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* ''Series/EveryoneLoveRaymond'': When it comes to weaponizing guilt, Marie Barone is a grandmaster, often bringing it out as a way to distract her family from her [[MyBelovedSmother various antics]].
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* ''Series/EveryoneLoveRaymond'': ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'': When it comes to weaponizing guilt, Marie Barone is a grandmaster, often bringing it out as a way to distract her family from her [[MyBelovedSmother various antics]].
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* ''Series/EveryoneLoveRaymond'': When it comes to weaponizing guilt, Marie Barone is a grandmaster, often bringing it out as a way to distract her family from her [[MyBelovedSmother various antics]].
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* ''Literature/ChillinInAnotherWorldWithLevelTwoCheatPowers'': In order to get Balirossa to agree to let Gholl and Uliminas stay with them [[spoiler:after they left the Dark Army]], Fenrys [[CrocodileTears pretends to cry]] while asking if she has no heart and wants to turn her friends out into the cold. Flio lampshades this and says Fenrys might as well not even ask while Fenrys gives Balirossa a nonchalant look while the latter is going through a guilt-trip.
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* ''Literature/ChillinInAnotherWorldWithLevelTwoCheatPowers'': ''Literature/ChillinInAnotherWorldWithLevel2SuperCheatPowers'': In order to get Balirossa to agree to let Gholl and Uliminas stay with them [[spoiler:after they left the Dark Army]], Fenrys [[CrocodileTears pretends to cry]] while asking if she has no heart and wants to turn her friends out into the cold. Flio lampshades this and says Fenrys might as well not even ask while Fenrys gives Balirossa a nonchalant look while the latter is going through a guilt-trip.
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* ''Literature/ChillinInAnotherWorldWithLevelTwoCheatPowers'': In order to get Balirossa to agree to let Gholl and Uliminas stay with them [[spoiler:after they left the Dark Army]], Fenrys [[CrocodileTears pretends to cry]] while asking if she has no heart and wants to turn her friends out into the cold. Flio lampshades this and says Fenrys might as well not even ask while Fenrys gives Balirossa a nonchalant look while the latter is going through a guilt-trip.
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* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In "In the Cards", Jake Sisko wants to buy his dad, Benjamin, a baseball card [[CheerUpEpisode to cheer him up]]. He wants his friend Nog to loan him some money, but Nog [[{{Greed}} doesn't want to]], so Jake puts on a deliberately sad voice and mentions all the things Benjamin did for Nog.
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* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In "In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E25InTheCards In the Cards", Cards]]", Jake Sisko wants to buy his dad, Benjamin, a baseball card [[CheerUpEpisode to cheer him up]]. He wants his friend Nog to loan him some money, but Nog [[{{Greed}} doesn't want to]], so Jake puts on a deliberately sad voice and mentions all the things Benjamin did for Nog.
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* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': Inverted in one episode, where Deitrich saves Harris' life. Instead of Deitrich guilt-tripping Harris into owing him a favor, he plays the HumbleHero, seriously annoying Harris, who offers up increasing amounts of money and goods just to even the score because he does NOT want to be indebted to the one man in the precinct who consistently gets under his skin.
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* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': ''Series/BarneyMiller'':
** Inverted in one episode, where Deitrich saves Harris' life. Instead of Deitrich guilt-tripping Harris into owing him a favor, he plays the HumbleHero, seriously annoying Harris, who offers up increasing amounts of money and goods just to even the score because he does NOT want to be indebted to the one man in the precinct who consistently gets under his skin.
** Played straight in another episode, where a beggar keeps guilt-tripping the entire precinct to get preferential treatment, even making a show of how hungry he is just to get Wojo to give him his last stick of chewing gum. [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually a former stockbroker who is making more money begging in New York -- enough to afford an apartment and maid, and support a wife and family -- then he was at his former career!]]
** Inverted in one episode, where Deitrich saves Harris' life. Instead of Deitrich guilt-tripping Harris into owing him a favor, he plays the HumbleHero, seriously annoying Harris, who offers up increasing amounts of money and goods just to even the score because he does NOT want to be indebted to the one man in the precinct who consistently gets under his skin.
** Played straight in another episode, where a beggar keeps guilt-tripping the entire precinct to get preferential treatment, even making a show of how hungry he is just to get Wojo to give him his last stick of chewing gum. [[spoiler: Turns out he's actually a former stockbroker who is making more money begging in New York -- enough to afford an apartment and maid, and support a wife and family -- then he was at his former career!]]
