History Main / ScheherezadeGambit

!!Examples

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In too many episodes to list, [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]], with an enemy poised to kill him, starts thinking out loud about how to escape. The villain is so mesmerized by the process that he's allowed to keep going until he comes up with an idea.
** Indeed, at one point The Master, his arch-rival, was persuaded to rescue him. The Master couldn't allow someone ''else'', after all, to have the victory... and indeed, as he puts it, "A universe without The Doctor... is scarcely worth thinking about."

*** Not just recently. This occurred at least as long ago as "Genesis of the Daleks" where Davros had The Doctor literally at his mercy, in the middle of his base, disarmed, isolated from his companions, and on a torture rack. He COULD have killed him then, but wanted to get the information about the Dalek defeats the Doctor knew about. Earlier in the same adventure, the first activated Dalek tried to kill The Doctor when it detected he was an alien, and one of the Kaled scientists intervened because they hadn't finished questioning him yet.

** Rory does it to House in ''The Doctor's Wife''. This results in some serious MindScrew for him and Amy.
** Rose pulls this on the Daleks in ''Doomsday'', claiming knowledge of the Time War. Mickey and a scientist who's also in the room quickly follow her lead. Too bad the Daleks did need one of them (Either/Or) and the scientist quickly turned out to be a MauveShirt ...
* Referred to in the aptly-named ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Sheherezade," with a dying old man making a deathbed confession piece-by-piece.

-->'''Pretender:''' You won't kill me! You don't know who I am.
-->'''Robin Hood:''' I don't care who you are.

* A version is described in ''Series/BurnNotice.'' Michael (in narration) says that someone who's trained in withstanding interrogation won't clam up. Instead, he'll talk incessantly, never revealing anything important, but always sounding like there will be a point at the end of the story. This supposedly interferes with any techniques the interrogators might use (since they don't want to interrupt a guy who might be about to confess) and frustrates the captors far more than the prisoner.
* In a Season Three episode of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'', Sabrina's zany cousin Zsa Zsa tricks Sabrina into buying a large amount of ambition-boosting products for Harvey by repeatedly insisting that they're not what she wants. Once Sabrina's made her purchases, Zsa Zsa lampshades the trope by remarking that she loves reverse psychology.

Compare HoldingTheFloor, TalkingYourWayOut, PleaOfPersonalNecessity. Contrast GetItOverWith. Can be related to or involve the tropes CantKillYouStillNeedYou, SparingTheAces, and YouWillBeSpared.

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E2CapeFeare Cape Feare]]", Bart pulls one on Sideshow Bob. When Bob has him cornered on the adrift houseboat and asks if he has any {{Last Request}}s, Bart plays on his ego, telling him he has such a lovely singing voice ("Guilty as charged!" exclaims Bob) and asks him to sing the entire score of ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', Bob complies (mostly to prove he can do it, probably) oblivious to the fact that the boat is drifting towards Springfield as he does, and as he finishes, he's noticed by Chief Wiggum and a squad of armed police, who tell him to raise 'em.

Compare HoldingTheFloor, TalkingYourWayOut. Contrast GetItOverWith. Can be related to or involve the tropes CantKillYouStillNeedYou, SparingTheAces, and YouWillBeSpared.

* Actually ''inverted'' in the animated film ''WesternAnimation/MagicGiftOfTheSnowman''. At the start of the film, protagonist Landon learns that his [[IllGirl younger]] [[WheelchairWoobie sister]] Emery-Elizabeth is very ill and confined to her bed; although the doctor believes she'll recover if she can make it to Christmas, she seems to have lost the will to live and might not last that long. Determined to help his sister pull through, Landon begins telling her a story about [[TotallyRadical a magical]] [[AnIcePerson snowman]] named Snowden and his adventures with the two of them, ending it on a cliffhanger each night so that Emery-Elizabeth will have to hang on until the following day to hear what happens next. [[spoiler:Not only does she make it to Christmas, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming come Christmas morning she's out of her wheelchair as well]].]]

* In another "Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk" adaptation, Jack says he can recite poetry, in an attempt to prevent the Giant from killing him. I don't think he actually recites it, but in his first attempt he puts the Giant to sleep. He isn't so lucky the second time.

* In Part 2 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', [[GuileHero Joseph]] pulls this on the super-vampires Wham and ACDC, appealing to their ProudWarriorRaceGuy nature by convincing them that it would be more fun to let him live for a month so he can perfect his [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Ripple technique]] and fight them again. They oblige... by making the future encounter mandatory by the way of a PoisonAndCureGambit.

