History SecretTestOfCharacter / WesternAnimation

[[SecretTestOfCharacter Secret Tests of Character]] in western animation TV.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingFeatsOfYoungHercules'': The final test. [[spoiler: Hercules passes when he willingly [[TakeMeInstead offers his life]] for Falina's]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Parodied. In "Bullocks to Stan" Avery Bullock (Stan's boss at the CIA) has been sleeping with Stan's daughter and forcing Stan to go along with it by bribing him with a possible promotion. Eventually the pair break up, Bullock begins insulting Hayley and Stan beats the crap out of Bullock. To keep Stan from killing him, Bullock tries to pass off everything he did as a test to see if Stan would stand up for himself and his daughter. [[BlatantLies He's clearly making it all up]], but is ''just'' persuasive enough that Stan lets him go.

'''Bullock:''' Ha ha ha! It would appear that way, but no. ''(spits out one of his teeth)'' Props will be wanting this back!
* Late into the second season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'', the three girls that got teleported were tested on their personality relating to the Calamity Gem they represent in order to power them up at each of the three respective temples. Marcy was tested of her wit and intelligence, and gave up the Flipwart game for the sake of Anne and the Plantars when she realized it was unwinnable. Anne was tested of her compassion by Valeriana to the point of confessing her bad deeds and learning from her mistakes. Sasha was tested of her strength by using her mental energy within to persevere herself and defend Anne and Marcy. Out of the three, Anne only got her gem charged halfway, as she asked Valeriana to send her back when she thought the Plantars and Marcy were in danger when really, they were watching harmless cat videos with Marcy's phone at max volume. [[spoiler:This allowed her to retain her connection with her gem, granting her a SuperMode so she can fight King Andrias.]]

** While not an intended test, Piandao accepts Sokka because he's the first student to come to him who admitted that he was not worthy, and thus proved that he was open enough to learn. He later rewards him with a White Lotus Pai Sho piece for admitting that he lied and was not a Fire Nation Colonist (which Piandao had figured out long ago, due to Aang's presence and Sokka's name). It's stated on the DVDCommentary that ''everything'' Piandao did was some kind of test.
** When Aang, Katara, and Sokka arrive at Omashu, they're captured by the King who forces Aang to go through three trials. While all have simple solutions at first, turns out they all have more than what they seem. The King is testing Aang's ability to think outside the box and see things from a new perspective.

* ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseKamandi''. The gorilla cult put the title character and his companions through TheThreeTrials to determine if one of them is "The Mighty One". While the trials are obviously designed to identify someone with superpowers (SuperStrength and NighInvulnerability) their real purpose is to identify someone with those abilities who also has wisdom, compassion, and willingness to self-sacrifice. Unsurprisingly, the Mighty One is revealed to be Superman.

* This is TheReveal in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' episode "[[ItsAWonderfulPlot It's a Wishful Life]]". [[spoiler:It turns out that the images Jorgen showed Timmy of how much better everyone would be if he never existed were false, and the whole thing was a test on Jorgen's part to make Timmy be more grateful for what he has, rather than having an ItsAllAboutMe attitude.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'': It's implied Mogo put Saint Walker through one. After asking Mogo where the promised savior of the galaxy is, Mogo instructs Saint Walker to climb a mountain, seemingly implying that the savior is there. When Saint Walker fails to find the supposed savior on the mountain top, he thinks that Mogo is telling him that there is no savior or hope and that the galaxy is doomed. Saint Walker refuses to believe this and reaffirms his hope by insisting that he himself will fight the Red Lanterns if necessary. After this, Mogo deems Saint Walker worthy of becoming the first Blue Lantern, indicating that ''he'' is the savior Mogo was talking about.

* ''WesternAnimation/HotWheelsAcceleracers'': [[spoiler: The Racing Realms are revealed to be a long series of this, designed to create "the perfect driver" with each track teaching a different kind of skill. The point of the final race is not to be first, but instead to make it through all previous tracks on your own without using the Accele-Chargers.]]
* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', Lucius sets up a game show that citizens of Miseryville [[TrumanShowPlot unknowingly]] compete on where they have to keep their promise to stay on a single spot. Unlike most tests, Lucius wants to prove that no one is really good enough to do it, even staking his [[Fiction500 entire fortune]] on it. Which means it's trouble when the contestant is [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Jimmy]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "Patriot Act" sees Shining Knight recount a time Myth/KingArthur asked him to slaughter a village, which Knight refused. When [[GeneralRipper General Eiling]] sneers that Knight was a horrible soldier for not doing so, Knight retorted that Arthur thanked him, revealing that the "order" was in fact a test.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' Littlefoot is tested on his ability to one day become the leader of a herd. One test involves retrieving a red leaf from a small island in the middle of a lava pit. After much deliberating, Littlefoot finally concedes that he can't find any safe way across. He is then informed that that was the test and that the point of leading a herd is to put their safety first.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' had one in the episode "Night Game". Winston's found himself in the crossfire of a battle between the forces of good and evil... which happens to take the form of a baseball game (ItMakesSenseInContext). The other three come in to save him, but can't, because he's already in the game and there's no room for more players. All they can do is sit and let the game continue -- the stakes are for Winston's soul. If good loses, he becomes the slave of evil. If Ray, Peter, and Egon try to involve themselves, it will be considered cheating, and, as the Umpire says, "evil cheats." [[spoiler: Winston revealed in the end that they were playing for Peter's soul. Peter was understandably scared, since he and the others considered interfering with the game.]]