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* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': Inverted in one episode, where Deitrich saves Harris' life. Instead of Deitrich guilt-tripping Harris into owing him a favor, he plays the HumbleHero, seriously annoying Harris, who offers up increasing amounts of money and goods just to even the score because he does NOT want to be indebted to the one man in the precinct who consistently gets under his skin.
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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Roy tries to refuse becoming Hinjo's bodyguard, Hinjo pretends to accept before pointing out that if the latter dies, so do his people. Roy sighs, gives in, and agrees to become Hinjo's bodyguard but says that for a paladin, that was incredibly manipulative.
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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Roy tries to refuse becoming to become Hinjo's bodyguard, Hinjo pretends to accept before pointing out that if the latter dies, so do his people. Roy sighs, gives in, and agrees to become Hinjo's bodyguard but says that for a paladin, that was incredibly manipulative.
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* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Grace manages to get Sarah to hang out with Ellen, whom she never hanged out with without it being part of a larger gathering, by pointing out that due to the unique circumstances of Ellen's birth, she has memories of growing up with Sarah and suddenly lost all of that. This succeeds in making Sarah decide to go through with it despite the awkwardness involved.
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* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Grace manages to get Sarah to hang out with Ellen, whom she never hanged hung out with without it being part of a larger gathering, by pointing out that due to the unique circumstances of Ellen's birth, she has memories of growing up with Sarah and suddenly lost all of that. This succeeds in making Sarah decide to go through with it despite the awkwardness involved.
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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Roy tries to refuse becoming Hinjo's bodyguard, Hinjo pretends to accept before pointing out if the latter dies, so does his people. Roy sighs, gives in, and agrees to becomes Hinjo's bodyguard but says that for a paladin, that was incredibly manipulative.
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* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Roy tries to refuse becoming Hinjo's bodyguard, Hinjo pretends to accept before pointing out that if the latter dies, so does do his people. Roy sighs, gives in, and agrees to becomes become Hinjo's bodyguard but says that for a paladin, that was incredibly manipulative.
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* There's [[Recap/SonicBoomS1E9GuiltTripping an episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' named for this trope. In it, Sonic and Tails save Gogoba Village from the Weasel Bandits, but the Gogobas guilt trip them into staying as a reward for their heroism. Sonic eventually decides that in order to escape from the Gogobas, they have to use their own tactics against them, leading to a scene where he and the Gogoba Chief attempt to out-guilt each other. At the end of the episode, after beating Dr. Eggman's robots, Sonic and Tails use the Gogobas' guilt-tripping technique to get them to go with Eggman, knowing they will become his problem while also convincing Eggman that he is stealing their allies.
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* There's [[Recap/SonicBoomS1E9GuiltTripping an episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' named for this trope. In it, Sonic and Tails save Gogoba Village from the Weasel Bandits, but the Gogobas guilt trip guilt-trip them into staying as a reward for their heroism. Sonic eventually decides that in order to escape from the Gogobas, they have to use their own tactics against them, leading to a scene where he and the Gogoba Chief attempt to out-guilt each other. At the end of the episode, after beating Dr. Eggman's robots, Sonic and Tails use the Gogobas' guilt-tripping technique to get them to go with Eggman, knowing they will become his problem while also convincing Eggman that he is stealing their allies.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* A very common technique used by charities. Especially charities that can't survive on their own merit.
[[/folder]]
* A very common technique used by charities. Especially charities that can't survive on their own merit.
[[/folder]]
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!!Examples
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "The Green House", Lincoln is assigned to do a school project on saving energy, but his sisters are being wasteful. He tries to get them to be more energy-efficient by showing them a photo of a baby polar bear sadly sitting on a melting ice cube.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "The Green House", [[Characters/TheLoudHouseLincolnLoud Lincoln Loud]] is assigned to do a school project on saving energy, but his sisters are being wasteful. He tries to get them to be more energy-efficient by showing them a photo of a baby polar bear sadly sitting on a melting ice cube.
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
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[[folder:Anime and & Manga]]
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[[folder:Films - Animation]]
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[[folder:Films - -- Animation]]
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[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]
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[[folder:Films - -- Live-Action]]
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* ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'': Mifuyu does this to Yachiyo in Chapter 6 of the game, albeit not to convince her to do something for her, but rather to dissuade her from interfering from the Wings of Magius's plans. Namely she guilt trips Yachiyo by pointing out that Yachiyo's made new friends [[spoiler: even though Yachiyo blames herself for the deaths of her and Mifuyu's past friends and that Yachiyo allowing herself to grow close to others again is going to lead to their demises just like what happened before. It works like a charm, and Yachiyo reverts back to her sullen demeanor from Chapter 1 of the game and allows Iroha and the others to go to a Magius meeting even though it is clearly a trap.]]
