History Main / DevilsAdvocate

* The Devil's Advocate ball gets passed around the cast of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', but tends to land in Xander's lap as often as not. The opposing viewpoint is commonly prefaced with "Not to be the bad guy here, but..." or some form of "I don't want to be ''that'' guy, but..."

* As noted above, the Devil's Advocate is the name for a person who argues against the formal recognition of someone as a Saint by the Catholic Church (though it's officially called Promoter of the Faith, but that just doesn't sounds as cool). The job has been taken up on at least one occasion (Mother Theresa) by an outright atheist (ChristopherHitchens).

When the Devil's Advocate is intentionally done poorly, you instead have a [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman Argument.]]

* The Devil's Advocate ball gets passed around the cast of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', but tends to land in Xander's lap as often as not. The opposing viewpoint is commonly prefaced with "Not to be the bad guy here, but..." or some form of "I don't want to be ''that'' guy, but..."

* ''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.

* In ''TheThrawnTrilogy'', Captain Pellaon acted as a [[DevilsAdvocate Devil's Advocate]] to Grand Admiral Thrawn, and commended his subordinate for playing this trope in ''TheHandOfThrawn''.

* [[StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]] would occasionally preform the duty of the Devil's Advocate, typically countering [[TheMcCoy McCoy]]'s or [[TheKirk Kirk]]'s spontaneous, GutFeeling-inspired actions.
** ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "Measure of a Man", a scientist wants to disassemble Data for study, and Data refuses as a sentient being. A hearing is held to determine whether Data is sentient. Picard is Data's defense counsel, and Riker is appointed as the prosecution - so he has to argue that Data isn't sentient. He risks summary judgement against Data if he slacks off on the job. Riker feels guilty about doing it, but Data is grateful - or anyway as grateful as an android allegedly with no emotions can be - since if Riker had refused to do it they would have decided against Data (for if he isn't a sentient being, he lacks the right to bodily autonomy, such are the rules of procedure in the 24th century).

* As noted above, the Devil's Advocate is the name for a person who argues against the formal recognition of someone as a Saint by the Catholic Church (though it's officially called Promoter of the Faith, but that just doesn't sounds as cool). The job has been taken up on at least one occasion (Mother Theresa) by an outright atheist (Christopher Hitchens).

* As noted above, the Devil's Advocate is the name for a person who argues against the formal recognition of someone as a Saint by the Catholic Church (though it's officially called Promoter of the Faith, but that just doesn't sounds as cool). The job has been taken up on at least one occasion (Mother Theresa) by an outright atheist (Sam Harris).

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the ''PhoenixWright'' games, the rival prosecutors sometimes become this, rather than your true opponent. Once he warms up to Phoenix, Edgeworth isn't acting as a prosecutor because he wants you to fail, but because he wants all the holes in the logic of the case to be filled satisfactorily.

* In the book of Job in 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.

* ''{{xkcd}}'' invokes this trope, but does not actually use it [[http://xkcd.com/164/ here]]. The trope itself is used without NameDrop in [[http://xkcd.com/106/ the Wright Brothers example]].

* 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. ''{{xkcd}}'' [[http://xkcd.com/106/ continues this to the illogical conclusion]].

* Parodied on ''TheSimpsons''; Homer states that he's about to "play devil's advocate" in regards to helping Apu...it then cuts to him playing a pinball game called "Devil's Advocate".

* Marco of the ''{{Animorphs}}'' would sometimes offer the Devil's Advocate view on missions.

Compare and contrast StrawmanPolitical, TheWarOnStraw, and other strawman tropes, which are insincere and work to undermine the opposing side rather than strengthen the final resolution. BotheringByTheBook has the same purpose but provides a more accurate version of the opposing argument. For the negative connotations people sometimes have about adversarial proceedings, compare and contrast AmoralAttorney. For a version of this idea in comedies and [[{{Aesop}} morality tales]], see [[IDontThinkThatsSuchAGoodIdea I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea]]. The CommanderContrarian can sometimes be this. See also TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, as the trope is generally enacted specifically ''because'' the nonexistent complainer [[StrawmanHasAPoint might be right]]. TheDragAlong may be this from a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] point of view, but is almost never a Devil's Advocate in-continuity. Also, this trope should not be confused with someone who just happens to hold a minority view.

Compare and contrast StrawmanPolitical, TheWarOnStraw, and other strawman tropes, which are insincere and work to undermine the opposing side rather than strengthen the final resolution. For the negative connotations people sometimes have about adversarial proceedings, compare and contrast AmoralAttorney. For a version of this idea in comedies and [[{{Aesop}} morality tales]], see [[IDontThinkThatsSuchAGoodIdea I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea]]. The CommanderContrarian can sometimes be this. See also TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, as the trope is generally enacted specifically ''because'' the nonexistent complainer [[StrawmanHasAPoint might be right]]. TheDragAlong may be this from a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] point of view, but is almost never a Devil's Advocate in-continuity. Also, this trope should not be confused with someone who just happens to hold a minority view.

'''Examples:'''

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''{{xkcd}}'' invokes this trope, but does not actually use it [[http://xkcd.com/164/ here]]. The trope itself is used without NameDrop in [[http://xkcd.com/106/ the Wright Brothers example]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the ''PhoenixWright'' games, the rival prosecutors sometimes become this, rather than your true opponent. Once he warms up to Phoenix, Edgeworth isn't acting as a prosecutor because he wants you to fail, but because he wants all the holes in the logic of the case to be filled satisfactorily.
[[/folder]]

Compare and contrast StrawmanPolitical, TheWarOnStraw, and other strawman tropes, which are insincere and work to undermine the opposing side rather than strengthen the final resolution. For the negative connotations people sometimes have about adversarial proceedings, compare and contrast AmoralAttorney. For a version of this idea in comedies and [[{{Aesop}} morality tales]], see [[IDontThinkThatsSuchAGoodIdea I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea]]. The CommanderContrarian can sometimes be this. See also TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, as the trope is generally enacted specifically ''because'' the nonexistent complainer [[StrawmanHasAPoint might be right]]. TheDragAlong may be this from a [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] point of view, but is almost never a Devil's Advocate in-continuity.

* [[StarTrek Spock]] would occasionally preform the duty of the Devil's Advocate, typically countering [[TheMcCoy McCoy]]'s or [[TheKirk Kirk]]'s spontaneous, GutFeeling-inspired actions.
* ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "Measure of a Man", a scientist wants to disassemble Data for study, and Data refuses as a sentient being. A hearing is held to determine whether Data is sentient. Picard is Data's defense counsel, and Riker is appointed as the prosecution - so he has to argue that Data isn't sentient. He risks summary judgement against Data if he slacks off on the job. Riker feels guilty about doing it, but Data is grateful - or anyway as grateful as an android allegedly with no emotions can be - since if Riker had refused to do it they would have decided against Data (for if he isn't a sentient being, he lacks the right to bodily autonomy, such are the rules of procedure in the 24th century).

* In the book of Job in the Bible, 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.

[[redirect:CommanderContrarian]]