History Main / ThePromise

* The legendary mermaid [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Melusine]], is found near a woodland spring. She falls in love with the human who finds her, and agrees to marry him, on the condition that he not [[ThePeepingTom peek at her while she bathes]]. They are HappilyMarried for awhile, raising several children (all of whom are more like demons or demigods, depending on whom you ask), and settling into a nice chateau. Buut, one day, her hubby's curiosity and/or lust gets the better of him, and [[WhatAnIdiot he peeks in on her bathtime]], and finds out that she's actually a mermaid. (He sees her tail fin.) [[DoNotTauntCthulhu Melusine]] is ''not'' happy, to say the least.

* In ''Webcomic/BlueYonder'', [[http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1080254/blue-yonder-prologue-page-14/ as the badly wounded Jared is brought in, he asks for a promise they will find his sister, and gets it.]]
* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000508c Dr. Light promises that the Author is needed only temporarily.]]
* ''Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles'': [[http://tinyurl.com/2dqrcbe Alex, growing up.]]

* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'': [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/1185 Promise to never ever tell my friends that I'm a]] MagicalGirl.
* ''Webcomic/{{Memoria}}'': [[http://memoria.valice.net/?p=404 We'll get him back. . . I promise]]

* In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0132.html Angelika tries to get one from Lenny, who responds by asking for one in return.]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Roza}}'' [[http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/index.php?date=2007-06-07 Wait, you promised!]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3555 the laptop made a vow under Buddha's influence.]]

** Most of Sora's story in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' is based on the promise that he and Riku both supposedly made to Naminé on a shooting star to protect her. [[spoiler: But the promise is fake and so is Riku: Naminé herself implanted the promise both of their memories and the Riku is actually a replica of the real Riku. Even after they both know the truth, though, they still vow to protect her. At the end of the game, Sora makes a new promise to Namin&eacute - that when he wakes up, they'll find each other and be friends for real. She warns him that he'll forget the promise, but he says that [[TitleDrop even if the chains of memory come apart, the links will still be there.]] She agrees that it's a promise.]]

Compare InevitablyBrokenRule and RashVow, which often overlaps with this trope.

** Most of Sora's story in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' is based on the promise that he and Riku both supposedly made to Naminé on a shooting star to protect her. [[spoiler: But the promise is fake and so is Riku: Naminé herself implanted the promise both of their memories and the Riku is actually a replica of the real Riku. Even after they both know the truth, though, they still vow to protect her.]]

-->-- ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

Compare InevitablyBrokenRule.

That I haue told you with good intent,\\

* The {{Grendel}} oath acts as this. Virtually every character to recite it is doomed to die a horrible death, often at the cost to all he loves and cherishes. Sometimes, this is due to failing the Grendel ideals. Other times, this is the culmination of following it...
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' storyline [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 "Way of the World,"]] Supergirl promises a boy who is dying from cancer that he will not die. She will not allow it. She moves Heaven and Earth to find a cure in time [[spoiler:but at the end, she fails]].
* ''Comicbook/UsagiYojimbo'' has the story ''A Promise In the Snow'' where the titular character promises a young girl her gravely wounded father won't die. After they're all nearly buried by an avalanche and Usagi has been battered unconscious, the girl invokes Usagi's promise to get him back on his feet.

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1555857737030435700
%% Please start a new thread if you'd like to discuss a new image.

** During the Arrancar Arc, Ichigo vows to Orihime that "next time... I'll definitely protect you!" Later, he tells her "Don't worry. I'm definitely going to win." This promise is so strong that when Ulquiorra brings him to the verge of death, he is resurrected as an insanely powerful hollow obsessed with protecting Orihime - and ''only'' Orihime.

* Both Lottie and Sara in ''Anime/StrainStrategicArmoredInfantry'' promised to become Reasoners and see their brothers again. [[spoiler:One brother kills the other before either can reunite.]]
* In ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'', when Ash tries to console Lucario after it believes it was abandoned and asks if he can help, it only wants him to do one thing: Promise he will ''never'' abandon Pikachu. Ash swears he will not.
* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', these promises cropping up out of nowhere are common plot elements - Ukyo has at least two with Ranma, Kodachi has one with her rival Asuka, and Ranma has several that he doesn't even know about until they're called.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is full of "promises of a lifetime"... some more successfully fulfilled than others. The most notable case is Naruto's promise to Sakura in Part I, to return Sasuke for her. The episode after the mission to do this was actually called "The Promise That Could Not Be Kept." Although, after Sakura's [[NeverLiveItDown infamous]] [[FalseConfession fake love confession]]--which Naruto easily sees right through, [[WhatTheHellHero calls her out on for her dishonesty]], and [[ShipSinking rejects outright]]--he renews his promise not for her anymore, but for [[TrueCompanions his own reasons]]. It's still his most important reason to fight, alongside protecting his friends.