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* ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'': Mifuyu does this to Yachiyo in Chapter 6 of the game, albeit not to convince her to do something for her, but rather to dissuade her from interfering from the Wings of Magius's plans. Namely she guilt trips Yachiyo by pointing out that Yachiyo's made new friends [[spoiler: even [[spoiler:even though Yachiyo blames herself for the deaths of her and Mifuyu's past friends and that Yachiyo allowing herself to grow close to others again is going to lead to their demises just like what happened before. It works like a charm, and Yachiyo reverts back to her sullen demeanor from Chapter 1 of the game and allows Iroha and the others to go to a Magius meeting even though it is clearly a trap.]]
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-->'''Hinjo''': You're obviously not familiar with one of our key class abilities: Summon Conscience.
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* In ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'', Del often pulls this on Rodney by getting him to do things because that's what their late mother would have wanted. Rodney calls Del out on this, citing [[NoodleIncident the time he claimed that one of her dying wishes was that Rodney should go out to get the fish and chips]], to which Del responds by admitting that he was drunk at the time.
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----
Indexes: GambitIndex, ResponsibilityTropes
Additional wicks:
* GirlScoutsAreEvil
* MyBelovedSmother
* RashEquilibrium
* ToxicFriendInfluence
Indexes: GambitIndex, ResponsibilityTropes
Additional wicks:
* GirlScoutsAreEvil
* MyBelovedSmother
* RashEquilibrium
* ToxicFriendInfluence
to:
Indexes: GambitIndex, ResponsibilityTropes
Additional wicks:
* GirlScoutsAreEvil
* MyBelovedSmother
* RashEquilibrium
* ToxicFriendInfluence
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Created from YKTTW
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->'''Hinjo:''' Ok. But if I get killed before Xykon's army attacks, the city will have no leader and thousands will likely die in the confusion. So, you know, it's your call Roy.
->'''Roy:''' *sigh* Fine, I'll do it. But that was low for a paladin.
->'''Hinjo:''' You're obviously not familiar with one of our key class abilities: Summon Conscience.
-->-- ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
Guilt-tripping is a form of emotional blackmail. It works by latching on the target's sense of guilt or responsibility in order to manipulate them or otherwise coerce them into doing something for the user. It's not foolproof though, and the gambit can fail depending on the circumstances of its usage. However, when applied properly, it tends to be so effective that even when done blatantly and the target knows what the user is doing, the target gives in anyway.
Can also be done for good reasons, such as when the target is being a jerk or otherwise acting immorally. It also doesn't have to be done for big things, guilt-tripping can be used for small favours.
Users of guilt-tripping may ResortToPouting, employ CrocodileTears, and/or PuppyDogEyes to make it more likely to work.
SuperTrope to ShapeshifterGuiltTrip, which is specifically about shapeshifters transforming into their target's loved ones to manipulate them. Also a SuperTrope to GuiltBasedGaming, which is when a game guilt-trips the player.
Compare ObliviousGuiltSlinging for unintentional cases of guilt-tripping. See ConscienceMakesYouGoBack for when someone guilt-trips themselves. Can overlap with PlayingTheFamilyCard if someone tries to guilt-trip someone else via family ties.
----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': Meg Kataoka is guilt-tripped by Kokona Tagawa into helping her study because the latter almost drowned in a swimming incident and blamed the former for it despite it happening because [[NeverMyFault Kokona was the one being irresponsibly careless]]. It takes an intervention from Meg's friends and Koro-sensei to remove Kokona's emotional leverage over her.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': In the episode ''[[Recap/PokemonS6E2ARuinWithAView A Ruin with a View]]'', May tries to get Ash to walk slower since she's not used to long-distance walking. Ash tries to get her to hurry up, but May reminds him she ''used'' to have a bike. This guilts Ash and Pikachu, as the ones responsible for ruining her bike, into accommodating her slower walk.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BeachTrip'': In order to get the 1-A boys to go through with a karaoke performance, the 1-A girls dramatically moan about their injuries in an attempt to emotionally blackmail them. It works and the boys resign themselves into giving the live performance the girls wanted.
* ''Fanfic/BoysAndGirls'': When Lincoln is trying to teach his older sister Lori a lesson for flirting with a man named Hugh when she already has a boyfriend, he shows her a photo of Bobby (the boyfriend) and says to Lori that he is the love of her life and potential father of her children, so it was low what she did with Hugh.
* In ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'', when Jaina sees that Picard is reluctant to win the Empire's war against the Borg for them (believing that the current LetsYouAndHimFight situation is preferable to a possible YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness), she basically mind controls him into raping her. When he comes to later remorseful and willing to submit to whatever punishment she demands, Jaina states destroying the Borg will be sufficient.
