History Main / HonestyIsTheBestPolicy

* Invoked in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' episode “Return to Wartwood”. When the Plantars realize they’ve forgotten to bring back Souvenirs for the townsfolk from their trip to Newtopia, they plot a scheme to cover it up. It’s Anne who opposes this scheme, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] that she has learned the importance of honesty many, many times throughout the series, and only begrudgingly going along with it because Sprig fears it might damage his budding relationship with Ivy. When the scheme predictably backfires, the Plantars are forced to admit the truth, learning that while the townsfolk are disappointed that the Plantars didn’t bring back gifts, they’re mostly just glad to have them back as life was boring without their usual antics, and are more upset they didn’t just tell the truth in the first place (earning the Plantars a dirty look from Anne).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E24EquestriaGames Equestria Games]]", when Spike thinks he can light fires with his mind and tries to do it again, Twilight takes him aside and explains that she lit the torch for him instead of letting him keep thinking that he has psychic powers or something. If she hadn't told him the truth right away, he would probably have gotten himself into big trouble somehow. It does make sense since there's already been at least two episodes this season about the importance of telling the truth, and one was right before this one.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Bart's Friend Falls in Love", Bart is jealous of Milhouse spending time with his new girlfriend, so he tells her overprotective father about the relationship so he can break it up, leaving Milhouse [[HeroicBSoD utterly broken]]. Bart ends up feeling guilty about hurting his friend, and though he's hesitant at first, he tells the truth, which makes a now-furious Milhouse attack him until they're both exhausted and they reconcile.

* Invoked in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'' episode “Return to Wartwood”. When the Plantars realize they’ve forgotten to bring back Souvenirs for the townsfolk from their trip to Newtopia, they plot a scheme to cover it up. It’s Anne who opposes this scheme, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] that she has learned the importance of honesty many, many times throughout the series, and only begrudgingly going along with it because Sprog fears it might damage his budding relationship with Ivy. When the scheme predictably backfires, the Plantars are forced to admit the truth, learning that while the townsfolk are disappointed that the Plantars didn’t bring back gifts, they’re mostly just glad to have them back as life was boring without their usual antics, and are more upset they didn’t just tell the truth in the first place (earning the Plantars a dirty look from Anne).

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission invoke this when offering Vaarsuvius a DealWithTheDevil: they present their offer up-front without any JackassGenie LoopholeAbuse, saying that "Contracts are for people with something to hide," and even suggest an alternate course of action to nudge V towards the deal. However, [[spoiler:they (but not V) know that the alternate plan is unworkable, they tactically omit that the deal lets them borrow V's soul while V is still alive, and they ''imply'' [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity that the Soul Splice can affect V's alignment]] so as to discourage Vaarsuvius from taking responsibility for their actions during the Splice.]] It is also notable that "Contracts are for people with something to hide" sounds ''an awful lot'' like "we're not hiding anything from you" without meaning anything for the kind.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission invoke this when offering Vaarsuvius a DealWithTheDevil: they present their offer up-front without any JackassGenie LoopholeAbuse, saying that "Contracts are for people with something to hide," and even suggest an alternate course of action to nudge V towards the deal. However, [[spoiler:they (but not V) know that the alternate plan is unworkable, they tactically omit that the deal lets them borrow V's soul while V is still alive, and they ''imply'' [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity that the Soul Splice can affect V's alignment]] so as to discourage Vaarsuvius from taking responsibility for their actions during the Splice.]]

* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'', Captain Jack Sparrow will often mix complete truth in with outright lies when manipulating people, which tends to make others surprised when they find out about the true parts.

* Invoked in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}} episode “Return to Wartwood”. When the Plantars realize they’ve forgotten to bring back Souvenirs for the townsfolk from their trip to Newtopia, they plot a scheme to cover it up. It’s Anne who opposes this scheme, [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] that she has learned the importance of honesty many, many times throughout the series, and only begrudgingly going along with it because Sprog fears it might damage his budding relationship with Ivy. When the scheme predictably backfires, the Plantars are forced to admit the truth, learning that while the townsfolk are disappointed that the Plantars didn’t bring back gifts, they’re mostly just glad to have them back as life was boring without their usual antics, and are more upset they didn’t just tell the truth in the first place (earning the Plantars a dirty look from Anne).

