History Main / HonestAdvisor

* ''Series/TheMagicians'': All of the Fillory advisers are spineless YesMen, not to mention rather out of touch with the kingdom anyway. The primary exception is Lady Abigail, [[TalkingAnimal a talking sloth]]. Unfortunately, there are two problems with her: She needs a translator for anyone to understand her, and [[AxeCrazy her suggestions are invariably extremely violent]].

*** Tyrion is notably not this during ''A Dance With Dragons'' due to having passed through the DespairEventHorizon and crawled his way back up through ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler:The advice he gives Young Griff was definitively not given in good faith and leads the Golden Company to invade Westeros prematurely, likely setting off ''another'' CivilWar and plenty of suffering. Tyrion is well-aware that Griff will have no chance of restoring Targaryen rule even in the best possible scenario. Yet, [[VillainsNeverLie however dishonest the intent, the advice itself still had a solid basis in verifiable fact(s)]]: Daenerys is ''not'' some meek little girl to simply marry and swipe the throne from under with no logical, foreseeable problems with that theoretical course of action. Being a dishonestly honestish, CaptainObvious-skinned onion, for the win. Especially if, say, one suspects the lost Targaryen prince one is advising is actually a Blackfyre. Which Tyrion kinda sorta ''does''. Yeah; working the "right" side to tacitly or outwardly support in that mess out (and still survive) is... yeouch. Even without personal issues on top.]]

%%* Soren in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]'' (GC).

*** On the other hand, [[spiler:the situation in Westeros is so shit that Griff might well be able to gain the throne anyway. Whether it will work in the long run, however... and even if it does, it does not change the fact that Tyrion did not intend for Griff to succeed. He basically sent an innocent youth to die so he could have some revenge on Lannisters.]]

*** On the other hand, [[spiler:the situation in Westeros is so shit that Griff might well be able to gain the throne anyway. Whether it will work in the long run, however...]]

* ''{{Roleplay/Communication}}'', the main goal of Consensus, i.e. you guys, the PlayerCharacter, is to [[EarnYourHappyEnding make sure their Hosts get the best ending possible]]. This means telling said Hosts like it is, no matter what they say that may frustrate or even outright offend them in the process of aiding them in their journey.

*** Tyrion is notably not this during ''A Dance With Dragons'' due to having passed through the DespairEventHorizon and crawled his way back up through ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler:The advice he gives Young Griff was definitively not given in good faith and leads the Golden Company to invade Westeros prematurely, likely setting off ''another'' CivilWar and plenty of suffering. Tyrion is well-aware that Griff will have no chance of restoring Targaryen rule even in the best possible scenario. Yet, [[VillainsNeverLie however dishonest the intent, the advice itself still had a solid basis in verifiable fact(s)]]: Daenerys is ''not'' some meek little girl to simply marry and swipe the throne from under with no logical, foreseeable problems with that theoretical course of action. A dishonest, yet still honestish onion, for the win. Especially if, say, one suspects the lost Targaryen prince one is advising is actually a Blackfyre. Which Tyrion kinda sorta ''does''. Yeah; working the "right" side to tacitly or outwardly support in that mess out (and still survive) is... yeouch. Even without personal issues on top.]]

*** Tyrion is notably not this during ''A Dance With Dragons'' due to having passed through the DespairEventHorizon and crawled his way back up through ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler:The advice he gives Young Griff was definitively not given in good faith and leads the Golden Company to invade Westeros prematurely, likely setting off ''another'' CivilWar and plenty of suffering. Tyrion is well-aware that Griff will have no chance of restoring Targaryen rule even in the best possible scenario. Yet, [[VillainsNeverLie however dishonest the intent, the advice itself still had a solid basis in verifiable fact(s)]]: Daenerys is ''not'' some meek little girl to simply marry and swipe the throne from under with no logical, foreseeable problems with that theoretical course of action. A dishonest, yet still honestish onion, for the win. Especially if, say, one suspects the lost Targaryen prince one is advising is actually a Blackfyre. Which Tyrion kinda sorta ''does''. Yeah; working the "right" side to tacitly or outwardly support in that mess out (and still survive) is... yeouch. Even without personal issues on top.]]