* ''Fanfic/PoundAndPumpkinCakesAdventuresAndMisadventuresInPottyTraining'': When Mrs. Cake is trying to [[ToiletTrainingPlot toilet train her two-year-old son Pound]], but he isn't keen, she combines this with ReversePsychology by saying that he doesn't need to use his potty... but then, she follows it up with "I only..." followed by a LongList of everything she's ever done for him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': When Puss in Boots is begging Shrek not to kill him, he says, "My mother is sick and my father is living on garbage!" Shrek relents.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': During "Mother Knows Best", Gothel occasionally tries to guilt Rapunzel into not wanting to leave the castle (with lyrics like "Stop! No more! You'll just upset me!" and, in the extended version, "I only bathed and changed and nursed you").
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]
*''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'': [=LeFou=] tries to guilt-trip Gaston after the latter leaves Maurice for the wolves:
-->"Some storm, huh? At least we're not tied to a tree in the middle of nowhere surrounded by bloodthirsty wolves. You know, it's not too late! We can always turn back..."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ILeftTheARankParty'': In a failed attempt at guilt-tripping, Simon tries to point out that Thunder Pike keeps failing at dungeon expeditions and quests because Yoke left them. Yoke however stands his ground and counters that Thunder Pike kept treating him like crap and their failures are their own responsibility [[NeverMyFault despite their claims otherwise]], and he is under no legal or moral obligation to return to a party that did nothing but belittle and abuse him and never paid him his fair share of the earnings for everything he did for them.
* In ''Literature/TheGreatDivorce'', Frank Smith spends his entire life since childhood getting his way in every argument by sulking and manipulating other people to feel guilty and pity him. In the afterlife, it results in him turning into a LiteralSplitPersonality: the Dwarf, which is a PersonalityRemnant of his good qualities, and the Tragedian, who tries to manipulate Frank's wife Sarah, now a resident of Heaven, in his old way but ends up just [[MilkingTheGiantCow looking ridiculous]]. As it becomes clear that Sarah can't be tricked anymore, Frank is firm in his RedemptionRejection, and the Tragedian eats the Dwarf. The narrator learns that while the action of pity (aka active charity) will live forever, the passion of pity (as his SpiritAdvisor dubs the guilt-tripping) will be killed after the Second Coming of Christ.
* ''Literature/RebornAsASpaceMercenaryIWokeUpPilotingTheStrongestStarship'':
** As Elma decides to walk away from Hiro and Mimi when Hiro decides to save Mimi against her advise, Hiro manages to make her come back by saying she's showing her true colours as a person who'd abandon her trainee and that he was wrong to think she was a generous and reliable mentor.
** Serena Holz tries to guilt Hiro into staying close to her instead of taking his crew on vacation by pointing out that the colony they're in is still recovering from the terrorist attack that Hiro helped deal with. Hiro resists since Serena isn't actually seeking his help with the recovery efforts, she just wants to be close to Hiro.
** Milo the AI has sale quotas to fulfill, and builds a RobotMaid to Hiro's specifications when he only wanted to see a preview, and to really land the sale, Milo has Mei mention that if Hiro doesn't buy her, she will be dismantled for parts. Hiro can only scream in frustration when he realizes the guilt-tripping is working.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E7SnapHappy Snap Happy]]", a children's party entertainer refuses to allow Carole's young son Ben to be a party guest at a pirate-themed party being held at the centre, citing a previous NoodleIncident where Ben apparently ruined his ability to do Theatre/PunchAndJudy shows with a Flymo. Carole is not having any of it though, opening up Ben's cupboard in the centre to allow the entertainer to hear him crying and telling him that by not inviting him, he's allowing Ben to get a headstart in paranoia and insecurity. It works like a charm as the entertainer relents, [[DreadedKidsPartyEntertainerJob not that this does him any good]].
* ''Series/{{Community}}'': This is Shirley's go-to move for manipulation early in the series, such as in [[Recap/CommunityS1E12ComparativeReligion Comparative Religion]], when she attempts to guilt Jeff out of fighting Mike the Bully by invoking the spirit of Christmas, even though it's only December 10th.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': While Phoebe's mother committing suicide is treated seriously, she actually admits that she'll sometimes bring it up to make people feel bad for her and do what she asks. Being the person she is, though, she tries not to do this more than once a week.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Late into season 1, Jerome gets jealous of Alfie becoming close to the Sibuna gang. He decides to exploit his best friend for information (and money from Rufus). In order to convince him to betray the others, he tricks Alfie into thinking that the Sibunas abandoned him in the cellar and left him locked in a sarcophagus at night -- even going so far as to act hurt when Alfie correctly accuses him of stealing and using his walkie talkie. Alfie feels bad enough to start desperately trying to make amends, starting by giving up his food.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In "In the Cards", Jake Sisko wants to buy his dad, Benjamin, a baseball card [[CheerUpEpisode to cheer him up]]. He wants his friend Nog to loan him some money, but Nog [[{{Greed}} doesn't want to]], so Jake puts on a deliberately sad voice and mentions all the things Benjamin did for Nog.
* ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'': In the first season, [[CrassCanuck Ricky]] gets into trouble when [[SitcomArchnemesis Mr. Lahey]] catches him making a porn film with [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy J-Roc]], and confiscates the tape so he can {{Blackmail}} Ricky into leaving the trailer park by threatening to show the tape to his on-again-off-again LoveInterest Lucy. In an example of this trope that overlaps with AdvanceNoticeCrime, Ricky leaves a phone message for his friend [[OnlySaneMan Julian]] that emotionally blackmails him that goes like this:
-->'''Ricky:''' Julian! It's Ricky here. Just letting you know that, uh, I've thought about this, I feel I have no other options. I'm gonna go down to Lahey's trailer, I'm gonna break in, and I'm basically probably gonna kill Mr. Lahey, and I'm thinking about killing [[FatBastard Randy]] as well, and I'm gonna take the porno tape back. I've talked to [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Bubbles]] about it, he's probably gonna give me a hand, because [[MurderIsTheBestSolution we both can't have this tape floating around]]. So, anyway, you know, I was kind of counting on [[TheSmartGuy you]] to maybe help plan this, but if you don't want to, that's up to you. I just hope you won't feel guilty when me and Bubbles are both in jail and [[MurderByInaction you know that you could have prevented a murder]]. Talk to you later.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': "To Do Or Diet" Connie, who has been desperately searching for a purpose, is inspired by a personal trainer, and asks Whit, Bernard, and Wooten if they will work with her to earn a scholarship. They turn her down, and Connie dejectedly walks off, saying how she thought she'd finally found a purpose, but if they're all too busy, she understands. Whit, who sees Connie as something of a surrogate daughter, feels guilty, and uses Connie's feelings of disappointment to guilt the others into helping, saying that while he's been praying for God to show Connie a purpose, he needs to back that up by acting on it, and the others reluctantly agree to aid her. She misses her goal of the scholarship, however, as Whit himself, though sticking to the diet and exercise program, misses his mark by one pound. Connie is understanding, though, as she was reading up on the personal trainer position and realizes that Whit hit a plateau, and it simply wasn't meant to be.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'': Mifuyu does this to Yachiyo in Chapter 6 of the game, albeit not to convince her to do something for her, but rather to dissuade her from interfering from the Wings of Magius's plans. Namely she guilt trips Yachiyo by pointing out that Yachiyo's made new friends [[spoiler: even though Yachiyo blames herself for the deaths of her and Mifuyu's past friends and that Yachiyo allowing herself to grow close to others again is going to lead to their demises just like what happened before. It works like a charm, and Yachiyo reverts back to her sullen demeanor from Chapter 1 of the game and allows Iroha and the others to go to a Magius meeting even though it is clearly a trap.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Grace manages to get Sarah to hang out with Ellen, whom she never hanged out with without it being part of a larger gathering, by pointing out that due to the unique circumstances of Ellen's birth, she has memories of growing up with Sarah and suddenly lost all of that. This succeeds in making Sarah decide to go through with it despite the awkwardness involved.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Coyote manages to get Annie's father to let her visit his forest despite his reservations by making him look at how miserable he is making his own daughter feel by separating her from her forest friends.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Roy tries to refuse becoming Hinjo's bodyguard, Hinjo pretends to accept before pointing out if the latter dies, so does his people. Roy sighs, gives in, and agrees to becomes Hinjo's bodyguard but says that for a paladin, that was incredibly manipulative.
-->'''Hinjo''': You're obviously not familiar with one of our key class abilities: Summon Conscience.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "The Green House", Lincoln is assigned to do a school project on saving energy, but his sisters are being wasteful. He tries to get them to be more energy-efficient by showing them a photo of a baby polar bear sadly sitting on a melting ice cube.