* Tinkerbell tries this in ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' when she flat-out admits to Peter that she tried to have Wendy killed by the Lost Boys. However, she wasn't exactly successful in the "not getting punished" part.

-->'''Mrs. Creeply''': We are as honest as the day is long.\\

* ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'': When Ruby [[spoiler: got a ThirdEye]], she hid it from her companion Tom. Later, strong pressure from players led her to reveal it, which led to a heartwarming moment and probably a ''lot'' less trouble down the line.

* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/TwentyTwentySeven 2027]]''. Being honest with Magnus in the game will [[spoiler: prevent him from fighting you at the end, except when he wants you to retrieve the Amita, being honest about stealing it will have him kill you]]. Very much averted with the Human Horizon Agent in Paris. Telling him who you are will have him try to kill you.

* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', most if not all friendship scenes where you can lie (or try to convince someone else to) will turn out better if you're just honest and upfront instead. For example, in one scene at the clinic, you startle Maru into dropping a beaker, and she's concerned about what Harvey will say when he finds out. You can either tell her to clean up the evidence and pretend it didn't happen (she refuses and tells him what happened; you lose points with her for your bad suggestion), tell her to blame you instead (he'll reprimand her for not taking personal responsibility and cut her pay to recoup the expenses; you lose points with her), or tell her to admit that she had an accident (he'll tell her not to worry about it, because she's such a reliable employee; you gain points with her). Often averted when people ask for your opinion on things: you tend to gain points if you pick the option that affirms their own belief, even if you - the player - disagrees. For example, when you catch Linus digging through a trashcan for discarded food, he tells you that there's nothing wrong with it because it'd just go to waste anyway, then asks you if you think otherwise. If you do say so, he'll be disappointed and you'll lose points with him.

* Doc Scratch of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is overt about this-- he tells people on many occasions that he never lies, and has never been seen actually contradicting that statement. As a near-"omniscipotent" being, he can see the entirety of any conversation or interaction (with a few "dark spots") prior to the actual initiation of the conversation, and sees no reason to lie to people about things he knows they are going to do.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E24EquestriaGames Equestria Games]]'', when Spike thinks he can light fires with his mind and tries to do it again, Twilight takes him aside and explains that she lit the torch for him instead of letting him keep thinking that he has psychic powers or something. If she hadn't told him the truth right away, he would probably have gotten himself into big trouble somehow. It does make sense since there's already been at least two episodes this season about the importance of telling the truth, and one was right before this one.

* Wrestling/{{WWE}} manager Wrestling/{{Slick}}'s CatchPhrase was "Honesty is the best policy." Of course, he often averted it to so many degrees.

!!Examples:

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission invoke this when offering Vaarsuvius a DealWithTheDevil: they present their offer up-front without any JackassGenie LoopholeAbuse, saying that "Contracts are for people with something to hide," and even suggest an alternate course of action to nudge V towards the deal. However, [[spoiler:they (but not V) know that the alternate plan is unworkable, they tactically omit that the deal lets them borrow V's soul while V is still alive, and they ''imply'' [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity that the Soul Splice can affect V's alignment]] so as to discourage him from taking responsibility for his actions during the Splice.]]

* In ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', Yasha will tell the truth even if it’s not the best thing for her. She explains that she’s not skilled enough to get away with deceiving many people, so she would rather have a reliable reputation for the truth that people could respect than ruin things with a failed lie.