* ''Manga/ElfenLied'' plays around with this in the scene where the villainous Bando, rescued by Mayu earlier in the series and feeling indebted, promises to save her once if she winds in trouble. Mayu is forced to cash in this promise not even a minute later, when ''Bando himself attacks her.''
** But when she calls for his help again, he shows up in minutes and knocks the stuffing out of the man [[spoiler:sexually assaulting her.]]
** A second example is [[spoiler: Kouta promising to meet Lucy back at the stone on the last day of the festival.]]
* In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', Ken promises to Wormmon that he won't betray his essential nature -- in essence, that he'll stay kind and gentle -- when he first meets him as a child. Flash-forward to a few years, MoreThanMindControl, and some heavy psychological trauma later, and he's the Digimon Kaiser. [[spoiler:He does eventually keep his promise, though. Kinda.]]
** In the previous season, Takeru promises to Sora that he'd protect Hikari. A promise which he still takes rather seriously in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', as he is seen putting himself protectively in front of Hikari (episode 3), seemed angry at himself for accidentally leaving her stranded in the Digital World (episode 7), and doggedly searched for her when she was taken by the Dark Ocean (episode 13).
%%* A much darker version appears in ''Manga/TokyoBabylon''.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' has this: Kyosuke made a promise to Lamia that he'd kill her if she ever loses her mind ("If you ever lose your mind, don't worry. I'll destroy you myself"). He did get his time to try and fulfill it when he rescued her from the Bartoll. He succeeded in the OAV, but horribly failed in OG Gaiden, and later has to leave it to [[spoiler:Axel]] to actually rescue her and restore her mind.
* And also included in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''. After Signum beats Zest and [[SuicideByCop gives him an honorable death]], Agito prompts Signum to watch over her and see if Signum can really follow up Zest's last wishes and his ideals. Signum's response? "If you ever see me straying from that direction, kill me." More proof that Signum is a magnificent {{Expy}} of Lamia.
* ''Manga/GetBackers:'' Ban promised Yamato that he would protect Himiko from her curse, and Juubei promised to stop Kazuki if he ever strayed "from the path of righteousness."
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'': Squalo promised 8 years ago to Xanxus that he will never cut his hair until Xanxus becomes the boss of Vongola. And he did, [[spoiler:for eighteen years into the alternate future from the Ten Years Bazooka]]. Obviously because [[spoiler:Xanxus doesn't have the blood of Vongola, thus it's impossible for him to become Boss]].
%%* ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane:'' Tetsunosuke promised to his friend Saya that he would not kill.
* ''Anime/BloodPlus:'' Saya makes Haji promise [[spoiler:to kill her after she defeats Diva, a promise which he is unable to keep, instead encouraging her to live]].
* ''Manga/NabariNoOu:'' Miharu's promise to Yoite, made under duress, to [[spoiler:erase Yoite's existence once Miharu can use the Sinrabanshou]] becomes the main tension and plotline of the series, as well as a source of a lot of its angst.
* In ''Anime/{{Noir}}'', much drama is derived from Mireille's ill-considered promise to kill Kirika once she learns the nature of their past connection--by the time that occurs, the emotional bond between the two of them is so strong, Mireille finds herself unable to pull the trigger, even though [[spoiler:Kirika turns to have been single-handedly responsible for everything bad that has ever happened in Mireille's life and actually ''begs'' Mireille to kill her, unable to live with the guilt]].
* ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' has Madlax and Vanessa promising each other to survive. [[spoiler:It looks like Vanessa fails, but along comes [[RealityWarper Margaret]] ex machina...]]
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': At the last second in season three, it is revealed that in their past life together, Juudai promised that he would love only Yubel forever. This became the driving force of her motivation when she returned in season three. While Yubel ''can'' alter people's memories, it's impossible that she was doing so here, as she had nothing to do with Juudai regaining his memories, and wasn't even aware that he had. Him fusing their souls together has the double purpose of confirming that their past was true (as he would have learned about a lie) and reaffirming that he loved her.
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi promises Ako that he will win the tournament. At about the ten second count, he recalls the promise and gets up to face Rakan once more. [[spoiler:It's actually at tie and Rakan ''could'' have beaten him if he really wanted to. But considering the shape Negi was in? Badass.]]
* ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' has several promises that the main characters take very seriously. The first is that [[spoiler:[[PosthumousCharacter Mary Magdalene]]]] made Chrono promise to "live", which is implied to be the only reason he [[spoiler:didn't commit suicide after her death]]. Also, the manga version shows Joshua and Rosette promise as children to [[spoiler:"grow-up together"--remembering his promise is what gives Joshua the strength to reject Chrono's horns]]. Also, when Rosette made [[DealWithTheDevil her contract with Chrono]], Chrono seems to have promised ''himself'' that he would protect her, even going to the point of saying he promised to "never make her cry" in the manga. When he's forced to break this promise at one point, he becomes [[UnstoppableRage really pissed]].
* In ''Manga/TheSecretAgreement'', Iori tells Yuuichi that he loves him more than anything and [[ExactWords would sacrifice anything for him]]. This is perfectly romantic until Kyuusai reveals to Yuuichi that he is born to steal life-energy and that his destined prey, under the delusion of love, will naturally [[HarsherInHindsight offer his life]] for him to take.
* In ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', Kotetsu made a promise to his wife on her deathbed to continue to be a [[{{superhero}} Hero]] after she was gone. [[spoiler:This promise starts getting harder and harder to keep once Kotetsu starts losing his powers.]]
* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'': Kaori makes a promise to Kousei to perform together once again, which drives her determination to undergo a high-risk surgery. [[spoiler:[[Tearjerker/YourLieInApril She fails to keep it, because later it's revealed that either the surgery failed or she died during it]].]]
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has several. A couple of them are found on the PinkySwear page and are explained in more detail there. A non-pinky promise comes when [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]] realizes how much his friends care about him, he [[ManlyTears tearfully]] promises them that he'll set off fireworks with them again someday. [[spoiler: He doesn't, and when he realises he won't be able to keep this promise, he calls them to apologize and say goodbye.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Gate 7}}'', Hana is [[IWillWaitForYou waiting for someone who has not been revealed yet]] and once they are reunited, they will keep their promise.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', a band of pirates left a baby whale they adopted named Laboon at the beginning of the Grand Line, promising to return after they've made the round-world voyage. Unfortunately, those pirates were wiped out, half becoming ill and having to leave the ship to save the rest, and those that remained were wiped out in a battle. Of those pirates, only Brook remains, having been brought [[CameBackWrong back to life as a skeleton]] by his Devil Fruit. And now he has promised to his dead crewmates to deliver the final message of the Rumbar Pirates to Laboon, even after fifty years.
** When the Straw Hat crew first met Laboon, the whale was battering himself to death on the Red Line out of despair of the unfulfilled promise, prompting Luffy to make a new one. He gets into a fight with Laboon which he declares a draw, stating they will have to have a rematch when he returns. Further, he paints his logo on Laboon's head as a mark of the promise, which would be earesed if Laboon returned to hammering at the Red Line.
** During their childhood, Luffy and Ace made one promise to each other [[spoiler:after the (supposed) death of their third brother Sabo]]: they would live their lives free of regrets. [[spoiler:As Ace laid dying in Luffy's arms, he stated that the only regret he had was that he wouldn't be able to see Luffy become the Pirate King. This promise is one of the major reasons why Luffy was able to move on from Ace's death and continue following his dream.]]
** Ace also made another promise to Luffy after the above event: that he would never die and leave Luffy alone. [[spoiler:While Ace ultimately couldn't fulfill the first part of his promise, unbeknownst to both of them at the time, he ''didn't'' leave Luffy alone. Sabo still lived, and made his own promise on Ace's grave: to succeed Ace as the user of the Mera Mera no Mi and Luffy's protector -- both of which he manages splendidly]].
** Luffy and Zoro's goals can be seen as promises to Shanks and Kuina respectively.
* ''Manga/{{Noragami}}'': [[SupportingProtagonist Hiyori]] vows to stray god [[TheHero Yato]] that she will never forget him.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': When he was a child, Sting Eucliffe promised his Exceed companion Lector that he would defeat the "Salamander" ([[TheHero Natsu Dragneel]]), because Lector was being bullied by others for saying Sting killed a dragon. When he finally meets Natsu years later and faces off against him in the Grand Magic Games, [[spoiler:he and Rogue find themselves on the wrong end of a CurbStompBattle, and he mentally apologizes to Lector as he falls in defeat, as Natsu is too strong for him]].
%%* ''Anime/ThePlacePromisedInOurEarlyDays'' has such a promise as the entire backbone of its plot.
* In ''Manga/LandOfTheLustrous'', Phosphylite resolves to find a job for Cinnabar that is entertaining and exclusive only to the latter Lustrous. The promise comes back once every arc, barely remembered and more muddy the more Phos grows.
* ''Anime/VariableGeo'': In episode 1, Yuka nearly concedes defeat to Jun until her friend, Satomi, reminds Yuka of their vow. Yuka then remembers that she and Satomi promised that neither of them would allow themselves to lose until they had the chance to settle their rivalry in the VG Tournament. Yuka renews her commitment to Satomi and defeats Jun.
* [[spoiler: Fitoria]] from ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' makes '''very damn certain''' of this, [[spoiler: [[WellIntentionedExtremist regardless of the measures needed to ensure it happens, especially if it involves killing all four of the Cardinal Heroes in order to summon another "Chosen Few" that will work better if need be]] (three of which are already [[FailureHero beyond pathetic]] when it comes to "working together, not making complete asses of themselves and being unbelievably appalling in letting others manipulate them with sheer ease") All of this she made to a Hero from ages long past, someone she doesn't even specifically recall, the only thing she remembers is how memorable/nice he was to her, among other things that she still keeps her promise '''firmly''' to come the time of the current Cardinal Heroes comprised of Ren, Itsuki, Motoyasu, but most important of all... Naofumi.]] [[spoiler: The promise was to ensure all four Cardinal Heroes work together to defeat the Waves, no matter the situation,]] [[spoiler: but even then she recalls a horrific event that she says will occur which will force the Cardinal Heroes to decide which they fight for: The World, or its People, the latter being a '''very''' thorny path... ]]
* The premise of ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'' is based on a promise Mira and Ao made as children: explore the heavens and eventually get a star named after Ao.
* ''Manga/DrStoneRebootByakuya'': Byakuya promises Rei, the robot he built, that he will return to the space station one day, and Rei promises to keep the station intact. On Byakuya's side, this was an EmptyPromise; he knew the station would de-orbit in a year, and even if it didn't it was extremely unlikely he'd ever be able to return to space. Rei, on the other hand, doesn't know any of that, and does everything it can to keep the station intact. [[spoiler:It harvests nearby asteroids and comets to maintain the station, upgrades itself hundreds of times, builds a fleet of nuclear missiles to stop an asteroid impact that would wipe out all life on Earth, and sees nothing wrong with waiting '''3700 years''' for Byakuya to return]]. Throughout it all, it keeps a massive strobe light bright enough to be seen from the ground, so that Byakuya will know it's still waiting. [[spoiler:When Rei turns it on for the first time, it's the last thing that Byakuya sees before he dies]].

* The {{Grendel}} oath acts as this. Virtually every character to recite it is doomed to die a horrible death, often at the cost to all he loves and cherishes. Sometimes, this is due to failing the Grendel ideals. Other times, this is the culmination of following it...

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': As kids, Ellie makes Carl promise to help her get to Paradise Falls. She never gets there, but Carl's desire to fulfill his obligation drives the plot of the movie. Later, Russell has Carl promise to keep the bird he befriended safe, and Carl's conflict between the two promises drives the second act.
* Rapunzel from ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' takes promises very seriously and says that she never breaks them. This comes into play later when [[spoiler: she promises Mother Gothel that she will be her prisoner forever if she lets her heal the fatally injured Flynn]].

* In ''Film/MuchAdoAboutNothing1993'', Beatrice asks Benedick to prove his love for her by killing Claudio. At first he refuses (saying, "Not for the wide world") because Claudio is his friend and companion. When she continually insists that he do this to avenge the wronging of Hero, Benedick eventually agrees. Benedick [[ThrowingDownTheGauntlet confronts Claudio]], but everything is resolved before the duel can happen.
* In ''Film/ThePledge'' a police detective, on the day of his retirement, promises a grieving mother that he will find her daughter's killer. This promise grows to become an obsession with him.

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar:'' Gamora extracts one from Peter Quill. [[spoiler:Acting upon it is a major breaking point for him:]]
-->'''Gamora:''' If things go wrong… If Thanos gets me… I want you to promise me… you'll kill me.