*** Tyrion is notably not this during ''A Dance With Dragons'' due to having passed through the DespairEventHorizon and crawled his way back up through ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler:The advice he gives Young Griff was definitively not given in good faith and leads the Golden Company to invade Westeros prematurely, likely setting off ''another'' CivilWar and plenty of suffering. Tyrion is well-aware that Griff will have no chance of restoring Targaryen rule even in the best possible scenario.]]

* The ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' has Captain Pellaeon, second-in-command to Grand Admiral Thrawn. Pellaeon is a reasonably smart man, and is always pointing out apparent flaws in Thrawn's plans. Usually Thrawn has already accounted for said flaws, but tolerates (even invites, at times) the criticism because Pellaeon will occasionally point out something he hasn't thought of, and Pellaeon is always respectful about it in any case.

* ''Film/{{Syriana}}'': Prince Nasir offers Bryan Woodman's company a lucrative contract, partly out of guilt over the accidental death of Woodman's son. A still-grieving Woodman ''rips into him'' with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtcaIA9SU7o what he really thinks of Nasir and Arabs in general, then accepts the offer]]. Clearly bearing the page quote in mind, Nasir takes it right on the chin and on-the-spot hires Woodman himself as an economic advisor.

** [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Daine_Jir Daine Jir]], an Imperial officer from ''Film/ANewHope''. He only appears in one scene, but he criticizes Darth Vader to his face ''and Vader listens''. Also he always listens to his stormtroopers and fighter pilots because they're the people on the front lines. He just doesn't get along with anyone else.
** The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse establishes that Vader is a FatherToHisMen when it comes to the front line troops, but that he typically has a hate-on for the officer corps. That said, any officer sufficiently sharp to keep up while working for him can face rapid promotion ([[YouHaveFailedMe probably due to how the insufficiently sharp officers are disciplined]]), so Vader presumably respects officers who have proven themselves capable. In this case, Daine Jir had proven himself a capable officer with a bluntly honest manner about him and Vader was impressed enough to promote him for it.

* In public, Stephen of ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' seems to be a textbook SycophanticServant, sucking up to his masters and snapping at anyone who seems to oppose them. This is simply because he knows Candie, like any slave owner, would never stand for a slave or any black person showing himself to be smarter than him. In private, Stephen gives Candie meaningful advise that he highly values, [[{{Hypocrite}} despite thinking black people are of biologically inferior intelligence.]]

* Creator/WaltDisney had a notorious hatred for [[YesMan Yes-Men]]. He would actively seek out people like Bill Peet and [[Creator/DisneysNineOldMen Ward Kimball]] who were known to disagree with him on pretty much everything, because he wanted to hear as many opinions as possible in order to make his films as good as they could be.

** Baron Wulfenbach in states early on that he prefers his men criticize him when possible, rather than see flaws but be too afraid to voice them.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' Bolin becomes this accidentally when he mentions that the businessman [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Varrick]] is not [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually levitating.]] Varrick takes a shine to him for it, and fires the lying swami on the spot and scolds all his [[YesMan yes men]] for not telling him and letting him look like an idiot.

* Many of the (successful) leaders of the [[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms Three Kingdoms of China]] had at least one of these, though whether or not they listened varied. The uber-example of these would be Zhang Zhao, who served Sun Quan of Wu. Historically, he was legendary for telling Sun Quan exactly what he thought whenever he thought Sun was in the wrong, and the fact that he'd known Sun from his youth meant he could get away with outright scolding his boss. It wasn't unusual to have both Sun Quan and Zhang Zhao screaming at each other when they disagreed.

