History Main / Blackmail

* ''Film/HighHeelsAndLowLifes'': After accidentally overhearing a phone call detailing a major robbery, Shannon and Frances decide to blackmail the crooks for a cut of the take. HilarityEnsues.

* ''Film/WhereTheTruthLies'': Vince tries to blackmail Karen into telling her publisher there isn't anything untoward about Maureen's death by taking photos of her having sex with Karen while high (really, [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale raping her]], given her state of mind). [[spoiler:It turns out this was why Maureen had been murdered too. She discovered Vince was bisexual and attempted to extort money in return for keeping it secret.]]

'''Hiruma:''' "Hey, if you don't want the world to know, then find some dirt on someone else!"\\

** At the end of Week 5, a character [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep only known as the Blackmailer]] reveals to you that [[spoiler:[[TomatoInTheMirror you are actually one of the four missing people who are wanted by AVAC]] after the fire at CARI. He gives you the whole week to decide whether to keep your identity a secret from the organization and/or your old friend who has been looking for you since the fire, but the payments for both are steep.]]

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton%E2%80%93Reynolds_affair?wprov=sfti1 Reynolds Affair]] drives much of the second act of ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}''. Maria Reynolds seduces him, then she and her husband blackmail him by threatening to publish the proof. Which is a problem, given that Hamilton is 1) active in politics and 2) mostly-happily married. Unlike most examples of this trope, Hamilton ''does'' go public, though only because the proof of his affair exonerates him from an accusation of embezzlement.[[note]]In real life Mr. Reynolds got caught embezzling back wages of Revolutionary soldiers and attempted to inplicate Hamilton, it’s a bit more vague in the play.[[/note]] It works, but he almost loses his wife and his career as a result.

* A sailor who was at the [[Main/TheMutiny Nore mutiny]] with {{Literature/Kydd}} by the name of Dobbie attempts this on him during ''Quarterdeck'' for what he sees as disloyalty to his former comrades. Luckily, [[TheHero Kydd]] earns his respect through showing up for a duel ashore as a fellow sailor, not an officer.

** The eponimous character turned the tables on a blackmailer in ''The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker''. The asshole had stolen jewelry whose box included a document hinting at an affair the jewelry's owner had had, and blackmailed her. Wimsey made him look like a card shark and persuaded him to return all jewelry to the lady in question. Lord Peter and the other two card players then have the following conversation:

* ''Manga/{{Metamorphosis}}'': Saki is blackmailed into letting some of her male classmates have sex with her after they threaten to expose her engaging in CompensatedDating to her classmates.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': After [[TakeThisJobAndShoveit Fizzarolli tries to quit being the face of Mammon's brand]], [[ResignationsNotAccepted the latter becomes outraged]] and tries to cow him into staying. [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Ozzie jumps to Fizzarolli's defence]] in response, so Mammon threatens to reveal Ozzie's SecretRelationship with Fizz. [[DefiedTrope Ozzie quickly puts a stop to that]] by [[BlackmailBackfire openly admitting that he loves Fizz in front of the audience watching]], which is compounded by the reveal that most of Fizzarolli's fans [[ShipperOnDeck already ship him with Ozzie]] and are completely supportive of the two. [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Mammon decides to retreat]], having no other cards to play, but not before ominously warning Ozzie that [[WeWillMeetAgain he will regret revealing his secret]].

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': After [[TakeThisJobAndShoveit Fizzarolli tries to quit being the face of Mammon's brand]], [[ResignationsNotAccepted the latter becomes outraged]] and tries to cow him into staying. [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Ozzie jumps to Fizzarolli's defence]] in response, so Mammon threatens to reveal Ozzie's SecretRelationship with Fizz. [[DefiedTrope Ozzie quickly puts a stop to that]] by openly admitting that he loves Fizz in front of the audience watching, which is compounded by the reveal that most of Fizzarolli's fans [[ShipperOnDeck already ship him with Ozzie]] and are completely supportive of the two. [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Mammon decides to retreat]], having no other cards to play, but not before ominously warning Ozzie that [[WeWillMeetAgain he will regret revealing his secret]].

** Hawk has Tim give Cohn the material relating [=McCarthy=] had sex with a man. Cohn uses this so [=McCarthy=] won't simply drop him to save himself as the Schine matter drags them all down.

Compare BlackmailBackfire when the blackmailing [[SpannerInTheWorks fails for some reason]].

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Hermione Granger discovers that the nosy, meddling journalist Rita Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus (a wizard or witch who can turn into an animal at will) and successfully uses this information to capture her in a bottle when she's transformed (her form is a beetle) and blackmail her into not writing any stories for a year. Well, all except one. In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', she forces her to publish an interview with Harry Potter in which Harry describes what happened the night Lord Voldemort came back. The blackmail is highly effective because Rita understands enough of Hermione to know that she would keep her word. Oh, and also because the penalty for the wizarding authorities finding out that someone is an unregistered animagus is a stay in Azkaban, the feared wizard prison guarded by dementors, creatures that suck all happiness and hope from a person and thus to be avoided if at all possible.

* In the ''Series/CoppersEnd'' episode, "The 12-Year-Old", Ripper manages to blackmail Sergeant Pringle into looking after his twelve-year-old son.

* In the ''Series/CoppersEnd'' episode, "The 12-Year-Old", Ripper manages to blackmail Sergeant Pringle into looking after his 12-year-old son.

** [[DirtyCoward Tsubasa Kowase uses compromising photos and recordings of girls who don't look like they'll fight back]] to blackmail them into doing whatever he wants, such as giving him money or allowing themselves to be used for sexual favors. [[ShrinkingViolet Yajima]], who serves as his latest victim, [[CaughtOnTape was recorded shoplifting by Kowase once]], and has been tormented by him ever since. [[BullyHunter Maria]] gives him ATasteOfHisOwnMedicine by confiscating and hacking into his smartphone before anonymously sending him a video of himself masturbating, demanding 3 million yen in exchange for not posting it on the internet ([[XanatosGambit not that she expects him to pay up]], since at this point [[ParanoiaGambit she's just trying to fuel his paranoia]]).

** [[DirtyCoward Tsubasa Kowase uses compromising photos and recordings of girls who don't look like they'll fight back]] to blackmail them into doing whatever he wants, such as giving him money or allowing themselves to be used for sexual favors. [[ShrinkingViolet Yajima]], who serves as his latest victim, [[CaughtOnTape was recorded shoplifting by Kowase once]], and has been tormented by him ever since. [[BullyHunter Maria]] gives him ATasteOfHisOwnMedicine by confiscating and hacking into his smartphone before anonymously sending him a video of himself masturbating, demanding 3 million yen in exchange for not posting it on the internet ([[XanatosGambit not that she expects him to pay up, since at this point she's just trying to fuel his paranoia]]).

** [[DirtyCoward Tsubasa Kowase uses compromising photos and recordings of girls who don't look like they'll fight back]] to blackmail them into doing whatever he wants, such as giving him money or allowing themselves to be used for sexual favors. [[ShrinkingViolet Yajima]], who serves as his latest victim, was recorded shoplifting by Kowase once, and has been tormented by him ever since. [[BullyHunter Maria]] gives him ATasteOfHisOwnMedicine by confiscating and hacking into his smartphone before anonymously sending him a video of himself masturbating, demanding 3 million yen in exchange for not posting it on the internet ([[XanatosGambit not that she expects him to pay up, since at this point she's just trying to fuel his paranoia]]).