History Main / WeWouldHaveToldYouBut

->''You won't be offended, Watson? You will realize that among your many talents dissimulation finds no place, and that if you had shared my secret you would never have been able to impress Smith with the urgent necessity of his presence, which was the vital point of the whole scheme.''
-->--'''SherlockHolmes''', "The Adventure of the Dying Detective"

* In one ''ComicBook/BlackCanary'' miniseries, when Black Canary's adopted daughter Sin is kidnapped, GreenArrow makes it appear that the rescue attempt, badly bungled, killed Sin. He knows the kidnappers will watch Black Canary and note if she does not show grief, so he keeps her in the dark to make sure her reaction will be authentic, and he does not expect her to forgive him when he reveals the truth.

* Literature/HerculePoirot pulled this one ''all the time'' (except that he rarely gives a reason).

* The entire plot of ''Mordant's Need'' (the first novel of which is ''TheMirrorOfHerDreams'') by Stephen R. Donaldson revolved around [[spoiler: a king pretending to be insane to drive away his allies. He needed to appear weak]].

* Literature/LuckyStarr pulls this all the time, often dramatically accusing the wrong suspect on purpose and using people's reactions to gain proof against the real culprit. The worst instance is in ''LuckyStarr and the Rings of Saturn'', in which Lucky allows everyone to believe [[FakeDefector he is going to betray Earth]]--including his best friend, who thinks Lucky is turning traitor in exchange for the friend's life.

'''Punky:''' I don't want to hear another word about Margaux's dumb flowers!''\\
(Later, when he finally tells Punky this)\\

(''Later, when he finally tells Punky this'')\\

* In one issue of [[TheFlash Impulse]], Max and The Trickster pull off a plot like this to take down a pair of mob bosses.
* The reason [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] didn't tell [[Comicbook/WarMachine Jim Rhodes]] about [[FakingTheDead faking his death]] so he could undergo experimental reconstructive surgery was exactly because Stark wanted Rhodey's reactions to his "death" to be genuine, so Stark's opponents wouldn't come looking for him. Once Stark came back, Rhodey [[{{Understatement}} was pissed]], and the incident left their friendship broken for a long time.

*** After faking the symptoms of an exotic disease, Holmes provides the page quote while speaking to Watson in . As Holmes further explains, while he didn't have a great deal of confidence in Watson's ability to deceive, he ''did'' have a great deal of confidence in Watson's abilities as a doctor, which is why he was so insistent that Watson not touch him--a cursory examination by Watson would have revealed the ruse immediately.

** An even more extreme example occurs after his final brush with Moriarty, after which he [[OnlyMostlyDead pretended to be dead]] for three years. Revealing the truth that time nearly gave Watson heart failure.
* HerculePoirot pulled this one ''all the time'' (except that he rarely gives a reason).

* The entire plot of ''Mordant's Need'' by Stephen R. Donaldson revolved around [[spoiler: a king pretending to be insane to drive away his allies. He needed to appear weak]].
* LuckyStarr pulls this all the time, often dramatically accusing the wrong suspect on purpose and using people's reactions to gain proof against the real culprit. The worst instance is in ''LuckyStarr and the Rings of Saturn'', in which Lucky allows everyone to believe [[FakeDefector he is going to betray Earth]]--including his best friend, who thinks Lucky is turning traitor in exchange for the friend's life.

* ''{{Cheers}}'' did this a lot, such as the episode in which Coach and Harry the Hat conspired to recover Coach's money from a con by Harry pretending to betray the coach. Diane whined that they would have helped, but Harry replied, "Coach and I didn't think you weren't smart enough to pull it off."
* The first episode of ''{{Hustle}}'' with Danny (and the audience) only let in at the end.
** Happens a great deal in ''{{Hustle}}'' actually, due to a combination of the UnspokenPlanGuarantee, in-character EnforcedMethodActing (as in the first episode, where the realism of Danny's reactions to the unfolding situation were vital. It was also a trick to test his loyalty, as in the next point) and, in some cases, the characters tricking each other (as in the Season 3 episode where Mickey and Danny get dumped naked in Trafalgar Square for a contest to determine the leadership of the crew).