** The gang finds a unmarked envelope with a $100 dollar bill in it and despite believing its a fortune due to their youth, TJ insists they find out who it belongs to. After going all over the town, they figure the only person who would lose that much money and not care would be the richest guy in town. They go to his mansion and give it to the butler, who slams the door in their faces. On the way back, the millionaire comes down on a jetpack and explains that he left those notes around town all the time and the kids were the first ones to bring it back to him. As a reward for this, he gives their families free tickets to his amusement park and lets them all take turns riding with him on his jetpack.

* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'': In "The Princess Test", Fauna disguises herself as Royal Prep's librarian, and asks each princess in turn for help, just before the Princess Test begins. Sofia is the only one willing to put off the test and help, which earns her full marks for displaying a Princess' most important trait: Kindness. Not only this, but the test is rigged with a number of pitfalls specifically designed to test Sofia's resolution to ''continue'' helping Fauna; in each instance, she passes. While most of the students get silver stars, Sofia passes with the highest score possible and gets a big gold trophy.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' has a morally inverted example in "Mister Eggman": Eggman goes back to school to complete his doctorate in Evil Villainy, and ends up being the only one in the class to pass the final exam... because he was the only one who cheated (breaking into the school to steal the answer sheet) rather than taking it normally.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "The Great Simpsona", Lisa learns magic from an experienced magician. Eventually, she finds a book that reveals how one of his greatest tricks is done, a trick she hadn't even been told how to do. She briefly considers looking in the book, but then decides against it. The magician then reveals that it was a test to see if he can trust her with knowing how to do the trick.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The end of "Pinewood Derby" [[spoiler: reveals that the whole plot of the episode was just one big test of character to decide whether or not to let Earth into the Galactic Federation after they discovered warp travel (Randy enhanced Stan's Pinewood Derby car with a supermagnet from the Large Hadron Collider). Earth fails and is barred from the rest of the universe. As Randy says at the end of the episode "Well, that sucks!"]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': In "The Bogbeast Of Boggabah", after Star's failed attempt to alert her mother Queen Moon to some recently discovered family secrets, her father King River decides she needs to blow off steam, and drags her along on a Johansen family tradition: a hunting expedition for the eponymous Bogbeast. The preparations for the hunt involve a lot of tedious, detail-oriented rituals that drive Star up the wall, and she eventually loses her patience and charges into the dead of night trying to chase what she thinks is the Bogbeast. After she gets stuck in a muddy bog, Star eventually learns [[spoiler: the whole exercise was a SnipeHunt designed to teach how her impulsiveness and eagerness for action, a trait that apparently runs in her father's side of the family, can be a drawback.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS5E6TheGathering "The Gathering"]], six Jedi younglings are put through this in order to claim their lightsaber crystals, each one having to overcome a character flaw to do so.

** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsSparkOfRebellion "Spark of Rebellion"]]: Kanan lets Ezra steal his Jedi holocron to see if he can open it, which only a Force-user can do.
** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS1E08PathOfTheJedi "Path of the Jedi"]]:

** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E16ShroudOfDarkness "Shroud of Darkness"]]: Returning to the Lothal Jedi temple, Kanan is forced to fight several Temple Guards, the leader of whom claims that Ezra's dangerous because he's drawn to the Dark Side, and he has to be eliminated before he falls. Kanan tries to fight to protect him, but ultimately [[spoiler:realizes the only way he can do that is by training Ezra the best he can]]. The reward for passing the test? [[spoiler:The lead guard {{knight|ing}}s Kanan, to his considerable surprise.]]
** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E02TheAntillesExtraction "The Antilles Extraction"]]: Sabine, [[TheInfiltration infiltrating]] an Imperial pilot academy to locate and extract some dissenting cadets, poses as another pilot with doubts about the Empire to [[AcePilot Wedge Antilles]] to confirm that he's serious about defecting.

* ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011'': After Lion-O [[spoiler: dies and the rest of the Thundercats are captured by Mumm-ra]], he's saved by the [[McGuffin spirit stone]] and is told that he has to undergo four trials to prove that he's worthy [[spoiler: of being brought back to life]]. [[spoiler: He fails the last one and is told that he cannot return to life, but that the stone can return his soul to his body until sunrise. After the sun rises, however, he will die and his soul will be stuck forever in limbo. Lion-O, of course, chooses to return to life temporarily in order to save the Thundercats. After he rescues the Thundercats and is prepared to die, Jaga appears and tells him that his willingness to sacrifice himself for his people ''was'' the last test and he's earned his life back permanently.]]
* WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': In "The Box", Wander and Sylvia are tasked with delivering a package to someone named Glenn and Wander can't help but obsess whatever is in the box they have to deliver, and is temped to peek inside it. When he resists long enough and the box is delivered, it turns out the delivery was set up by the Lords of Illumination to test Wander on his resistance which he passed, and the box has nothing in it. But Wander still thinks there's something in the box and keeps guessing what's in it, so a furious Sylvia pesters the Lords to put some things in it so he can finally stop obsessing.