* There's [[Recap/SonicBoomS1E9GuiltTripping an episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' named for this trope. In it, Sonic and Tails save Gogoba Village from the Weasel Bandits, but the Gogobas guilt trip them into staying as a reward for their heroism. Sonic eventually decides that in order to escape from the Gogobas, they have to use their own tactics against them, leading to a scene where he and the Gogoba Chief attempt to out-guilt each other. At the end of the episode, after beating Dr. Eggman's robots, Sonic and Tails use the Gogobas' guilt-tripping technique to get them to go with Eggman, knowing they will become his problem while also convincing Eggman that he is stealing their allies.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': In the episode Final Curtain, [[spoiler:Harry does a subtle version by disguising it as ObliviousGuiltSlinging. He ''knows'' Gwen intends to break up with him, but he pretends otherwise and says it's a good thing she's with him after what happened with his father, or he'd lapse back into addiction. As intended, this guilts Gwen into not breaking up with him]].
[[/folder]]
----
Indexes: GambitIndex, ResponsibilityTropes
Additional wicks:
* GirlScoutsAreEvil
* MyBelovedSmother
* RashEquilibrium
* ToxicFriendInfluence
->'''Roy:''' *sigh* Fine, I'll do it. But that was low for a paladin.
->'''Hinjo:''' You're obviously not familiar with one of our key class abilities: Summon Conscience.
-->-- ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
Guilt-tripping is a form of emotional blackmail. It works by latching on the target's sense of guilt or responsibility in order to manipulate them or otherwise coerce them into doing something for the user. It's not foolproof though, and the gambit can fail depending on the circumstances of its usage. However, when applied properly, it tends to be so effective that even when done blatantly and the target knows what the user is doing, the target gives in anyway.
Can also be done for good reasons, such as when the target is being a jerk or otherwise acting immorally. It also doesn't have to be done for big things, guilt-tripping can be used for small favours.
Users of guilt-tripping may ResortToPouting, employ CrocodileTears, and/or PuppyDogEyes to make it more likely to work.
SuperTrope to ShapeshifterGuiltTrip, which is specifically about shapeshifters transforming into their target's loved ones to manipulate them. Also a SuperTrope to GuiltBasedGaming, which is when a game guilt-trips the player.
Compare ObliviousGuiltSlinging for unintentional cases of guilt-tripping. See ConscienceMakesYouGoBack for when someone guilt-trips themselves. Can overlap with PlayingTheFamilyCard if someone tries to guilt-trip someone else via family ties.
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!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': Meg Kataoka is guilt-tripped by Kokona Tagawa into helping her study because the latter almost drowned in a swimming incident and blamed the former for it despite it happening because [[NeverMyFault Kokona was the one being irresponsibly careless]]. It takes an intervention from Meg's friends and Koro-sensei to remove Kokona's emotional leverage over her.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': In the episode ''[[Recap/PokemonS6E2ARuinWithAView A Ruin with a View]]'', May tries to get Ash to walk slower since she's not used to long-distance walking. Ash tries to get her to hurry up, but May reminds him she ''used'' to have a bike. This guilts Ash and Pikachu, as the ones responsible for ruining her bike, into accommodating her slower walk.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/BeachTrip'': In order to get the 1-A boys to go through with a karaoke performance, the 1-A girls dramatically moan about their injuries in an attempt to emotionally blackmail them. It works and the boys resign themselves into giving the live performance the girls wanted.
* ''Fanfic/BoysAndGirls'': When Lincoln is trying to teach his older sister Lori a lesson for flirting with a man named Hugh when she already has a boyfriend, he shows her a photo of Bobby (the boyfriend) and says to Lori that he is the love of her life and potential father of her children, so it was low what she did with Hugh.
* In ''{{Fanfic/Conquest}}'', when Jaina sees that Picard is reluctant to win the Empire's war against the Borg for them (believing that the current LetsYouAndHimFight situation is preferable to a possible YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness), she basically mind controls him into raping her. When he comes to later remorseful and willing to submit to whatever punishment she demands, Jaina states destroying the Borg will be sufficient.
* ''Fanfic/PoundAndPumpkinCakesAdventuresAndMisadventuresInPottyTraining'': When Mrs. Cake is trying to [[ToiletTrainingPlot toilet train her two-year-old son Pound]], but he isn't keen, she combines this with ReversePsychology by saying that he doesn't need to use his potty... but then, she follows it up with "I only..." followed by a LongList of everything she's ever done for him.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': When Puss in Boots is begging Shrek not to kill him, he says, "My mother is sick and my father is living on garbage!" Shrek relents.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': During "Mother Knows Best", Gothel occasionally tries to guilt Rapunzel into not wanting to leave the castle (with lyrics like "Stop! No more! You'll just upset me!" and, in the extended version, "I only bathed and changed and nursed you").
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films - Live-Action]]
*''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'': [=LeFou=] tries to guilt-trip Gaston after the latter leaves Maurice for the wolves:
-->"Some storm, huh? At least we're not tied to a tree in the middle of nowhere surrounded by bloodthirsty wolves. You know, it's not too late! We can always turn back..."
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ILeftTheARankParty'': In a failed attempt at guilt-tripping, Simon tries to point out that Thunder Pike keeps failing at dungeon expeditions and quests because Yoke left them. Yoke however stands his ground and counters that Thunder Pike kept treating him like crap and their failures are their own responsibility [[NeverMyFault despite their claims otherwise]], and he is under no legal or moral obligation to return to a party that did nothing but belittle and abuse him and never paid him his fair share of the earnings for everything he did for them.
* In ''Literature/TheGreatDivorce'', Frank Smith spends his entire life since childhood getting his way in every argument by sulking and manipulating other people to feel guilty and pity him. In the afterlife, it results in him turning into a LiteralSplitPersonality: the Dwarf, which is a PersonalityRemnant of his good qualities, and the Tragedian, who tries to manipulate Frank's wife Sarah, now a resident of Heaven, in his old way but ends up just [[MilkingTheGiantCow looking ridiculous]]. As it becomes clear that Sarah can't be tricked anymore, Frank is firm in his RedemptionRejection, and the Tragedian eats the Dwarf. The narrator learns that while the action of pity (aka active charity) will live forever, the passion of pity (as his SpiritAdvisor dubs the guilt-tripping) will be killed after the Second Coming of Christ.
* ''Literature/RebornAsASpaceMercenaryIWokeUpPilotingTheStrongestStarship'':
** As Elma decides to walk away from Hiro and Mimi when Hiro decides to save Mimi against her advise, Hiro manages to make her come back by saying she's showing her true colours as a person who'd abandon her trainee and that he was wrong to think she was a generous and reliable mentor.
** Serena Holz tries to guilt Hiro into staying close to her instead of taking his crew on vacation by pointing out that the colony they're in is still recovering from the terrorist attack that Hiro helped deal with. Hiro resists since Serena isn't actually seeking his help with the recovery efforts, she just wants to be close to Hiro.
** Milo the AI has sale quotas to fulfill, and builds a RobotMaid to Hiro's specifications when he only wanted to see a preview, and to really land the sale, Milo has Mei mention that if Hiro doesn't buy her, she will be dismantled for parts. Hiro can only scream in frustration when he realizes the guilt-tripping is working.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': In "[[Recap/TheBrittasEmpireS6E7SnapHappy Snap Happy]]", a children's party entertainer refuses to allow Carole's young son Ben to be a party guest at a pirate-themed party being held at the centre, citing a previous NoodleIncident where Ben apparently ruined his ability to do Theatre/PunchAndJudy shows with a Flymo. Carole is not having any of it though, opening up Ben's cupboard in the centre to allow the entertainer to hear him crying and telling him that by not inviting him, he's allowing Ben to get a headstart in paranoia and insecurity. It works like a charm as the entertainer relents, [[DreadedKidsPartyEntertainerJob not that this does him any good]].
* ''Series/{{Community}}'': This is Shirley's go-to move for manipulation early in the series, such as in [[Recap/CommunityS1E12ComparativeReligion Comparative Religion]], when she attempts to guilt Jeff out of fighting Mike the Bully by invoking the spirit of Christmas, even though it's only December 10th.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': While Phoebe's mother committing suicide is treated seriously, she actually admits that she'll sometimes bring it up to make people feel bad for her and do what she asks. Being the person she is, though, she tries not to do this more than once a week.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Late into season 1, Jerome gets jealous of Alfie becoming close to the Sibuna gang. He decides to exploit his best friend for information (and money from Rufus). In order to convince him to betray the others, he tricks Alfie into thinking that the Sibunas abandoned him in the cellar and left him locked in a sarcophagus at night -- even going so far as to act hurt when Alfie correctly accuses him of stealing and using his walkie talkie. Alfie feels bad enough to start desperately trying to make amends, starting by giving up his food.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In "In the Cards", Jake Sisko wants to buy his dad, Benjamin, a baseball card [[CheerUpEpisode to cheer him up]]. He wants his friend Nog to loan him some money, but Nog [[{{Greed}} doesn't want to]], so Jake puts on a deliberately sad voice and mentions all the things Benjamin did for Nog.
* ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'': In the first season, [[CrassCanuck Ricky]] gets into trouble when [[SitcomArchnemesis Mr. Lahey]] catches him making a porn film with [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy J-Roc]], and confiscates the tape so he can {{Blackmail}} Ricky into leaving the trailer park by threatening to show the tape to his on-again-off-again LoveInterest Lucy. In an example of this trope that overlaps with AdvanceNoticeCrime, Ricky leaves a phone message for his friend [[OnlySaneMan Julian]] that emotionally blackmails him that goes like this:
-->'''Ricky:''' Julian! It's Ricky here. Just letting you know that, uh, I've thought about this, I feel I have no other options. I'm gonna go down to Lahey's trailer, I'm gonna break in, and I'm basically probably gonna kill Mr. Lahey, and I'm thinking about killing [[FatBastard Randy]] as well, and I'm gonna take the porno tape back. I've talked to [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Bubbles]] about it, he's probably gonna give me a hand, because [[MurderIsTheBestSolution we both can't have this tape floating around]]. So, anyway, you know, I was kind of counting on [[TheSmartGuy you]] to maybe help plan this, but if you don't want to, that's up to you. I just hope you won't feel guilty when me and Bubbles are both in jail and [[MurderByInaction you know that you could have prevented a murder]]. Talk to you later.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': "To Do Or Diet" Connie, who has been desperately searching for a purpose, is inspired by a personal trainer, and asks Whit, Bernard, and Wooten if they will work with her to earn a scholarship. They turn her down, and Connie dejectedly walks off, saying how she thought she'd finally found a purpose, but if they're all too busy, she understands. Whit, who sees Connie as something of a surrogate daughter, feels guilty, and uses Connie's feelings of disappointment to guilt the others into helping, saying that while he's been praying for God to show Connie a purpose, he needs to back that up by acting on it, and the others reluctantly agree to aid her. She misses her goal of the scholarship, however, as Whit himself, though sticking to the diet and exercise program, misses his mark by one pound. Connie is understanding, though, as she was reading up on the personal trainer position and realizes that Whit hit a plateau, and it simply wasn't meant to be.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory'': Mifuyu does this to Yachiyo in Chapter 6 of the game, albeit not to convince her to do something for her, but rather to dissuade her from interfering from the Wings of Magius's plans. Namely she guilt trips Yachiyo by pointing out that Yachiyo's made new friends [[spoiler: even though Yachiyo blames herself for the deaths of her and Mifuyu's past friends and that Yachiyo allowing herself to grow close to others again is going to lead to their demises just like what happened before. It works like a charm, and Yachiyo reverts back to her sullen demeanor from Chapter 1 of the game and allows Iroha and the others to go to a Magius meeting even though it is clearly a trap.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Grace manages to get Sarah to hang out with Ellen, whom she never hanged out with without it being part of a larger gathering, by pointing out that due to the unique circumstances of Ellen's birth, she has memories of growing up with Sarah and suddenly lost all of that. This succeeds in making Sarah decide to go through with it despite the awkwardness involved.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Coyote manages to get Annie's father to let her visit his forest despite his reservations by making him look at how miserable he is making his own daughter feel by separating her from her forest friends.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': When Roy tries to refuse becoming Hinjo's bodyguard, Hinjo pretends to accept before pointing out if the latter dies, so does his people. Roy sighs, gives in, and agrees to becomes Hinjo's bodyguard but says that for a paladin, that was incredibly manipulative.
-->'''Hinjo''': You're obviously not familiar with one of our key class abilities: Summon Conscience.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "The Green House", Lincoln is assigned to do a school project on saving energy, but his sisters are being wasteful. He tries to get them to be more energy-efficient by showing them a photo of a baby polar bear sadly sitting on a melting ice cube.
* There's [[Recap/SonicBoomS1E9GuiltTripping an episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' named for this trope. In it, Sonic and Tails save Gogoba Village from the Weasel Bandits, but the Gogobas guilt trip them into staying as a reward for their heroism. Sonic eventually decides that in order to escape from the Gogobas, they have to use their own tactics against them, leading to a scene where he and the Gogoba Chief attempt to out-guilt each other. At the end of the episode, after beating Dr. Eggman's robots, Sonic and Tails use the Gogobas' guilt-tripping technique to get them to go with Eggman, knowing they will become his problem while also convincing Eggman that he is stealing their allies.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': In the episode Final Curtain, [[spoiler:Harry does a subtle version by disguising it as ObliviousGuiltSlinging. He ''knows'' Gwen intends to break up with him, but he pretends otherwise and says it's a good thing she's with him after what happened with his father, or he'd lapse back into addiction. As intended, this guilts Gwen into not breaking up with him]].
[[/folder]]
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Indexes: GambitIndex, ResponsibilityTropes
Additional wicks:
* GirlScoutsAreEvil
* MyBelovedSmother
* RashEquilibrium
* ToxicFriendInfluence