* Genie attempting to get WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} to tell Jasmine the truth about the whole "not-really-a-prince-but-rather-a-street-urchin" thing.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* The protagonist of ''Fanfic/DragonAgeTheCrownOfThorns'' can somehow pull this off even when he's setting up [[ThePlan plan after plan]] plus a [[spoiler:ZeroApprovalGambit]] on the side. He also manages to make people believe whatever he wants, like [[spoiler:Trian being dead when he isn't]] yet ''still'' avoids lying by phrasing his words as questions and hypotheses. That said, every one of his direct statements can qualify as BrutalHonesty.
* In ''Fanfic/ErosTurannos'', this attitude highlights Firmus Piett's policy in dealing with his superiors, to the extent that he admits his doubts about his suitability for a promotion even when he was offered the position by Darth Vader in person because he recognises his potential inexperience in this area, even when angering Vader is regarded as a bad idea (Vader, however, appreciates Piett's honesty and promotes him regardless).
* In ''Fanfic/HiccupTheUseless'', when the Hooligan Tribe's idea of pretending that Snotlout was the hero of Berk goes horribly wrong, Hiccup comes up with the idea of being honest with Chief Mogadon instead. He cites the consequences of him keeping Toothless a secret from Stoick and them collectively keeping their dragons a secret from Dagur as proof that keeping secrets will only make things worse. Not only that, but by showing that ''everyone'' knows how to tame dragons on Berk, it would lower Hiccup's "value" and thus make it less likely that Mogadon will "collect" him. He was right.
* PlayedWith in ''Fanfic/TheKarmaOfLies'': After Lila [[TheFarmerAndTheViper steals from him]], Adrien assumes that all he needs to do is be perfectly honest and tell the police ''everything'', and they'll automatically believe him because he's telling the truth. This includes admitting that he knew she was a ConArtist the whole time, but [[AccompliceByInaction chose not to expose her]], letting her scam his friends for ''months''. For bonus points, he'd also seen that Marinette was being bullied and isolated for [[CassandraTruth trying to warn everyone]], yet still assumed that things would be different for ''him'' because he's Adrien Agreste, and everybody loves him, right?
* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'':
** When Sienna Khan, leader of a violent Faunus militia group, asks Ren why they should work together, he bluntly admits that they have few common goals, no common motives, and even use entirely different means to accomplish their goals. But the only other option is the Radical faction, who were plenty crazy even before they became a cult worshiping a spiteful asshole. Sienna accepts this, and agrees to work with them.
** Sienna specifically interrogates Ilia, who was recently one of Adam's trusted lieutenants, on why she's planning to side with Sienna rather than Adam's cult. Instead of arguing morality or love or any of her myriad other motivations, Ilia says simply "[[spoiler:Adam got eaten by a dragon. I don't want to be eaten by a dragon]]." Sienna snorts and says she's heard worse reasons.
** Yang talks to [[spoiler:the God of Darkness about how the God of Light has been screwing him over for as long as the world has existed, asking him to put in half the work and then letting him get shuffled off into the Grimmlands where no worshipers would ever come visit. The God of Light was worshiped and adored, while the God of Darkness was shunned and feared. The God of Darkness accuses her of trying to make him attack the God of Light--and Yang says yes, that's exactly right. But that doesn't mean she's ''wrong''. In the end, she does convince the God of Darkness to fight the God of Light, and after he wins they dedicate a yearly festival in his honor]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine'': The page quote comes at the end of the XanatosGambit the protagonist spent all of ''[[Literature/TheActsOfCaine Caine Black Knife]]'' [[XanatosSpeedChess finagling]] into place. Caine has just royally screwed the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Board]]'s plans up. Their two choices are: reward him for sabotage and murder of one of their number by giving him a total pardon and more authority and free rein than they gave to the guys sent out to catch him, or permanently lose access to Overworld and possibly risk Overworld's most powerful empire marching over a portal with dragons and warmages to blast Earth into submission. Caine is happy to unveil all the details because he's not afraid to die and they have no alternatives.
* Moist von Lipwig of ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' pulls this off in ''Literature/MakingMoney'', utterly derailing a court case against him by [[spoiler:publicly admitting that he is a former con man who was {{recruit|ingTheCriminal}}ed by the Patrician. It throws off the otherwise unflappable 351-year-old zombie lawyer questioning him.]]
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward does this several times. When forced to explain the presence of [[Really700YearsOld Oreg]], who has a strong resemblance to the Hurog family, he tells people Oreg is a ... "cousin", the known euphemism for "bastard offspring". This is true; Oreg is indeed a bastard son ... of a long-dead ancestor, generations ago. Ward's strategy for lying is to always stay as close to the truth as possible. Another example: When he asks for the help of a nobleman, Ward mentions that he needs to be absolutely honest, as this particular noble hates liars, and wouldn't help him if he lied. He knows it is better to admit he had been ObfuscatingStupidity than to continue doing it, and risk being caught.
* This crops up in several ways in a ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''.
