History Main / DevilsAdvocate

* 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 (Creator/ChristopherHitchens). Its abolition as an official office in 1983 has not coincidentally led to an exponential increase in people accepted for sainthood.
* In Jewish Law, when judging capital cases, if all 23 judges of the Beth Din produces an unanimous guilty verdict, then the accused is immediately declared "not guilty" and freed. The rationale being that there must be something wrong with the court if it cannot produce at least one devil's advocate to defend the accused.

* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' games, the rival prosecutors sometimes become this, rather than your true opponent. In [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the Phoenix Wright trilogy]], once he warms up to Phoenix, Edgeworth isn't acting as a prosecutor because he wants him to fail, but because he wants all the holes in the logic of the case to be filled satisfactorily; and in [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo's arc]], Klavier Gavin is always focused on finding the truth instead of getting a guilty verdict, being the only prosecutor in the series that had this as his goal from the beginning of his career.

* In Jewish Law, when judging capital cases, if all 23 judges of the Beth Din produces an unanimous guilty verdict, then the accused is immediately declared "not guilty and let go". The rationale being that there must be something wrong with the court if it cannot produce at least one devil's advocate to defend the accused.

* In ''TheThrawnTrilogy'', Captain Pellaon acted as this trope to Grand Admiral Thrawn; in ''HandOfThrawn'', he commended his subordinate for doing the same.

* In ''[[{{Deryni}} The Quest for Saint Camber]]'', Bishop Wolfram de Blanet acts as devil's advocate at the hearing establishing the legitimacy of Duncan [=McLain's=] brief marriage to Maryse [=MacArdry=].TheChurch hierarchy would be happy for Duncan to [[spoiler: have a legitimate heir so that he could]] resign his secular titles and lands, leaving him free to concentrate on his spiritual duties, but they also wish to avoid seeming to bend the rules for one of their own. Using an adversarial proceeding helps them avoid the appearance of favouritism.

* [[PlayingWithATrope Discussed]] (and sometimes used) in ''QuantumLeap'', between Sam and Al.

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', this is The Ebon Dragon's original [[PlanetOfHats Hat]], and it's obvious when you see his character sheet: all beings that exist ([[TheFairFolk and some that don't]]) ''always'' have Virtues, which color their actions and interactions with others. The Ebon Dragon (''nee'' The Dragon's Shadow) is defined by his lack of Virtues, making him an excellent {{foil}} to all the other entities. [[TheSacredDarkness If not for his darkness, Creation would suffer from endless ruinous light of the Holy Tyrant]]. TED used to be genuinely caring of Creation. The Exalts broke the Ebon Dragon by making him an actual being instead of just The Shadow of All Things, turning him from Devil's Advocate into [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just a plain devil.]]

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

[[folder:Web Origina]]

Not to be confused with the movie ''Film/TheDevilsAdvocate''.

* 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 (Creator/ChristopherHitchens). The fact that, as an official office, it was abolished in 1983, has, not coincidentally led to an exponential increase in people accepted for sainthood.

* [[Series/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.
** ''Series/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 ''TheThrawnTrilogy'', Captain Pellaon acted as this trope to Grand Admiral Thrawn, and commended his subordinate for playing this trope in ''HandOfThrawn''.

* ''Series/HeadOfTheClass'': in a school debate club meet Alan, [[FamilyTies an Alex P. Keaton conservative type]], has to extemporaneously defend a position he is personally against. He wins the debate.

* ''HeadOfTheClass'': in a school debate club meet Alan, [[FamilyTies an Alex P. Keaton conservative type]], has to extemporaneously defend a position he is personally against. He wins the debate.

* ''Webcomic/{{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]].

* ''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.

* In the 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.

* As a rationalist, Harry Potter-Evans-Verres in ''FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality'' has it as a defining character trait that he must assess all available sides of an argument, whether no true advocate of that argument is present, or even exists. This has led to him acting as the Devil's Advocate for himself, as well as using the trope for other people as a form of the Socratic Method of argument.

* In the ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' games, the rival prosecutors sometimes become this, rather than your true opponent. In [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the Phoenix Wright trilogy]], once he warms up to Phoenix, Edgeworth isn't acting as a prosecutor because he wants him to fail, but because he wants all the holes in the logic of the case to be filled satisfactorily; and in [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo's arc]], Klavier Gavin is always focused on finding the truth instead of getting a guilty verdict, being the only prosecutor in the series that had this as his goal from the beginning of his career.

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 it may or may not provide 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.

* 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). The fact that, as an official office, it was abolished in 1983, has, not coincidentally led to an exponential increase in people accepted for sainthood.

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', this is The Ebon Dragon's original [[PlanetOfHats Hat]], and it's obvious when you see his character sheet: all beings that exist ([[TheFairFolk and some that don't]]) ''always'' have Virtues, which color their actions and interactions with others. The Ebon Dragon (''nee'' The Dragon's Shadow) is defined by his lack of Virtues, making him an excellent {{foil}} to all the other entities. [[TheSacredDarkness If not for his darkness, Creation would suffer from endless ruinous light of the Holy Tyrant.]] TED used to be genuinely caring of Creation. The Exalts broke the Ebon Dragon by making him an actual being instead of just The Shadow of All Things, turning him from Devil's Advocate into [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just a plain devil.]]

* In the ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' games, the rival prosecutors sometimes become this, rather than your true opponent. In [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the Phoenix Wright trilogy]], once he warms up to Phoenix, Edgeworth isn't acting as a prosecutor because he wants him to fail, but because he wants all the holes in the logic of the case to be filled satisfactorily; and in [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo's arc]], Klavier Gavin is always focused on finding the truth instead of getting a guilty veridict, being the only prosecutor in the series that had this as his goal from the beginning of his career.

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

The [[DevilsAdvocate Devil's Advocate]] is a person who attempts to provide justification for something that opposes their personal viewpoint in a particular instance. The Devil's Advocate may have been [[EnforcedTrope appointed]] to provide this viewpoint, or may be [[{{Padding}} stalling for time]], but in the truest sense of the trope is attempting to leave the argument having settled on the best possible result, [[TrueNeutral even if that result is different from their preferred result]]. A person enacting this trope may be seen as either fair or [[ConflictBall argumentative]], depending not only on how [[MoodWhiplash suddenly]] and fervently they change their position, but also on how often they take the opposing side, and more importantly, [[RuleOfFunny whether they bother announcing beforehand that they're attempting this]].

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

* In ''{{Exalted}}'', this is The Ebon Dragon's original [[PlanetOfHats Hat]], and it's obvious when you see his character sheet: all beings that exist ([[TheFairFolk and some that don't]]) ''always'' have Virtues, which color their actions and interactions with others. The Ebon Dragon (''nee'' The Dragon's Shadow) is defined by his lack of Virtues, making him an excellent {{foil}} to all the other entities. [[TheSacredDarkness If not for his darkness, Creation would suffer from endless ruinous light of the Holy Tyrant.]] TED used to be genuinely caring of Creation. The Exalts broke the Ebon Dragon by making him an actual being instead of just The Shadow of All Things, turning him from DevilsAdvocate into [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just a plain devil.]]

* Thomas Aquinas acted as his own DevilsAdvocate in his works.