[[AC:Manga and Anime]]
* Lelouch pulls this at the end of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' [[spoiler:when playing the role of EvilOverlord]].
* The LockedRoomMystery in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' was all set up by the organization. Koizumi ''could'' have told at least Kyon what was going on, but... In the novels, it's not Haruhi who figures it out but Kyon, who then tells Koizumi that [[ObfuscatingStupidity he's not as stupid as he acts]].
* In ''FruitsBasket'', the fact that [[spoiler: Akito is a woman]] is kept a secret not just from Tohru, but from [[spoiler: all the cursed Sohma save for the ones already present at the time she was born (Shigure, Ayame, Kureno and Hatori)]]. When Kureno tells this to Tohru, she has an HeroicBSOD.
* In the ''[[Anime/SailorMoon Sailor Stars]]'' anime, [[spoiler: Kakyuu was actually hiding in a small teapot that Usagi's "adoptive sister" Chibi-Chibi had all the time with her. After she finally appears [[BigDamnHeroes to save Usagi's life]], she apologizes to the Sailor Starlights and tells them that she was healing her injuries inside the teapot ''and'' wasn't able to just appear in front of them until it was time.]]

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'' ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', Bastila would have been ready to tell the player character that [[spoiler:[[TheReveal s/he is Revan]]]] but the Jedi Council forbid her, for they feared that evil would be let loose on the universe again.
** Depending on the player character's reaction, this may bring on the very nightmare their actions were intended to prevent.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', [[CloudCuckooLander Elan]] is not told about a plot to catch Therkla in an EngineeredPublicConfession.

* An episode of ''{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' had Rattrap switch sides, which was set up by Optimus and himself so they could find out how the Predacons were tapping their transmissions.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', [[spoiler:Robin did this in the episode "Masks"]].

** After faking the symptoms of an exotic disease, Holmes provides the page quote while speaking to Watson in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (1913). As Holmes further explains, while he didn't have a great deal of confidence in Watson's ability to deceive, he ''did'' have a great deal of confidence in Watson's abilities as a doctor, which is why he was so insistent that Watson not touch him--a cursory examination by Watson would have revealed the ruse immediately.
*** In Bert Coules's radio adaptation of "The Dying Detective," Watson fails to accept Holmes's NoHardFeelings at the end, instead [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out]] not only for the deception, but for asking Watson to hide in the room as a witness, and then ''forgetting about him''.

* In the last few pages of ''Literature/TheHungerGames: Catching Fire'', it turns out that Katniss' friends kept her in the dark about some pretty huge things, [[spoiler: including the fact that District 13 really exists,]] because Katniss' poor deception skills and ChronicHeroSyndrome would have ruined their plans if she had known.
** Also, in case the Capitol captured Katniss or Peeta ([[spoiler: and they did capture the latter)]]), they wouldn't know anything about the plans.

* In the ''[[SailorMoon Sailor Stars]]'' anime, [[spoiler: Kakyuu was actually hiding in a small teapot that Usagi's "adoptive sister" Chibi-Chibi had all the time with her. After she finally appears [[BigDamnHeroes to save Usagi's life]], she apologizes to the Sailor Starlights and tells them that she was healing her injuries inside the teapot ''and'' wasn't able to just appear in front of them until it was time.]]

Sometimes followed by NoHardFeelings. When this is done to the actors, it is EnforcedMethodActing.

* In the '90s ''IronMan'' cartoon, Tony does this twice. The first time, a fake marriage to Julia, is played for laughs. (Apparently it was important that Wanda's jealousy be realistic.) The second time, in which Tony fakes his ''death'', does NOT amuse the team -- they [[ReTool kick him out and relocate]].

* In one ''BlackCanary'' miniseries, when Black Canary's adopted daughter Sin is kidnapped, GreenArrow makes it appear that the rescue attempt, badly bungled, killed Sin. He knows the kidnappers will watch Black Canary and note if she does not show grief, so he keeps her in the dark to make sure her reaction will be authentic, and he does not expect her to forgive him when he reveals the truth.

** After faking the symptoms of an exotic disease, Holmes provides the page quote while speaking to Watson in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (1913). As Holmes further explains, while he didn't have a great deal of confidence in Watson's ability to deceive, he ''did'' have a great deal of confidence in Watson's abilities as a doctor.

** After faking the symptoms of an exotic disease, Holmes provides the page quote while speaking to Watson in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (1913).

* In an episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'', Londo leads Vir to believe he is planning to kill G'Kar, when in actual fact it was part of a greater scheme to make rival Lord Refa (who has a telepath on his payroll) ''think'' that was the plan and go after G'Kar first, so that G'Kar could kill Refa for Londo.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' did this with Tom Paris - during the second season he became a much more shady and {{Jerkass}} character (gambling, mouthing off at Chakotay, showing up late for duty, etc.) until he finally asked to be put off the ship. It turned out that it was [[FakeDefector a ruse]] cooked up by Janeway and Tuvok to try and find the [[TheMole crewman feeding information to Seska]], and Chakotay was kept in the dark in case the spy was one of his former crewmen. Needless to say, Chakotay was ''very'' unhappy when he found out he'd been played yet again.[[hottip:*:This was the second time these two people had tricked him -- Tuvok had originally been a spy in Chakotay's Maquis crew. In fact, we learn in "Fury" that they were keeping ANOTHER major secret from him at this point.]]

* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' uses this at least three times:

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' did this with Tom Paris - during the second season he became a much more shady and {{Jerkass}} character (gambling, mouthing off at Chakotay, showing up late for duty, etc.) until he finally asked to be put off the ship. It turned out that it was a ruse cooked up by Janeway and Tuvok to try and find the [[TheMole crewman feeding information to Seska]], and Chakotay was kept in the dark in case the spy was one of his former crewmen. Needless to say, Chakotay was ''very'' unhappy when he found out he'd been played yet again.[[hottip:*:This was the second time these two people had tricked him -- Tuvok had originally been a spy in Chakotay's Maquis crew. In fact, we learn in "Fury" that they were keeping ANOTHER major secret from him at this point.]]

* ''{{Cheers}}'' did this a lot, such as the episode in which Coach and Harry the Hat conspired to recover Coach's money from a con by Harry pretending to betray the coach. Diane whined that they would have helped, but Harry replied, "You weren't smart enough to pull it off."

-->''You will realize that among your many talents dissimulation finds no place, and that if you had shared my secret you would never have been able to impress Smith with the urgent necessity of his presence, which was the vital point of the whole scheme.''
** Holmes pulls this one on Watson in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (1913).
:: In Bert Coules's radio adaptation of "The Dying Detective," Watson fails to accept Holmes's NoHardFeelings at the end, instead [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out]] not only for the deception, but for asking Watson to hide in the room as a witness, and then ''forgetting about him''.
** That whole thing where he [[OnlyMostlyDead pretended to be dead]] for three years.

* In FruitsBasket, the fact that [[spoiler: Akito is a woman]] is kept a secret not just from Tohru, but from [[spoiler: all the cursed Sohma save for the ones already present at the time she was born (Shigure, Ayame, Kureno and Hatori)]]. When Kureno tells this to Tohru, she has an HeroicBSOD.
* In the [[SailorMoon Sailor Stars]] anime, [[spoiler: Kakyuu was actually hiding in a small teapot that Usagi's "adoptive sister" Chibi-Chibi had all the time with her. After she finally appears [[BigDamnHeroes to save Usagi's life]], she apologizes to the Sailor Starlights and tells them that she was healing her injuries inside the teapot ''and'' wasn't able to just appear in front of them until it was time.]]

* SherlockHolmes pulls this one on Watson in "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," making it OlderThanRadio.
** In Bert Coules's radio adaptation of "The Dying Detective," Watson fails to accept Holmes's NoHardFeelings at the end, instead [[WhatTheHellHero calling him out]] not only for the deception, but for asking Watson to hide in the room as a witness, and then ''forgetting about him''.
** Holmes does this almost constantly, to almost every single character. A fundamental part of his InsufferableGenius character.
** Not to mention that whole thing where he [[OnlyMostlyDead pretended to be dead]] for three years.

An episode in which a main character ''and'' the audience are kept in the dark by the character's friends or colleagues. This is to pull off a {{sting}} against someone else, never a main character.