** Genkai in is one, whose favorite pastime is to call her student a dumbass/moron/dimwit/etc. and outline just how stupidly he's dealing with the current situation. All in all, she isn't afraid to [[TheTrickster trick]], [[DrillSergeantNasty insult]], or [[SinkOrSwimMentor nearly kill Yusuke]] if it means he'll finally stop fooling around and see things clearly.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Genkai in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' is one, whose favorite pastime is to call her student a dumbass/moron/dimwit/etc. and outline just how stupidly he's dealing with the current situation. All in all, she isn't afraid to [[TheTrickster trick]], [[DrillSergeantNasty insult]], or [[SinkOrSwimMentor nearly kill Yusuke]] if it means he'll finally stop fooling around and see things clearly.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': CC is this to Lelouch because she calls him on his bull shit and points out things he doesn't want to recognize, but she's not a perfect example. While she is generally honest, she also has a habit of withholding important information as well. [[spoiler: Like the reason she gave him Geass in the first place, or the fact that she knows what happened to his mother (as well as knowing her personally).]]
* This is a central trope in ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. The eponymous character is initially a self-centered jackass who finds it difficult to understand that other people have feelings, and may even disagree with her. Unfortunately, she's also an extremely powerful RealityWarper who may have created the universe, and because of this, very few people are willing to tell her when she's wrong. That is where Kyon, the series' POV character, comes in. He is deeply pessimistic and rarely a moment goes by when he does not insult Haruhi...but he's also the only person willing to tell her the truth, and it's his unwavering honesty that kickstarts her CharacterDevelopment into a better person. Haruhi, for her part, usually pretends to ignore him, but the first season's finale makes it pretty clear that she values him more than any other person, and he's the deputy of the group she forms in all but title.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Daine_Jir Daine Jir]], an Imperial officer from the first ''Franchise/StarWars''. He only appears in one scene, but he criticizes Darth Vader to his face ''and Vader listens''. Also he always listens to his stormtroopers and fighter pilots because they're the people on the front lines. He just doesn't get along with anyone else.
** The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse establishes that Vader is a FatherToHisMen when it comes to the front line troops, but that he typically has a hate-on for the officer corps. That said, any officer sufficiently sharp to keep up while working for him can face rapid promotion ([[YouHaveFailedMe probably due to how the insufficiently sharp officers are disciplined]]), so Vader presumably respects officers who have proven themselves capable. In this case, Daine Jir had proven himself a capable officer with a bluntly honest manner about him and Vader was impressed enough to promote him for it.
* In public Stephen of ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' seems to be a textbook SycophanticServant, sucking up to his masters and snapping at anyone who seems to oppose them. This is simply because he knows Candie, like any slave owner, would never stand for a slave or any black person showing himself to be smarter than him. In private, Stephen gives Candie meaningful advise that he highly values, [[{{Hypocrite}} despite thinking black people are of biologically inferior intelligence.]]
* ''{{Film/Syriana}}'': Prince Nasir offers Bryan Woodman's company a lucrative contract, partly out of guilt over the accidental death of Woodman's son. A still-grieving Woodman ''rips into him'' with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtcaIA9SU7o what he really thinks of Nasir and Arabs in general, then accepts the offer]]. Clearly bearing the page quote in mind, Nasir takes it right on the chin and on-the-spot hires Woodman himself as an economic advisor.

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': Londo Mollari is [[ArrangedMarriage unhappily married]] to three wives: One (Timov) who unabashedly criticises him at every turn, and two others (Muriel and Daggair) who act nice to him in person while plotting behind his back. When he's permitted to divorce two of the three, Timov is the one he keeps even though she's given him no reason to like her. When she asks why Londo chose her, he explains that she was chosen because he would always know where he stood with her, unlike with his other two wives.