** [[MoralSociopathy Bronn]] makes his [[HiredGuns living]] (and keeps himself alive) basically by being Mr Honest -- if, occasionally, [[BrutallyHonest Mr Blunt]], too. He's totally upfront about his skills, about what he will do (it's a long list), what he won't do (quite short, but only if the money is good), what he has done (when it becomes relevant) and, only very occasionally, who he has worked for (only if they're in no position to care that he's outed them or if it's a matter of easily accessible record). He won't go into details, though, if he doesn't have to; and, says as much. Usually politely. He's also upfront about being OnlyInItForTheMoney and when/where/how he'll pull the contract on his end... [[EnlightenedSelfInterest And, as a result, no hard feelings -- which means he's unlikely to get a sword to the face from, say, a disappointed ex-employer with a disproportionate grudge.]]
** The Lannisters, as a group, tend [[{{Pride}} towards owning what they do and who they are]], so they use this tactic in preference to many others. Also, the truth is often a more potent weapon than outright lies or being MetaphoricallyTrue precisely ''because'' [[PragmaticEvil it can be verified]]. Jaime and Tyrion, in particular, are great advocates of saying exactly what they know and what they have done (well, most of the time) when it'll serve them to do so. Both boys learned from Dad, although Tywin can be rather more parsimonious with what he shares and with whom. Cersei... not quite so much: she can be a bit hampered by not always seeing why she should come totally clean (particularly as she has ''a lot'' of very dangerous dirty linen).
** The [[PrivateMilitaryContractor Golden Company]] has this as a basic strategy: because they're known to be exceedingly honest, the very rare occasions they do attack an ex-employer, or otherwise break a contract, ''everybody'' in both Westeros and Essos knows for absolutely ''certain'' that either A) said (stupid) employer tried to screw them over in some way (and thus had [[CurbStompBattle their inevitable, embarrassingly thorough curbstomp]] coming) or B) they are following a Blackfyre into a battle for the Iron Throne on very short notice (sorry, Boss: the discretionary clause is ''right'' there), so when they C) seemingly break their pattern by ditching Myr's standing contract for no discernible reason and then start hitting the Stormlands on behalf of an unknown quantity in a time without any significant Blackfyre inheritors/ pretenders around to speak of, it proves the rule thanks to throwing ''a lot'' of uncertainty into the mix for both bystanders and those in the middle of it.
* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', often when a cat is caught doing something "wrong", they tell their leader the truth, since they [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight typically were doing it for a good reason]] and the leader will understand (for instance, when Fireheart and Graystripe were caught bringing prey to a starving enemy Clan).
* Every last Aes Sedai in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', no matter her individual personality or Ajah, can and will pounce with this... when she's absolutely certain it'll get the people she's being painfully honest at to do what she wants because they've otherwise been boxed in. However, beware some of them mixing ExactWords, or being MetaphoricallyTrue, for all those who are properly sworn to the Oath Rod CannotTellALie, not ''all'' Aes Sedai necessarily come ''all'' the way totally, 100% honestly honest ''all the time''. Even if they think they are.
* In the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'', by Creator/PiersAnthony, demons are infamous, not for being liars, but for being 100% honest at all times. They may not tell you the whole truth, but they'll never just make something up, because [[AwfulTruth a single truth will often be far more devastating than a thousand lies.]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the pilot episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Agent Coulson decides to earn the trust of Skye, resident anti-government hacker activist, by injecting his fellow Agent, Ward, with a truth serum and locking them in an interrogation room. [[spoiler:Subverted when it later turns out S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have a truth serum at all; it's left ambiguous as to how much of what Ward revealed while pretending to be under its effects was actually true and what was made up]].
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'', Twisted in Season 4's "Nothing But the Truth." Boss Hogg sits on a syringe containing truth serum, and finds that honesty being the best policy could cost him his marriage (he lets slip he doesn't really love Lulu) and his life (when he reveals the truth behind one of his schemes to the authorities and names names).
* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', Saffron's husband walks in on her and Mal, while she has a gun pointed at Mal.
-->'''Saffron:''' Durran, this isn't what it looks like.\\
'''Mal:''' Unless it looks like we're stealing your [[MacGuffin priceless Lassiter]], 'cause, that's what we're doin'. Don't ask me 'bout the gun, though, 'cause that's new.\\
'''Durran:''' Well, I appreciate your honesty. Not, you know, a lot, but...
* ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1981'' has a reversal of the Ape Court joke in the Folklore category. The Vogon Captain reads his tortuously bad poetry to the captured heroes (who he previously threatened to have spaced) and asks them what they think of it. The two go at length about how good it is, noting the clever use of made-up poetry conventions. Once they're done, the Captain says they were completely wrong, and that his poetry being tortuously bad was actually his intent, to put other people in same bad mood that he's in.
* ''Series/TheHoganFamily'', In "Leave It To Willie," what Willie thinks will bail him out of serious trouble. After all, all you have to do is confess that you stole your father's convertible to go out for a joy ride (all while you're 12 years old and nowhere near having a driver's license), crash the car into a parked car and cause major damage, flee the scene even though there was an eyewitness to the incident, try to cover up the damage, and allow your big brother to take the blame ... and you'll get off scot free. Not so ... Willie's mother, Valerie, tells him that by not coming clean when he was asked, he lied by omission ... claiming he did not know anything about the accident that she just accused David of. So in essence, the {{a|nAesop}}esop becomes, "Honesty is the best policy when you are asked the first time, even when the truth is difficult and you could face severe consequences anyway."
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': This trope is a recurring theme on the show and is brought up in several episodes. The resolution of the eight season episode "Need to Know" is a good case in point. However, the twist is that there should be honesty among the Americans, but maintaining a false facade towards the others is okay.
* In the second episode of ''Series/ResidentAlien'', Dr. Vanderspeigle manages to win over a cranky old patient by bluntly informing him that he'll be dead by the end of the year. The patient had become embittered toward Vanderspeigle's predecessor because he suspected that the doctor's warnings were just an attempt to trick him into dieting when he knew that he was getting so old that he'd be dead soon anyway.

