History Main / DevilsAdvocate

* UsefulNotes/JohnAdams, second President of the United States, served as this in a somewhat literal case. Following the Boston Massacre, despite almost everyone demanding punishment of the English troops stationed in Boston who fired upon the civilian crowd, Adams served as the counsel for the defense of the soldiers in question, despite his own growing public persona as a Patriot. Despite this, at the behest of Captain Preston, he took on the position to ensure a fair and proper trial, and through his efforts, only two soldiers of the eight that were tried were found guilty of manslaughter rather than outright murder, and were punished via the branding of their thumbs. The result of the trial was controversial, but it was accepted without violence by both Loyalists and Patriots alike, and UsefulNotes/TheRevolutionaryWar that could have sparked from this incident would instead come six years later. Adams himself would reflect quite proudly on the case, and his own actions would lead to the accused's right to an attorney to become a part of the Bill of Rights.

* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'': Magnus the Red, post-HeelFaceTurn, occasionally plays this role in opposition to his father. In episode 20, he responds to the Emperor's desire to destroy the [[GodOfEvil Chaos Gods]] completely by pointing out that, while they're absolute bastards, the four ''do'' encompass positive forces as well, such as hope (Tzeentch), valor (Khore), Joy (Slannesh), and stability (Nurgle).

* The Creator/DanBrown novel ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' depicts a "devil's advocate" whose job it was to provide negative information on each candidate for Pope. [[DanBrowned The devil's advocate procedure has never been used in the papal selection process. They're used for Saint candidates]].

* In the book of Job in Literature/TheBible, some interpret Satan himself as taking this role against Job when he says to God that the only reason that Job follows God is because Job has a really nice life and if that changed, Job would curse God. God takes him up on it. It should be noted that Satan [[MeaningfulName is Hebrew for "the accuser"]]. His entire character was originally this trope.

** '''Defense''': The UAC had made advances into Hell without the permision of its inhabitants, killing demons all the while.

* In the book of Job in Literature/TheBible, some interpret Satan himself as taking this role against Job when he says to God that the only reason that Job follows God is because Job has a really nice life and if that changed, Job would curse God. God takes him up on it. It should be noted that Satan [[MeaningfulName is Hebrew for "the accuser"]]. His entire character was originally this trope.

* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', when the player is on their way to the endgame, the [[TheDriver nameless man who's been driving you from place to place]] suddenly strikes up a conversation, asking which of the sides the player is going to support. No matter how the player answers, even if they plan to [[TakeAThirdOption stay independant]], the cab driver presents arguments against their choice, seemingly making sure that the Fledgeling fully understands the repercussions of their decision. [[spoiler:[[MonsterProgenitor Caine]] sure has [[GodWasMyCopliot mellowed in his old age]].]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' AU/Reboot fic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6434636/1/Heroes_For_Earth Heroes for Earth]], Wheeler gets upgraded into this role due to being the most social-savvy Planeteer; this is particularly interesting when he's talking with Gi who is very eco-savvy but social naive due to having been homeschooled by her parents.

* Wilbur and Orville Wright have been said to engage in this activity, switching sides during arguments to gain a clearer picture of the argument as a whole. ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/106/ continues this to the illogical conclusion]].

[[folder: Web Animation]]

* ''Webcomic/PleaseListenToMe'': Not All Men Man insistis on playing Devil's advocate in a conversation about sexism, [[http://www.listen-tome.com/save-me/ bursting through a wall]] to do so.

* ''Series/TheWestWing'' often used one of their characters to argue against their viewpoint to portray both sides of the debate on the issue at the forefront. One hilarious example had Sam getting hounded by Mallory for advocating for school-voucher programs. Mallory was actually rather touched to find out that Sam took the time out of his busy schedule to argue education policy with her. She made an appointment, and dammit, Sam honors appointments.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', near the end Alvis begins questioning the heroes, pointing out that [[spoiler:their struggle against a being that controls fate is meaningless, and asking if Zanza is a god, then shouldn't they just accept their fate and die as he commands?]] With what is revealed about Alvis later, it becomes clear he didn't actually believe any of that, and was just testing the heroes' resolve and making it clear to them exactly what they were up against.

* Take care when engaging in this on a forum; very often people don't take kindly to hearing opposing views and will quickly resort to name calling and take the argument personally. If this happens, just drop the whole thing. It's simply not worth your time dealing with the ignorance.

* ''WebVideo/LouderWithCrowder'': Crowder has an occasional segment dubbed "Devil's Advocate", where his character [[{{Hipster}} Skyler Turden]] argues basic progressive talking points against various opponents.