* Literature/TheBible: In Mark 6:21-29, Salome, the daughter of King Herod's wife Herodias, danced for King Herod at his birthday party. The King was so pleased by her dancing that he vowed to give her whatever she wanted, up to half of his kingdom. After consulting with her mother, she asked for head of John the Baptist on a platter. Though conflicted about doing so, Herod kept his promise and had John beheaded.

* The poems of Robert Service occasionally feature these, such as "The Cremation of Sam [=McGee=]" or "The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill". In the former, a man must carry Sam's dead body around with in the Arctic him until he finds a place to cremate him, and in the latter, an undertaker has to journey out to find Bill's dead body and give him a proper burial. Except that his ''rigor mortis'' prevents him from fitting into the coffin. [[BlackComedy Why, look. A hacksaw.]]
* At the end of ''Literature/ShamanOfTheUndead'' Ida makes and immortal oath (magical promise that you ''must'' fulfill) to Katarzyna that [[spoiler:she'll bring Mikołaj's soul to the Land of the Dead]], consequently leading her to cross paths with demon king Tempter and the entire plot of ''The Mirror Demon''.
* As of ''Literature/{{Thud}}'', [[Literature/{{Discworld}} Sam Vimes]] reads the same book to his son at six o'clock, every day, no excuses (because when you have a good excuse, you open the door to bad excuses). The one moment he can't make it in time...
* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series, it's mentioned several times that "A Wizard always keeps his promises." At one point, a secondary character tells the main character that the reason this happens is, as a wizard, he's subconsciously using his magic to make sure the promise is kept.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfChaos'', having someone make and break a promise is a potent source of magical power over them.

* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''False Gods'', Loken explains to Karkasy "the promise of moment" a promise to do one specific thing, and extracts from him a promise to keep their conversation secret.
** In Creator/DanAbnett's ''Legion'', Alpharius is reluctant to leave an undertaking because he has promised to do it. [[WithDueRespect Soneka objects that they always act with relentless pragmatism.]]
** In James Swallow's ''The Flight of the Eisenstein'', Garro reveals Horus's treacherous attack to his men, and demands that they swear an oath of moment on [[CoolSword his sword Libertas]]. An intercepted order [[DebateAndSwitch reveals to all of them that he tells the truth]], and they all swear.
* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', Priad pledges to the farmers that he will protect them. [[spoiler:Since it is from a cult, and they turn out to be the {{Cult}}, he ends up "revoking the pledge" and slaughtering them.]]
* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/{{Ultramarines}} novel ''The Killing Ground'', Uriel promises the Unfleshed that he will not let anyone hurt them. [[spoiler:In the end, he can only MercyKill the last survivor.]]
* In Creator/RobinMcKinley's ''[[Literature/BeautyARetellingOfBeautyAndTheBeast Beauty]]'', Beauty is told not to go into the forest. When she thinks this means ''far'' in and goes in around the edges, her brother-in-law makes her promise not to. She dislikes giving her word on principle -- then she has to [[IGaveMyWord keep it]] -- and so insists that he give his word too.
* In Creator/JamesSwallow's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Deus Encarmine]]'', Rafen complains of the [[RedemptionEqualsDeath killings]] because they have promised [[WouldNotShootACivilian to protect such people]]. At the end, he is forced to swear allegiance to Arkio as the reincarnation of Sanguinius -- which is the point at which he realizes the extent of Arkio's transformation and that one of them would die.
* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'', Coraline goes to pry a promise out the Other Mother, who first tries to swear on her mother's grave. When Coraline asks if her mother has a grave, the Other Mother says she put her there herself, and put her back when she crawled out. Coraline insists on something else, and the Other Mother swears by her strong right hand. [[spoiler:When she breaks it, she sends her hand after Coraline.]]

-->''"Do you think," she began again, after a minute's silence, and with a visible embarrassment of manner most unusual in her, "that a promise, deliberately and solemnly given, is ''always'' binding--except, of course, where its fulfillment would involve some actual ''sin''?"''
* In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Fëanor and his sons swore a terrible oath to recover the Silmarils at any cost. These Silmarils were three hallowed jewels which Fëanor made, and which [[BigBad Morgoth]] stole. Centuries later the oath destroyed them thoroughly, and resulted in them slaughtering many innocents. Even after the last two surviving sons [[TragicVillain thoroughly hated the oath and wished to stop killing people]] over the jewels, they felt (or thought they were) somehow compelled to continue.
** In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Aragorn can summon the Dead to fulfill the oath of assistance that they did not respect centuries before.
** In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' this is the reason Sam remains with Frodo even with the rest of the Fellowship is scattered. He made a promise to Gandalf that he would not leave Frodo, and Sam is a hobbit of his word. He chases after Frodo's boat even though he can't swim, and nearly drowns rather than break the promise. Frodo helps Sam aboard and they continue to Mordor together.
* ''Literature/TheGodfather'': Don Vito Corleone basically operates by getting these from a great number of people. (The novel says that ''[[LampshadeHanging he piled up good deeds like a banker piles up securities.]]'') Interestingly, we never see him extort any ''criminal'' acts from the recipients of his "favors"; instead, he gets completely innocuous freebies from whatever their normal business is. (Wedding cakes from the baker, performances at his casino from the singer, and a funeral from the undertaker when [[spoiler: Sonny]] gets whacked.)