** Ned tells his king what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear. Telling Robert "You're too fat for your armour!" isn't a comment Robert would've accepted from many people and least of all would have laughed at. This is also the reason why Robert asks Ned to join up as Hand of the King.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Malcador the Sigilite in the backstory of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}'' as well as the ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' is shown to have been the Emperor's closest confidant and advisor despite his unassuming appearance. Not only did he manage the Imperium with incredible efficiency and helped established vital institutions like the what became the Inquisition, but also had the privilege of being blunt and frank in his comments (and criticisms) on the Emperor. And the Emperor, for all his disdain against people questioning his views or decisions, ''approved'' of him.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Soren in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]'' (GC).
* Arl Eamon of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is this towards [[spoiler:Alistair]] if he takes the throne of Ferelden. His brother, Bann Teagan, comes off as one as well in his interactions with Loghain and the rest of the bannorn.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

** Also, Agatha and Gil seem to prefer to have advisors who know how it is and aren't afraid to tell them off as well, Agatha with Von Zinzer, while Gil nearly always works with close friends rather than minions.

* In ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'', the [[HairTriggerTemper Short-Tempered]] RightlySelfRighteous [[TheIngenue Ingenue]] Ruby somehow finds herself delivering doses of the obvious to CloudCuckooLander CampGay Dillon. She finds this quite annoying.
-->"How can I possibly know more about being gay than a gay man? I've been in this house too long!!!"

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Jiminy Cricket is like this for {{Disney/Pinocchio}}.

* Applejack from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' ''would'' be this if she had any interest in politics. However, she played one in the pageant from the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E13HearthsWarmingEve Christmas episode]], Smart Cookie. Her boss Chancellor Puddinghead was such an arrogant [[TheCaligula nutjob]] that Smart Cookie had long since degenerated into a DeadpanSnarker.
** Owlowiscious to Spike in ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E23InspirationManifestation Inspiration Manifestation]]''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' Bolin becomes this accidentally when he mentions that the businessman [[CloudCuckoolander Varrick]] is not [[ItMakesSenseInContext actually levitating.]] Varrick takes a shine to him for it, and fires the lying swami on the spot and scolds all his [[YesMan yes men]] for not telling him and letting him look like an idiot.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Companies and governments often have the position of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman ombudsman]].
** Parliamentary governments, in particular, enshrine the 'honest advisor' position in their very function: in the parliamentary system, the opposition party's traditional responsibility is to challenge new bills and policy proposal to reveal unexpected loopholes and ensure that they stand up to close scrutiny.

* Italo Balbo, TheDragon of UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini, who didn't trust the Germans and advised Mussolini to continue with the alliance with France and maybe build up an alliance with UK as well. Mussolini refused and Balbo answered with ''"You will all wind up shining the shoes of the Germans".'' Guess what Mussolini's last job was.

* In ancient Imperial Japan, there was a position known as "nacon" (納言, literally 'one to take words from'), they act as the speakers and advisers to their superiors, which in certain cases just so happen to be the emperor himself. Although the position is no more, its legacy can be found in the names of some red bean breeds, named so because of their toughness and thus aversion of breaking when cooked, not unlike how real nacons tend to keep their bellies intact despite their job description and the prevalence of ordered harakiris.

* ''TheWestWing'': All of President Bartlet's senior staff are fully capable of speaking truth to power; it's absolutely necessary, given who they're advising! Leo and Toby tend to give out the most unmitigated criticism, but Josh, Sam, CJ and even Charlie know not to hold back when the President needs a clear and unvarnished analysis of the situation at hand. Will has difficulty with this at first - in fact, he's given a SecretTest for it by Bartlet, and fails - but gets better at it as he settles into his new senior staff role.

* ''Film/Syriana'': Prince Nasir offers Bryan Woodman's company a lucrative contract, partly out of guilt over the accidental death of Woodman's son. A still-grieving Woodman ''rips into him'' with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtcaIA9SU7o what he really thinks of Nasir and Arabs in general, then accepts the offer]]. Clearly bearing the page quote in mind, Nasir takes it right on the chin and on-the-spot hires Woodman himself as an economic advisor.