a lawyer, ... I have consistently refused to defend a blackmailer, or prosecute any poor devil who does away with his tormentor".\\
'''Lord Peter''': H'm. What do you say, Colonel?\\
'''Col. Marchbanks''': A man like that's a filthy pest. Shootin's too good for him. I knew a man -- close personal friend, in fact -- [[DrivenToSuicide hounded to death]] -- blew his brains out -- one of the best.
-->-- "[[LordPeterWimsey The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker]]"

While the words 'blackmail' and 'extortion' are used interchangeably, this is not strictly true. Blackmail is a form of extortion where what the blackmailing party is threatening to do would otherwise be legal. For example "I have your loved one hostage, give me the MacGuffin or they're done for" would be extortion as taking hostages is a crime. However, "I have pictures of your loved one committing a crime, give me the MacGuffin or their reputation is toast" would be blackmail as otherwise releasing the pictures would be legal. One side note is that the word originally did in fact mean simply extortion; rent or taxes was called "mail" in Scotland therefore taking it illegally(by threatening burn down a neighboring clan's huts for example)was blackmail. The modern meaning shows how language evolves.

While the words 'blackmail' and 'extortion' are used interchangeably, this is not strictly true. Blackmail is a form of extortion where what the blackmailing party is threatening to do would otherwise be legal. For example "I have your loved one hostage, give me the MacGuffin or they're done for" would be extortion as taking hostages is a crime. However, "I have pictures of your loved one committing a crime, give me the MacGuffin or their reputation is toast" would be blackmail as otherwise releasing the pictures would be legal.

* ''InDeath'': A number of folks have used this. Some of them even tried to blackmail a ''murderer'', which qualifies them for the WhatAnIdiot award. All of these blackmailers ended up dead.

->'''Sir Impey Bigs''': It's a crime crueler and infinitely worse in its results than murder. As a lawyer, ... I have consistently refused to defend a blackmailer, or prosecute any poor devil who does away with his tormentor".\\

-->'''Sir Impey Bigs''': It's a crime crueler and infinitely worse in its results than murder. As a lawyer, ... I have consistently refused to defend a blackmailer, or prosecute any poor devil who does away with his tormentor".\\