* [[Webcomic/DominicDeegan Donovan Deegan]] [[TropersDoItWithoutNotability does it]] [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2009-04-07 with cheesy jokes.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode "Cape Feare", Bart pulls one on Sideshow Bob. When Bob has him cornered on the adrift houseboat and asks if he has any {{Last Request}}s, Bart plays on his ego, telling him he has such a lovely singing voice ("Guilty as charged!" exclaims Bob) and asks him to sing the entire score of ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', Bob complies (mostly to prove he can do it, probably) oblivious to the fact that the boat is drifting towards Springfield as he does, and as he finishes, he's noticed by Chief Wiggum and a squad of armed police, who tell him to raise 'em.

* The original BigLippedAlligatorMoment is an example. In ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'', Charlie finds himself at the mercy of a hungry alligator, but when the alligator hears Charlie's singing voice, he's impressed and decides they should "make music together." This is a setup for [[spoiler:[[AndroclesLion the alligator saving Charlie's ass at the end of the movie]]]], which is why it's technically not a ''true'' BigLippedAlligatorMoment.

* ''Film/TheEmperorAndTheAssassin:'' Emperor Ying Zheng plans a BatmanGambit: Trick Yan reign to send an assassin to kill Ying as a deliberate move to give Ying the excuse he needs to invade Yan. Assassin Jing Ke, realising his target is watching him like a hawk, pretends to collapse in fear and confesses he's been sent to kill the Emperor. Ying Zheng is so overjoyed at this (it's exactly the pretext he needs to launch his invasion) that he lets his guard down.

* Used by ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} in ''Astonishing ComicBook/{{X-Men}}''. [[spoiler: Knowing that the Breakworld has his ship bugged, he deliberately makes some vague reference to a mysterious superweapon, and then throws himself into suicidal danger, banking that the Breakworlders will value intelligence on the superweapon more than his death. He's right.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the canon episode "Cape Feare", Bart pulls one on Sideshow Bob. When Bob has him cornered on the adrift houseboat and asks if he has any {{Last Request}}s, Bart plays on his ego, telling him he has such a lovely singing voice ("Guilty as charged!" exclaims Bob) and asks him to sing the entire score of ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', Bob complies (mostly to prove he can do it, probably) oblivious to the fact that the boat is drifting towards Springfield as he does, and as he finishes, he's noticed by Chief Wiggum and a squad of armed police, who tell him to raise 'em.

* Actually ''inverted'' in the animated film ''Magic Gift of the Snowman''. At the start of the film, protagonist Landon learns that his [[IllGirl younger]] [[WheelchairWoobie sister]] Emery-Elizabeth is very ill and confined to her bed; although the doctor believes she'll recover if she can make it to Christmas, she seems to have lost the will to live and might not last that long. Determined to help his sister pull through, Landon begins telling her a story about [[TotallyRadical a magical]] [[AnIcePerson snowman]] named Snowden and his adventures with the two of them, ending it on a cliffhanger each night so that Emery-Elizabeth will have to hang on until the following day to hear what happens next. [[spoiler:Not only does she make it to Christmas, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming come Christmas morning she's out of her wheelchair as well]].]]

* Actually ''inverted'' in the animated film ''Magic Gift of the Snowman''. At the start of the film, protagonist Landon learns that his [[IllGirl younger]] [[WheelchairWoobie sister]] Emery-Elizabeth is very ill and confined to her bed; although the doctor believes she'll recover if she can make it to Christmas, she seems to have lost the will to live and might not last that long. Determined to help his sister pull through, Landon begins telling her a story about [[TotallyRadical a magical]] [[AnIcePerson snowman]] named Snowden and his adventures with the two of them, ending it on a cliffhanger each night so that Emery-Elizabeth will have to hang on until the following day to hear what happens next. [[spoiler:Not only does she make it to Christmas, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming come Christmas morning she's out of her wheelchair as well]].]]

* Snow White uses the tactic in the ''{{ComicBook/Fables}}'' graphic novel ''1001 Nights of Snowfall''. The title is a clear allusion to ''One Thousand and One Nights''.

* The Jewish rebel Josephus pulled more or less the same stunt as Caractacus during the Jewish Revolt of 66-70 CE, convincing the Roman commander Vespasian that he (Josephus) was a prophet, and predicting that Vespasian could become Emperor. Sure enough, 69 CE was the "Year of the Four Emperors," and come the end of the year, who was in charge? Why, Vespasian, of course. Josephus received Roman citizenship and Imperial patronage, got himself a state pension, and spent the rest of his life in Rome writing books. He ended up being one of the more important historians of the Jews, providing valuable information about Judea and Judaism in the first century which, for those of you living under a rock, is when the Jews were evicted from their traditional homeland and when a certain [[{{Jesus}} Yeshua ben Yosef]] got himself nailed to a stick for [[UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} some things he said]]...