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/{{WWE}} manager Wrestling/{{Slick}}'s CatchPhrase was "Honesty is the best policy." Of course, he often averted it to so many degrees.
* [[Wrestling/FrankieKazarian The]] [[Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels Addiction]], known for their subterfuge, blackmailing and underhanded tactics adopted a policy of "honesty" after their Knights Of The Rising Dawn conspiracy failed. While it did lead to them winning Wrestling/RingOfHonor's TagTeam Title belts, the fallout lead to them having to defend those belts in a [[GimmickMatches ladder war]] against both the Motor City Machine Guns and Wrestling/TheYoungBucks. Well, "honesty" didn't make their [[LastVillainStand last stand]] anymore effective, so it was back to subterfuge and infiltration, this time against Wrestling/{{Cody|Rhodes}} and Wrestling/BulletClub.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'': When Ruby [[spoiler: got a ThirdEye]], she hid it from her companion Tom. Later, strong pressure from players led her to reveal it, which led to a heartwarming moment and probably a ''lot'' less trouble down the line.
[[/folder]]

* While the Literature/AesopsFables that actually teach that "honesty is the best policy" are well-known, there's another, hilarious one in which someone tries to be GenreSavvy in this way and [[WrongGenreSavvy it backfires]]. Two men get kidnapped by apes and hauled before the ape king, where they see he's set up a whole court for himself with all the trappings of actual royalty. The "king" asks each man in turn what they think of him and his court. The first one sucks up to him about how magnificent he is, and is set free. His friend figures that if that's what you get for lying, the reward for telling the truth must be even better, and tells the ape he looks like a idiot pretending to be a real king and that he's not impressing anyone. The king naturally orders him executed. The moral of this one seems to be, "Don't go overboard."