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/{{Kull}} story "The Shadow Kingdom", after Kull and Brule learn that the ghosts of those the Snakemen kill are [[MadeASlave their slaves]].
-->''A shudder shook Kull's gigantic frame. "Valka! But what a fate! Hark ye"—his fingers closed upon Brule's sinewy arm like steel—"hark ye! If I am wounded unto death by these foul monsters, swear that [[MercyKill ye will smite your sword through my breast lest my soul be enslaved]]."\\
"I swear," answered Brule, his fierce eyes lighting. "And do ye the same by me, Kull." Their strong right hands met in a silent sealing of their bloody bargain.''
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/{{Kull}} / Literature/BranMakMorn story "Kings of the Night", Bran's problem is that one tribe is willing to break its promise if it does not follow a man of its own blood.
* In Creator/LJagiLamplighter's ''Literature/ProsperosDaughter'' trilogy -- too many to shake a stick at. From the promise of the aerial spirits to obey the Prosperos, to Theo's promise to himself to give up magic, to Logstilla's promise not to become attached to her children any more, to Miranda's to Mephisto's {{familiar}} not to reveal their conversation to Mephisto. And many more!
* In Creator/JulietMarillier's ''Literature/SonOfTheShadows'', the heroine refuses to give her promise to stay in Sevenwaters to the Fair Folk, knowing that it will come back to haunt her if she does - The Fair Folk always get what is promised to them.
* In ''Between the Rivers'' by Creator/HarryTurtledove, the protagonist in a grandstanding moment vows that he won't marry his sweetheart until the completion of the trading expedition he's about to embark on. It seems like a safe thing to do since it's a routine expedition and he wasn't planning to marry her until after he got back anyway. But then the nation they were going to trade with unexpectedly puts a trading embargo on the protagonist's city. And the god he swore by is real, interventionist, and quite willing to make the vow stick.

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', Professor Maxon promises that von Horn can marry Virginia if he rescues her, in the heat of the moment. Afterward, he realizes that this was a problem since he had not gotten [[ChildMarriageVeto Virginia's consent]].
* In Teresa Frohock's ''Literature/MiserereAnAutumnTale'', Lucian promised to look after Catarina.
* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'', when he realizes he could cure his ignorance, Freckles promises he will.
-->''"Before God, I will!" He uttered the oath so impressively that the recording angel never winced as he posted it in the prayer column.''
* In ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', Lyra promises a friend that she'd come and save him if he ever got kidnapped. In the process of trying to keep this promise, she travels to Svalbard, burns down a military-protected research station and [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu tricks the king of the]] [[BearsAreBadNews Armored Bears]]. [[spoiler: When she does find him again, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she ultimately ends up accidentally getting him killed anyway]] [[{{Determinator}} and travels to the World of the Dead to apologize to him for it]].]]
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/CountToATrillion'', Menelaus's mother explained her cruel punishment on the grounds that Darwin required it. The young Menelaus concluded that Darwin was a villain, and promised that he would stop him.
* In Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship'', when Laura meets Sophia.
-->''We flew into each other's arms and after having exchanged vows of mutual Friendship for the rest of our Lives, instantly unfolded to each other the most inward secrets of our Hearts.''
** In ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', Elizabeth stalwartly refuses to give one to Lady Catherine.
* In the backstory of ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', Luke promises Annabeth that the two of them and Thalia would be a family, and wouldn't fail each other like their birth families had. [[spoiler: First, he is TheOathbreaker: [[TheMole he goes over]] to [[BigBad Kronos]]. Then, at the very end of the final book, he becomes TheAtoner: [[HeroicSacrifice he stabs himself]] to prevent Kronos's rise. "Promise."]]
* In Creator/GeorgeMacDonald's "[[http://www.online-literature.com/donne/3643/ Port In A Storm]]", the narrator got his uncle to not interfere with his wooing the uncle's wealthy niece, despite the appearance of trying to get at her money, by bringing him port to drink during a storm and collecting this as his reward.
* In Creator/SeananMcGuire's ''Literature/VelveteenVs'', Velma, warned by Scaredy Cat, demands a promise that she can go home before she hands over the pumpkins.
* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' Eddard Stark promised something ''very'' important to his dying sister Lyanna. The contents of the promise are still [[WildMassGuessing unknown]]...in the books anyway. See the Live Action TV folder for more.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'', Tikil's culture turns heavily on the given word.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/StormOverWarlock'', the Throg tells Shann he will be tortured to death slowly if he does not send the message they want. He doesn't, though he does it cryptically. Shann is strapped to a frame for it, and the Throg tells him they will leave him as a warning. Then, they come under attack. The Throg hesitates; Shann thinks it is thinking about whether to bring him with them, which will be necessary to carry out its promise.
** Later, in ''Literature/ForerunnerForay'', Ziantha gives her word to Ris Lantee and later does not escape because of it.

* In Creator/RuthFrancesLong's ''Literature/TheTreacheryOfBeautifulThings'', Jack had promised to help those on a quest. This means he can't just shoo Jenny out.
* In Creator/JulieKagawa's ''Literature/TheIronKing'', this is one way to end up in a MagicallyBindingContract. Meghan knows enough to get one from Shard -- before she reveals the ExactWords interpretation she's going by.
* In Creator/StephanieBurgis's ''[[Literature/KatIncorrigible A Tangle of Magicks]]'', Kat's mother's MagicMirror loses its powers. Kat vows to restore it.
* In ''Hunter's Death'', when Stephen is about to set out on a very dangerous quest, Cynthia makes Stephen promise that he will come back to her before she's married so they have some time together. In the end, he [[spoiler: dies on the quest, but he manages to keep his promise ''anyway'' by getting the Hunter God to let him borrow the God's body for one interlude.]]
* In Jeramey Kraatz's ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'', Alex promises the Junior Rangers that they can [[spoiler:bring back the Rangers from the Gloom.]]
* In an early ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' story, the heroes stop an assassination that was to have taken place at a wedding, unaware that the intended victim was the nephew of a [[TheDon Mafia kingpin]] known as "The Goose". The Goose tells the heroes that he now owes them a favor. [[spoiler:Which they do eventually cash in.]]
* Early in ''Literature/TheIslandOfSheep'', Hannay recounts how, back in his African days, he and a friend helped the explorer Haraldsen fight off treasure-hunters, and promised to help him and his family if they came back for another round. The rest of the plot of the novel is them living up to the promise. (Hannay does offer to let his friend, who has since settled into a comfortable desk job life, off the hook; the friend is offended by the offer and refuses it, and goes on to prove that he's not gone as soft as all that.)

* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': "Tommy, you're my big handsome hero, and I need you." (Interesting Western example with English and Japanese characters as the promiser/-ee.)

* Several promises have been made on ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}''. Freya promises that one day she will repay Merlin for his help, and does so by delivering Excalibur into his keeping. Arthur promises Guinevere that when he is King, they'll be together. Whilst held hostage by a warlord, Lancelot promises Guinevere that he'll rescue her - this thus far is the only promise that hasn't been kept - whilst Lancelot does his best, it is Arthur and not Lancelot that rescues them.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'', based on ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the books]], ''has'' revealed what the promise Ned Stark made to his dying sister Lyanna was: [[spoiler: to never reveal that Jon Snow is the trueborn son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen (and thus, the rightful king of Westeros) in order to protect Jon from the Baratheon regime. This is a promise Ned keeps until his last breath as he spends the rest of his life protecting Jon, raising and loving him as his own son at Winterfell, and passes his nephew off as his own illegitimate child to keep Jon safe from their family's enemies and Robert Baratheon, who would pose a fatal threat to Jon if Jon's biological parentage ever came to light.]]

* One of the story paths in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' had Bang Shishigami who was at first being seen as an annoying StalkerWithACrush by [[MsFanservice Litchi Faye-Ling]], until he jumped in and saved both her and Arakune from Hakumen. Bang opts to do a HeroicSacrifice while Litchi escapes; and asks to meet her in a bar when it's all over, and Litchi promised to do so. Unfortunately, it's a HeroicSacrifice [[YankTheDogsChain for real; Bang presumably dies and we don't know if Litchi even remembered him and]] ThePromise. The Kaka clan, however, made him a posthumous hero.
** ''Continuum Shift'', however, uses a variation. Litchi still made the promise and Bang actually survived. While they didn't exactly meet in a bar, it is clear that from that point on, Litchi grew to respect Bang tremendously and treats him with kindness and compassion.
** Litchi herself has a very dramatic version that influences her actions. She made a promise that she will save her colleague Lotte Carmine, who is now Arakune, no matter what happens to her. Unfortunately, fulfilling this promise is a hard thing to do since it involves corrupting herself to the Boundary to the point she's getting very near to become another Arakune, she had to take the offer of someone ObviouslyEvil like Hazama to join NOL and becoming a 'bad guy' in general and eventually [[spoiler:helping Relius Clover in his plan to exterminate all life and create a new world where Lotte can be prevented from becoming Arakune]], all of these fill her with a huge dose of remorse, but she feels obliged to follow through to the end, even if she could be happy enough by leaving him alone, and especially even if other people consider her stupid for trying to save someone they think is 'beyond saving' and wouldn't bother.
** Perhaps hilariously, even [[spoiler:Relius Clover]] joins in the act in ''Chronophantasma''. [[spoiler:He goaded his son Carl to his side by first having Litchi on his clutches 'on her own will' (see above) and the promise that he will restore Ada, Carl's biggest goal in life for the moment. Considering Relius didn't break a sweat in putting him down, when Carl actually did on his own will, we all know that Relius would make it an EmptyPromise. But... then he saw Bang Shishigami thwart his magnum opus of a plot despite having both Litchi and Carl, who Bang liked very much, as his pawns, and then he's dumped by the Imperator (revealed by Izanami) to 'die' and with him being ThePerfectionist, Relius fell into a VillainousBSOD and is railroaded to commit himself to Carl's previous promise to restore Ada before he could die, which he accepts because he got nothing else to look forward into.]]
* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', your character can actually do this as a dialogue option. Sometimes, dialogue choices (in some specific, important and dramatic scenes) will have a declaration of intent hidden, such as "Truth", "Lie", and, most importantly, "Make Vow". Those dialogue choices affect your CharacterAlignment: you become more Lawful if you tell the truth, and more Chaotic if you lie.
* A promise is the driving force behind the plot of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|A Promise Unforgotten}}'', hence the title. The main character, Valvatorez made a promise to give his Prinny trainees a sardine once they finish their training. However, the Netherworld's government decides that all of the Prinnies need to be exterminated to cut back on expenses, which would keep him from fulfilling his promise. So naturally, he decides to overthrow the government.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has Cloud's childhood promise to Tifa that he would protect her if she ever got into trouble (see page quote).
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'':
*** The game has the iconic promise between Squall and Rinoa.
----> '''Squall:''' "How about this... I'll be here..."
----> '''Rinoa:''' "...Why?"
----> '''Squall:''' "The reason why you couldn't find me was because we haven't promised yet."
----> '''Rinoa:''' "Promised...?"
----> '''Squall:''' "I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you'll find me. I promise."
----> '''Rinoa:''' "I'll be here, too. It's a promise! Thanks Squall! Next time, we'll meet for sure!"
*** In the ending FMV when Squall is lost in Time Compression, Rinoa manages to find him and bring him back to the location of the promise.
** The main musical theme of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' is actually called "Final Fantasy XIII - The Promise." The talk page for the song on the ''Final Fantasy'' Wiki lists at least five different promises within the game: Snow promised to protect and save Serah, Snow and Vanille both promised to protect and save Cocoon, Vanille claimed that she promised Hope they would visit Gran Pulse together, Fang promised to protect Vanille and not let her turn into a C'ieth and Hope promised to watch out for Lightning.
---> '''Vanille''': Wishes aren't enough. Prayers either. This time, I'm making a promise. I will keep Cocoon safe. I promise, no matter what.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'': Trodain promised Argonia that their kingdoms would be united by an ArrangedMarriage. Unfortunately, Argonia's Prince is [[PrinceCharmless Prince Charmles]], which causes King Trode no small amount of grief after meeting him and seeing what an utter boor he'd promised his daughter's hand to. In [[MultipleEndings both endings]], he decides [[spoiler: [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Screw The Promise, I'm Doing What's Best For Medea]] and fights to stop the ceremony]] -- the GoldenEnding also lets him [[spoiler: TakeAThirdOption and let her marry Charmles' just-discovered cousin]]. Plus, [[spoiler:it's implied that 'The Hero' had the right of succession anyway.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow]]'', Soma Cruz asks [[spoiler:Julius Belmont]] to promise to kill him if he turns evil. Thankfully, the person making the promise is reliable and more than strong enough to fulfil said promise if it comes to that. [[spoiler:In Aria's bad ending, Julius turns up in the throne room to kill Soma, and in Julius Mode in ''Dawn'', Julius gets Yoko and Alucard's help to take down Soma.]]
--> '''Soma:''' ... I've got a favour to ask of you.
--> '''[[spoiler:Julius:]]''' What is it?
--> '''Soma:''' From here. I will set off to fight against my own fate. If I lose the battle... And I become reincarnation of evil, I want you to kill me.
--> '''[[spoiler:Julius:]]''' ... I will... I promise.\\
'''Soma:''' Thanks. Now I can go into this battle without reservations.\\
'''[[spoiler:Julius:]]''' Farewell, my friend. Don't let me use that whip again.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'', Elh promises Red a billion rings if he helps to complete the Rite of Forfeit. [[spoiler:Of course, Elh actually doesn't ''have'' a billion rings and, if the Rite had gone [[HumanSacrifice as it usually did]], Red wouldn't have needed them anyway. Red survived, however, and instead of being angry, he just invited Elh to join his team - [[IWasJustPassingThrough ostensibly to work off that debt]], of course, but [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther nobody was fooled]].]]
* In ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'', the entire Bad Boys Love route and storyline hinges on the fulfillment of a promise from long ago. Given [[DatingSim the premise of the game]], you might think that it's going to be along the lines of a ChildhoodMarriagePromise, but it...really, ''really'' isn't.
* If Shepard enters into a romantic relationship with Liara in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', at the conclusion of ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Liara asks Shepard to promise her that s/he's always coming back. S/he does. Both she and Tali beg you to come back after the final battle in VideoGame/MassEffect3. Since it's currently assumed that [=ME3=] is the end of the series (for Shepard), in one out of three endings, with a high enough EMS score, you can assume s/he keeps his/her promise. Since ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' takes place in an entirely different galaxy hundreds of years later, there's no way to know one way or the other.
* ''VisualNovel/MinotaurHotel'': P promises to Storm that [[spoiler:once Storm figures himself out and learns to be independent, he will reconsider starting a relationship with him. Storm accepts his promise and tells him he'll be sure to become independent.]]
* Defied in [[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars: Dual Strike.]] If Eagle and Sami are selected for the final Campaign Mission, Eagle will attempt to make a promise of survival with Sami who cuts him off telling him that if they make that promise, one of them will die.
* In ''VideoGame/AtelierEschaAndLogyAlchemistsOfTheDuskSky'', the final boss, [[spoiler:Flameu]], once made a promise with [[spoiler:Clone, a very important promise. While Clone planted trees, she would find out why the earth was withering and would return. Then, once she knew, she would come back and they would enjoy apples together. But things went wrong and she ended up being in the Unexplored Ruins for hundreds of years.]]
* In the beginning of ''VisualNovel/{{Demonheart}}'', Orchid asks the player to promise she will love and protect her unborn son. Later, the player has an option to fulfill this promise or break it. There is also a possibility to give your word to Ari that you will [[spoiler:not hurt Rivera, and to subsequently betray her]].

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' - [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Lloyd Bannings]] told Juna Crawford that "Crossbell has many trials awaiting it. But we WILL overcome them. Juna, I want you to fight and struggle to overcome your own trials as well. And if anything happens, I'll come running--I promise." Later, if you do one of her bonding events, Rean tells her "If you run into any problems, just let me know. I'll come running--I promise." This ticks her off that he's reminding her of Lloyd, because she isn't quite ready to accept him yet.

* ''Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles'': [[http://tinyurl.com/2dqrcbe Alex, growing up.]]
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Roy's father, Eugene, swore a Blood Oath of Vengeance to seek out and destroy Xykon, the BigBad. His failure to do so, plus his decision to abandon his quest, keep him in limbo even after his natural death and transfers the obligation to his heirs.
** He's incensed when his son, Roy, gets to go on to the afterlife proper, since Roy didn't fulfill the terms of the Oath either. It's pointed out by a Being of Pure Law and Good that Roy gets to move on because he died in direct pursuit of the quest his worthless flake of a father dumped on him by consciously abandoning it.
* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'': [[http://megatokyo.com/strip/1185 Promise to never ever tell my friends that I'm a]] MagicalGirl.
* ''Webcomic/{{Memoria}}'': [[http://memoria.valice.net/?p=404 We'll get him back. . . I promise]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Roza}}'' [[http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/index.php?date=2007-06-07 Wait, you promised!]]

* In ''Webcomic/BlueYonder'', [[http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1080254/blue-yonder-prologue-page-14/ as the badly wounded Jared is brought in, he asks for a promise they will find his sister, and gets it.]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3555 the laptop made a vow under Buddha's influence.]]
* In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0132.html Angelika tries to get one from Lenny, who responds by asking for one in return.]]

* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000508c Dr. Light promises that the Author is needed only temporarily.]]
* Promises are everywhere in ''Webcomic/{{MYth}}: A Promise'' and the willing of keeping them is a mayor character tract. Keeping their promises is what makes difference between Cronus and Zeus, the two men choosen by Gaia, as Cronus promised that he would free the cyclops but doesn't keep it while Zeus does. Also, Zeus' determination in keeping his promises and Hades' promise to Rhea of protecting Zeus is PlayedForDrama when [[spoiler:Zeus swears to hate Hades forever for him killing Metis, and Hades willingly accepts Zeus' hatred in order to make him a stronger man.]]
* In ''Webcomic/MysteryBabylon'', Kick Girl wanted to break the seal of the Pit in order to free Kill Boy, but as J.J. was dying he asked her to promise never to open it. Kick Girl promised, and spent the next thousand years protecting the seal on the Pit.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In Season 2, the BigBad is revealed to be Slade Wilson, who is enacting a promise he made five years ago to avenge Shado's death that he unjustly blames Oliver Queen for. The episode where he reveals that he's [[NotQuiteDead still alive]] and has been [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulating events from behind the scenes]] is even called "The Promise".

** Shinji promises Asuka that he will NEVER abandon her when she needs his help, not matter what.

'''Yang:''' Did she make that promise to you? Or to the person you were ''pretending'' to be?\\

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' - [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesZeroNoKiseki Lloyd Bannings]] told Juna Crawford that "Crosbell has many trials awaiting it. But we WILL overcome them. Juna, I want you to fight and struggle to overcome your own trials as well. And if anything happens, I'll come running--I promise." Later, if you do one of her bonding events, Rean tells her "If you run into any problems, just let me know. I'll come running--I promise." This ticks her off that he's reminding her of Lloyd, because she isn't quite ready to accept him yet.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' - [[VideoGame/ZeroNoKiseki Lloyd Bannings]] told Juna Crawford that "Crosbell has many trials awaiting it. But we WILL overcome them. Juna, I want you to fight and struggle to overcome your own trials as well. And if anything happens, I'll come running--I promise." Later, if you do one of her bonding events, Rean tells her "If you run into any problems, just let me know. I'll come running--I promise." This ticks her off that he's reminding her of Lloyd, because she isn't quite ready to accept him yet.

* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn:'' Squalo promised 8 years ago to Xanxus that he will never cut his hair until Xanxus becomes the boss of Vongola. And he did, [[spoiler:for eighteen years into the alternate future from the Ten Years Bazooka]]. Obviously because [[spoiler:Xanxus doesn't have the blood of Vongola, thus it's impossible for him to become Boss]].

* In ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', Negi promises Ako that he will win the tournament. At about the ten second count, he recalls the promise and gets up to face Rakan once more. [[spoiler:It's actually at tie and Rakan ''could'' have beaten him if he really wanted to. But considering the shape Negi was in? Badass.]]

* ''{{Manga/Noragami}}'': [[SupportingProtagonist Hiyori]] vows to stray god [[TheHero Yato]] that she will never forget him.

* ''FanFic/APikachuInLove'': Pikachu makes several of these over the course of the fic. One is to meet Pichi again the next night, [[spoiler: another one is to Misty, to never leave her or his friends behind, and to always come back to them no matter what, and one final one to Pichi as they say their goodbyes...]]

* In the FilmNoir-esque fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3560875/1/Nights_in_the_Big_City Nights In the Big City]], Kim Possible makes a promise to Ron to sleep with him after he takes a flamethrower to the chest for her to motivate him to hang on during surgery. Afterwards he tells her that he knows why she made the promise and won't hold her to it. She does anyway.

* ''FanFic/ThisBites'':

* ''Fanfic/OneDayAtATime'': In the previous timeline, Jon Kent and Damian Wayne made a promise when they were children to succeed their fathers as Superman and Batman together. Alas, it remained unfulfilled due to Damian dying before he could take up the mantle. Jon, in the midst of his grief, succeeded him as Nightwing instead, and his devotion to his best friend was so strong that he refused to become the second Superman after the death of his father years later, deferring the mantle to Conner Kent instead. After Conner died six years later, Jon finally conceded to becoming Superman due to there being no other suitable successor at the time.

* The legendary mermaid [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Melusine]], is found near a woodland spring. She falls in love with the human who finds her, and agrees to marry him, on the condition that he not [[PeepingTom peek at her while she bathes]]. They are HappilyMarried for awhile, raising several children (all of whom are more like demons or demigods, depending on whom you ask), and settling into a nice chateau. Buut, one day, her hubby's curiosity and/or lust gets the better of him, and [[WhatAnIdiot he peeks in on her bathtime]], and finds out that she's actually a mermaid. (He sees her tail fin.) [[DoNotTauntCthulhu Melusine]] is ''not'' happy, to say the least.

* A plot point in Friedrich Dürrenmatt's eponymous ''Das Versprechen'' (''The Pledge''), where a Swiss Police Commissar promises a couple to track down the murderer of their young daughter. [[spoiler:This promise subsequently [[DrivenToMadness drives him to madness]] [[DownerEnding when he can't find him]]]].

* Rapunzel from ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' takes promises very seriously and says that she never breaks them. This comes into play later when [[spoiler: she promises Mother Gothel that she will be her prisoner forever if she lets her heal the fatally injured Flynn]].

* As of ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', [[Literature/{{Discworld}} Sam Vimes]] reads the same book to his son at six o'clock, every day, no excuses (because when you have a good excuse, you open the door to bad excuses). The one moment he can't make it in time...

* [[spoiler: Fitoria]] from ''Anime/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' makes '''very damn certain''' of this, [[spoiler: [[WellIntentionedExtremist regardless of the measures needed to ensure it happens, especially if it involves killing all four of the Cardinal Heroes in order to summon another "Chosen Few" that will work better if need be]] (three of which are already [[FailureHero beyond pathetic]] when it comes to "working together, not making complete asses of themselves and being unbelievably appalling in letting others manipulate them with sheer ease") All of this she made to a Hero from ages long past, someone she doesn't even specifically recall, the only thing she remembers is how memorable/nice he was to her, among other things that she still keeps her promise '''firmly''' to come the time of the current Cardinal Heroes comprised of Ren, Itsuki, Motoyasu, but most important of all... Naofumi.]] [[spoiler: The promise was to ensure all four Cardinal Heroes work together to defeat the Waves, no matter the situation,]] [[spoiler: but even then she recalls a horrific event that she says will occur which will force the Cardinal Heroes to decide which they fight for: The World, or its People, the latter being a '''very''' thorny path... ]]