'''Judge Lex:''' "Wait?" Are you kidding me? Did you just say, "Wait?" Judge Dredd - *the* Judge Dredd - finally gets on the wrong end of a gun, and all he says is, "Wait?" You know what? I expected more from you. I mean, wait for what? Wait for me to change my mind? Wait for another two or three seconds of life because you are so fucking weak you can't stand to see it end?\\

** In another episode, Red Claw kidnaps Alfred, who knows a secret password that will allow her to seize control of an army of missiles that could wipe out the whole United Kingdom. Being DangerouslyGenreSavvy, she injects Alfred with a powerful truth serum to make him reveal the password. The moment the butler is injected, he begins shouting random lines from British poetry non-stop. It's eventually revealed that "The Lion and the Unicorn were fighting for the crown" is the code; by reciting other poems, he's making it impossible for Red Claw to figure out which verse is the important one, forcing her to keep listening and thus delay her plan (a ploy that works).

* In an episode of the 1980's ''Series/TheTwilightZone'', a teacher is told that one of her students must be allowed to take books home, though why he must is not specified. When the student falls during recess and must be taken to the hospital overnight, she finds out that the boy's grandfather is home and waiting for the concluding half of the last night's story. She offers to fill in for the student. Many years later she sees the now-grown man hurrying home and follows him, wondering if the grandfather is still alive. Just as she is about to open the door to the room where they are, she stops telling the narrative to ''her'' mother, who must now wait until the next day to hear the conclusion.
* A version is described in BurnNotice. Michael (in narration) says that someone who's trained in withstanding interrogation won't clam up. Instead, he'll talk incessantly, never revealing anything important, but always sounding like there will be a point at the end of the story. This supposedly interferes with any techniques the interrogators might use (since they don't want to interrupt a guy who might be about to confess) and frustrates the captors far more than the prisoner.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/justiceLeagueAction'' has the Toyman rig up a facsimile of a FightingGame and devices that let him control whoever they are affixed to as puppets, the idea being to force Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Cyborg to fight for his amusement. Cyborg (who happens to be a fan of the game it's based on) reminds him that it's a two-player game, offering some "friendly competition". Toyman seems GenreSavvy at first ("Oh sure! I let you play, and you take advantage of the situation to free your friends. How stupid do you think I am?" ) but Cyborg plays on the villain's competitive nature (seeing that Toyman's goal is to not just ''defeat'' them, but ''humiliate'' them and have fun in the process), and he agrees to it. Naturally, Toyman's first hunch was the one he should have listened to. After two "rounds" of the "game", one of his own robotic action figures (who Cyborg had hacked) sabotages the system and disables it.

If you can convince your captor that you're more entertaining alive than dead, then you might be able to persuade them to stay your execution just a little longer. The classic example is, you can't die until you finish the story/song/art project you've just embarked upon. I mean, if the villain kills you now, they'll never hear the conclusion. And you're just now starting to get to the good part...

* ''TheSimpsons'':
** Happens in one of the Halloween specials. The three wicked witches go to the {{Expy}} Flanders' house intending to eat their children only for the mother to convince the witches they'd rather have some gingerbread children. The witches enjoy this so much they get the idea of going to other families and threatening to eat their children in exchange for more treats. And this is apparently how the Caramel Cod- er I mean, Trick-or-Treating came about.
** In the canon episode "Cape Feare", Bart pulls one on Sideshow Bob. When Bob has him cornered on the adrift houseboat and asks if he has any {{Last Request}}s, Bart plays on his ego, telling him he has such a lovely singing voice ("Guilty as charged!" exclaims Bob) and asks him to sing the entire score of ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'', Bob complies (mostly to prove he can do it, probably) oblivious to the fact that the boat is drifting towards Springfield as he does, and as he finishes, he's noticed by Chief Wiggum and a squad of armed police, who tell him to raise 'em.

''Literature/NightfallSeries'': Myra tries to pull one. [[spoiler: It doesn’t work.]]

->'''Judge Dredd:''' ''Wait.''
->'''Judge Lex:''' ''"Wait?" Are you kidding me? Did you just say, "Wait?" Judge Dredd - *the* Judge Dredd - finally gets on the wrong end of a gun, and all he says is, "Wait?" You know what? I expected more from you. I mean, wait for what? Wait for me to change my mind? Wait for another two or three seconds of life because you are so fucking weak you can't stand to see it end?''
->'''Judge Dredd:''' ''No.''
->''[Anderson shoots Lex from behind]''
->'''Judge Dredd:''' ''Wait for her to shoot you.''