* The page quote comes at the end of the XanatosGambit the protagonist spent all of ''[[Literature/TheActsOfCaine Caine Black Knife]]'' [[XanatosSpeedChess finagling]] into place. Caine has just royally screwed the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Board]]'s plans up. Their two choices are: reward him for sabotage and murder of one of their number by giving him a total pardon and more authority and free rein than they gave to the guys sent out to catch him, or permanently lose access to Overworld and possibly risk Overworld's most powerful empire marching over a portal with dragons and warmages to blast Earth into submission. Caine is happy to unveil all the details because he's not afraid to die and they have no alternatives.

* ''Series/TheHoganFamily'', In "Leave It To Willie," what Willie thinks will bail him out of serious trouble. After all, all you have to do is confess that you stole your father's convertible to go out for a joy ride (all while you're 12 years old and nowhere near having a driver's license), crash the car into a parked car and cause major damage, flee the scene even though there was an eyewitness to the incident, try to cover up the damage, and allow your big brother to take the blame ... and you'll get off scot free. Not so ... Willie's mother, Valerie, tells him that by not coming clean when he was asked, he lied by omission ... claiming he did not know anything about the accident that she just accused David of. So in essence, the {{a|nAesop}}esop becomes, "Honesty is the best policy when you are asked the first time, even when the truth is difficult and you could face severe consequences anyway."

* In the pilot episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Agent Coulson decides to earn the trust of Skye, resident anti-government hacker activist, by injecting his fellow Agent, Ward, with a truth serum and locking them in an interrogation room. [[spoiler:Subverted when it later turns out S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't have a truth serum at all; it's left ambiguous as to how much of what Ward revealed while pretending to be under its effects was actually true and what was made up]].
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': This trope is a recurring theme on the show and is brought up in several episodes. The resolution of the eight season episode "Need to Know" is a good case in point. However, the twist is that there should be honesty among the Americans, but maintaining a false facade towards the others is okay.

* Mentioned by [[MadGod Sheogorath]] in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'': "Speak up! Honesty is the best policy, as far as you know."

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission invoke this when offering Vaarsuvius a DealWithTheDevil: they present their offer up-front without any JackassGenie LoopholeAbuse, saying that "Contracts are for people with something to hide," and even suggest an alternate course of action to nudge V towards the deal. However, [[spoiler:they (but not V) know that the alternate plan is unworkable, they tactically omit that the deal lets them borrow V's soul while V is still alive, and they ''imply'' [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity that the Soul Splice can affect V's alignment]] so as to discourage him from taking responsibility for his actions during the Splice.]]

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', after nearly dying because of [[KnightTemplar Abraham]], Nanase decides she doesn't want to die living a lie and decides to be as honest as she can be. This includes being open about her homosexuality, wearing the clothes she likes and not lying to those close to her about as many things as possible without divulging government secrets or breaking TheMasquerade.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' has Goofy reinforce this as his motto, which leads Pete to exploit him by bringing him to work at his [[HonestJohnsDealership used car store]] and having him hypnotized into being a crooked salesman like himself, as he figures customers will trust Goofy more than him. In the end, Goofy ends up taking Pete's lessons a little ''too'' literally ("finders keepers", for example, leads to him stealing a car he had just sold simply because it was parked and left unsupervised), causing Pete so much trouble that he has to "revert" Goofy toward the end of the episode.

-->'''Bart:''' Lisa, I feel terrible. I ratted on my best friend, and he doesn't even know I did it.
-->'''Lisa:''' Well, according to ''Eternity'' magazine, the feeling of guilt has been linked to the neurotransmitter gamephenomene. Dow Chemical is developing a minty gel which will eliminate excess guilt, but unfortunately, it won't be on the market for another six months. So I guess you're gonna have to bite the bullet and confess to Milhouse.

* In Critical Role, Yasha will tell the truth even if it’s not the best thing for her. She explains that she’s not skilled enough to get away with deceiving many people, so she would rather have a reliable reputation for the truth that people could respect than ruin things with a failed lie.

See also SarcasticConfession, JustBetweenYouAndMe, CassandraTruth.

See HonestAxe and SecretTestOfCharacter for when the character really is just being honest and not GenreSavvy.

* ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' has a reversal of the Ape Court joke in the Folklore category. The Vogon Captain reads his tortuously bad poetry to the captured heroes (who he previously threatened to have spaced) and asks them what they think of it. The two go at length about how good it is, noting the clever use of made-up poetry conventions. Once they're done, the Captain says they were completely wrong, and that his poetry being tortuously bad was actually his intent, to put other people in same bad mood that he's in.

* In ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'' Himekawa tells Oga that he's hanging around an upstart gang to infiltrate them so Oga will leave, and then assures the gang that Oga's such an idiot that it will work. As you can tell from the place on this page, Himekawa was actually telling Oga the truth.

* At the end of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', [[spoiler:Veidt reveals his master plan to his fellow heroes after carrying out the most extreme part, confident they won't try to undo the beneficial effects of his crime. They don't. Or do they? The one fellow hero that does want to undo it, Rorschach, gets killed, ''but'' his diary is picked up by a newspaper... A small-press paper known, if at all, for racist and anti-Semitic views.]] ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' reveals that [[spoiler:Rorschach's diary was eventually published. It helped unravel Veidt's plans in less than a decade, leaving the world in even worse shape.]]

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward does this several times. When forced to explain the presence of [[Really700YearsOld Oreg]], who has a strong resemblance to the Hurog family, he tells people Oreg is a ... "cousin", the known euphemism for "bastard offspring". This is true; Oreg is indeed a bastard son ... of a long-dead ancestor, generations ago. Ward's strategy for lying is to always stay as close to the truth as possible. Another example: When he asks for the help of a nobleman, Ward mentions that he needs to be absolutely honest, as this particular noble hates liars, and wouldn't help him if he lied. He knows it is better to admit he had been ObfuscatingStupidity than to continue doing it, and risk being caught.
* Moist von Lipwig of ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' pulls this off in ''Literature/MakingMoney'', utterly derailing a court case against him by [[spoiler:publicly admitting that he is a former con man who was {{recruit|ingTheCriminal}}ed by the Patrician. It throws off the otherwise unflappable 351-year-old zombie lawyer questioning him.]]

* In the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'', by Creator/PiersAnthony, demons are infamous, not for being liars, but for being 100% honest at all times. They may not tell you the whole truth, but they'll never just make something up, because [[AwfulTruth a single truth will often be far more devastating than a thousand lies.]]

* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', often when a cat is caught doing something "wrong", they tell their leader the truth, since they [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight typically were doing it for a good reason]] and the leader will understand (for instance, when Fireheart and Graystripe were caught bringing prey to a starving enemy Clan).

* Averted in ''PizzaTycoon'', being open about your intentions to buy weapons or bribe officials will have you arrested.

** The Lannisters, as a group, tend [[{{Pride}} towards owning what they do and who they are]], so they use this tactic in preference to many others. Also, the truth is often a more potent weapon than outright lies or any HalfTruth precisely ''because'' [[PragmaticEvil it can be verified]]. Jaime and Tyrion, in particular, are great advocates of saying exactly what they know and what they have done (well, most of the time) when it'll serve them to do so. Both boys learned from Dad, although Tywin can be rather more parsimonious with what he shares and with whom. Cersei... not quite so much: she can be a bit hampered by not always seeing why she should come totally clean (particularly as she has ''a lot'' of very dangerous dirty linen).

* Every last Aes Sedai in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', no matter her individual personality or Ajah, can and will pounce with this... when she's absolutely certain it'll get the people she's being painfully honest at to do what she wants because they've otherwise been boxed in. However, beware some of them mixing ExactWords, a HalfTruth or two and FromACertainPointOfView in there, for all those who are properly sworn to the Oath Rod CannotTellALie, not ''all'' Aes Sedai necessarily come ''all'' the way totally, 100% honestly honest ''all the time''. Even if they think they are.

[[caption-width-right:350:Genie drives the point home to Aladdin.]]

* Subversion, sort of: in ''WesternAnimation/Laff-A-Lympics'' #5, the Really Rottens have apparently renounced their cheating ways. Mrs. Creeply lampshades it, then Hokey Wolf subverts it: